Buster Keaton

Eldon Rathburn

Gerald Potterton

George Croll

Ted Haley

Julian Biggs

Robert Humble

Jo Kirkpatrick

Karl du Plessis

Comedy

The Railrodder

ONF | NFB

Canada

CinemaSerf

After reading an advertisement advocating a visit to Canada, our intrepid adventurer (Buster Keaton) jumps into the Thames and swims all the way there! Once he arrives - remarkably dry and fit - he commandeers a railroad engineer's truck and embarks on a musically enhanced (think Ry Cooder morphing into some lively harmonica) journey at break speed across the 3,500-odd miles from east to west. Along the way we travel through some beautiful (and not so) countryside stopping only briefly when his wheels eventually need oiling after he grinds to an halt! It's a visit Canada production and the star enters into the spirit of his one man trip - eating, washing and snoozing on his well equipped little wagon. He's got a map - but quite what for is anyone's guess - the rails are only going one way! There are few more traditional type sketch escapades as he meanders his way along but curiously enough, it didn't actually really make me want to visit the place. Vast expanses of prairie and forest are fine for a while, but after several hundred miles of them... Luckily the Rockies do hove into view and now equipped with a camera he can photograph some of the impressive engineering that conveys the tracks through the chilly terrain. He's got a camera - so of course he's got a fur coat too - oh, and some knitting to help pass the time. Perhaps we could all have a go? Has he given any consideration as to how he's going to get home again? It's an original idea that works well enough for about fifteen minutes, but thereafter it does run a little out of steam. Worth a watch though.

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The Railrodder

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