The Railway Children (1970)

[Fellwanderer]

Enjoyed yet again this afternoon and the tears were welling up at that scene.

[jaycad]

i watched it yet again! it's one of those films/programmes that i watch every time it's on and this time i had the added pleasure of recognising the locations.

[didi-5]

I always love to watch this film - it is very close to perfect. I also like the version with Jenny as the mother and the 60s TV series where she originally played Roberta - but the film does have a certain magic that makes it a classic.

[Steve Crook]

Enjoyed yet again this afternoon and the tears were welling up at that scene.

If there's anyone who doesn't cry at that scene then they may as well give up now. They must be without any feeling or heart

Steve

[didi-5]

If there's anyone who doesn't cry at that scene then they may as well give up now. They must be without any feeling or heart

Steve

My dad always used to claim he had something in his eye when it came to that particular scene :)

[Fellwanderer]

My dad always used to claim he had something in his eye when it came to that particular scene :)

That scene always gets me and always will - I've seen it hundreds of times and it's always the same result.

[Maurice]

Sunday Telegraph 20/03/11

The Railway Children 'plagiarised' from earlier story
by Jasper Copping

A group of youngsters save a train from disaster by desperately waving improvised red flags, in what must rank as one of the most famous scenes in children's literature.

The climatic moment from THE RAILWAY CHILDREN delighted generations on the page and was brought to the screen with Jenny Agutter in the lead role as Bobbie.

But Edith Nesbit's classic might not be the work of originality previously thought, it can be disclosed. The scene where the children alert the train driver to an obstruction on the track has uncanny parallels to a work published nearly a decade earlier.

Other episodes are also strangely similar. Indeed, the whole scenario is highly reminiscent of a book called THE HOUSE BY THE RAILWAY, which was first published in 1896 and was serialised in a popular magazine in 1904, a year before THE RAILWAY CHILDREN first appeared.

A copy of the work, by a writer named Ada J. Graves, was discovered by her granddaughter Anne Hall-Williams, as she cleared out her father's possessions following his death.

"The scene with the near tragedy is the pivotal scene from THE RAILWAY CHILDREN and it has simply been lifted," said Mrs Hall-Williams, 64, from Harrow, north-west London. "It seems to me also like E. Nesbit had (Ada J. Graves's) book open in front of her and was thinking, 'How can I tweak this so it looks like original work?'

"It is quite blatant really, the plagiarism. It is pretty obvious that E. Nesbit had read the earlier book. I realize that lots of authors operate in this way, but it seems rather naughty of her. Poor Ada deserves a bit of credit."

Both Edwardian works feature a group of middle class children in straitened circumstances who move to a house in the countryside near a railway with their mother.

In THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, it follows the arrest of their father on suspicion of spying; in THE HOUSE BY THE RAILWAY, the father has died. The children then embark on a series of adventures, some of which bear remarkable similarities....

[Steve Crook]

Sunday Telegraph 20/03/11

The Railway Children 'plagiarised' from earlier story
by Jasper Copping

The granddaughter will have to prove that Nesbit read it, or at least that the likelihood is that she read it. Not at all easy to prove.
Otherwise it's coincidence, not plagiarism.

She will also have to justify her claim that "lots of authors operate in this way" or she could be sued for defamation.

Steve

[christoph404]

Plagiarism is often very difficult to prove, actually plagiarism is not a legal term in itself but it is used as a terminology in cases relating to violation of copyright law,Im not sure "lots" of authors operate this way but some very notable authors have fallen foul of copyright law by plagiarising the work of others, Ian Flemming for example was destroyed and humiliated in the high court over his "Thunderball" novel which he based on an earlier specially commissioned but unused film script by Kevin McLory, many believe the stress of the ongoing court case contributed to his fatal heart attack. As Steve mentions,proving that the accused had access to the plagiarised material is crucial, if its a published book you could argue that it was accessible at the book shop!....but proving someone read it is something else.

[CaptainWaggett]

Since The Railway Children is out of copyright, we're in the world of literary criticism rather than lawsuits.

[Moor Larkin]

A.J.Rowling-in-cash had all this carry-on with her wizard books and some poor sod we'd never heard of, didn't she?

So many books to read, and so many JR Hartley's. The Persistence of Print.

[TimR]

It's obviously a very serious accusation and once it has been made it can never be taken back, especially in the world of the media today.

From what I have seen the two sequences that are the cause for the plagiarism accusation have to do with the engraved watches as a gift and the use of something red to stop the trains to avoid calamity. The fact that two stories about children living near a railway and having adventures were published at about the same time is not a cause for accusation in itself. Near-crashes and intrepid young people saving the day are the stuff of late-Victorian and Edwardian books and magazines and even paintings and poems. That was true in Britain and here as well, and remained true long after. If avoiding a train crash was a cause for plagiarism accusations the list would be very long indeed.

I recall biographer Julian Briggs mentioning the use of red petticoats as a memory from Nesbit's own childhood and that apparently that would not have been in use in 1906, so that part is original. The reference to the watches is similar, but together seem to be an extremely flimsy basis for an accusation - and the accuser does not hesitate to state blatantly that Nesbit was guilty.

I have a special interest in Nesbit and have read two biographies of her, as well as all of her books many times. She was highly eccentric and idiosyncratic but she was also one of the most original writers I have ever encountered. She would write two and sometimes three stories at a time. I have never read anything that would suggest she was a liar or a cheat, and of the many people quoted in the biographies, including Shaw and many of the Fabians she knew well, I never saw anything that would suggest she lacked integrity. It may be that she used a similar plot device as part of the larger whole, but what prolific writer creates in a vacuum? I'm sorry to see that the media has grabbed this and run with it - especially for an author who (here at least) is known only to a rather small group.

[Fellwanderer]

Another long day and I'm looking forward to catching up with The Railway Children this evening - ITV3, 4,35pm, although I'll still be working so it is set to record.

Doesn't get any more moving

TEHL will have to wait until tomorrow!

Not sure why the thumbnail is attached but one can't have too much of Jenny

[Steve Crook]

Not sure why the thumbnail is attached but one can't have too much of Jenny

See the Question: the new uploader thread

Steve

[Rick C]

Another long day and I'm looking forward to catching up with The Railway Children this evening - ITV3, 4,35pm, although I'll still be working so it is set to record.

Doesn't get any more moving

TEHL will have to wait until tomorrow!

Not sure why the thumbnail is attached but one can't have too much of Jenny

I think the extra thumbnail is so that you can cut it out and put it in a scrapbook if required; or with my poster you can put it on the wall

RailwayChildrenPoster.jpg

[bartonkeyes]

Couldn't agree more with all the positive comments. One of the few films that is even better than the book. Good to know that it isn't just me who cries every time.

[Fellwanderer]

Couldn't agree more with all the positive comments. One of the few films that is even better than the book. Good to know that it isn't just me who cries every time.

Wouldn't be Christmas without the lovely Bobbie and the perfect family film - ITV, 10.55am: