This is the last 4 minutes of Night Mail a 22 minute documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the General Post Office (GPO) in 1936. It depicts a near-utopian world populated by chirpy proletarians working through the night to sort and deliver the mail. The technology is ancient, steam trains, hand trolleys, manual sorting. Bags of unsorted letters are hung on the side of the railway line and caught by a mechanical grab as the train passes. Bags of sorted letters are similarly hung out of the train and caught in a net as it flashes by. The impression was given of extreme efficiency but if a bag missed the net, probably no-one ever noticed until it was found months later half-eaten in a field full of sheep along the railway line. Night Mail is largely remembered today because of WH Auden's poem, the rhythm of which as recited in the film, imitates that of the train's wheels as they clatter over the track sections, beginning slowly but picking up speed so that by the time the narration reaches the penultimate verse the narrator (John Grierson) is speaking at a breathless pace. As the train slows toward its destination the final verse is taken at a more sedate pace. NIGHT MAIL by WH Auden This is the Night Mail crossing the border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner and the girl next door. Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb ...
Night Mail
Monday, February 25, 2013
Night Mail Tube. Duration : 3.90 Mins.
This is the last 4 minutes of Night Mail a 22 minute documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the General Post Office (GPO) in 1936. It depicts a near-utopian world populated by chirpy proletarians working through the night to sort and deliver the mail. The technology is ancient, steam trains, hand trolleys, manual sorting. Bags of unsorted letters are hung on the side of the railway line and caught by a mechanical grab as the train passes. Bags of sorted letters are similarly hung out of the train and caught in a net as it flashes by. The impression was given of extreme efficiency but if a bag missed the net, probably no-one ever noticed until it was found months later half-eaten in a field full of sheep along the railway line. Night Mail is largely remembered today because of WH Auden's poem, the rhythm of which as recited in the film, imitates that of the train's wheels as they clatter over the track sections, beginning slowly but picking up speed so that by the time the narration reaches the penultimate verse the narrator (John Grierson) is speaking at a breathless pace. As the train slows toward its destination the final verse is taken at a more sedate pace. NIGHT MAIL by WH Auden This is the Night Mail crossing the border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner and the girl next door. Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb ...
This is the last 4 minutes of Night Mail a 22 minute documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the General Post Office (GPO) in 1936. It depicts a near-utopian world populated by chirpy proletarians working through the night to sort and deliver the mail. The technology is ancient, steam trains, hand trolleys, manual sorting. Bags of unsorted letters are hung on the side of the railway line and caught by a mechanical grab as the train passes. Bags of sorted letters are similarly hung out of the train and caught in a net as it flashes by. The impression was given of extreme efficiency but if a bag missed the net, probably no-one ever noticed until it was found months later half-eaten in a field full of sheep along the railway line. Night Mail is largely remembered today because of WH Auden's poem, the rhythm of which as recited in the film, imitates that of the train's wheels as they clatter over the track sections, beginning slowly but picking up speed so that by the time the narration reaches the penultimate verse the narrator (John Grierson) is speaking at a breathless pace. As the train slows toward its destination the final verse is taken at a more sedate pace. NIGHT MAIL by WH Auden This is the Night Mail crossing the border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner and the girl next door. Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb ...
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