Waterloo Road | 1945
- Locations |
- London
- DIRECTOR |
- Sidney Gilliat
Toward the end of WWII, soldier Jim Colter (John Mills) goes AWOL when he hears his wife Tillie (Joy Shelton) is being romanced by caddish Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger) in this London-set pre-kitchen sink piece of social realism.
It's largely set in and around Waterloo Station, and includes includes a foot-chase chase across the tracks, which would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, to stage today.
Waterloo is the busiest railway station in the UK, with nearly a hundred million entries and exits from the station every year. It is also the country's largest station (in terms of floor space) and has the greatest number of platforms.
The station, on the south bank of the Thames and serving the southwest of England, was opened in and 1848, named after the nearby bridge which was in turn named to commemorate the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.
John Schlesinger, director of Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man and Far From The Madding Crowd kicked off his career with his 1961 semi-documentary short Terminus, carting a day in the life of the station. More recently, of course, Waterloo's concourse was the setting for that amazing action sequence as the Guardian journalist tries to avoid an unseen hitman in The Bourne Ultimatum.
The station has understandably changed a lot since 1945, but its famous clock remains a favourite romantic spot for couples to meet up, as in 2015 rom-com Man Up.
