A Switchback Railway

A Switchback Railway

Screenshot from the film
Directed by Robert W. Paul
Produced by Robert W. Paul
Cinematography Robert W. Paul
Production
company
Paul's Animatograph Works
Release dates
  • 1898 (1898)
Running time
39 secs
Country United Kingdom
Language Silent

A Switchback Railway is an 1898 British short black-and-white silent actuality film, directed by Robert W. Paul, featuring patrons riding on a switchback railway at a fairground. "This dynamically composed actuality," according to Micahael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later." It is included on the BFI DVD R.W. Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908. It is arguable that the filmmaker, R.W. Paul, missed a trick by not placing the camera inside one of the moving cars to simulate the ride from the passenger's perspective, although he might have had difficulty keeping the camera steady. Nonetheless, the film was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later.[1][2]

References

  1. Brooke, Michael. "Switchback Railway, A (1898)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  2. "A Switchback Railway". BFI Film & TV Database. Retrieved 2011-04-24.

External links


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