The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery DVD

The Great St. Trianian’s Train Robbery

Dedication
To Frankie Howard (Alphonse Askett) who died on 19th April 1988, Frank Launder (Scriptwriter) who died in 1997 and to Sidney Gilliat (Director) who died in 1994.

Prologue
The Great St. Trianian’s Train Robbery was originally released in February 1966. It is the fourth in a series of St. Trinian’s Comedies based on Ronald Searle's cartoon creations. It continues ...
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Introduction
The film runs for 90 minutes and is certified “U” by the British Board of Film Censors. It was the first of the St. Trinian’s films to be made in colour.

The Plot
A train robbery has taken place and the stolen money is hidden in a disused mansion. The headmistress of St. Trinian’s school, Amber Spottiswoode, persuades the new Minister of Schools (one of her many lovers) to make the school a generous ... more

The Great St. Trianian’s Train Robbery

Dedication
To Frankie Howard (Alphonse Askett) who died on 19th April 1988, Frank Launder (Scriptwriter) who died in 1997 and to Sidney Gilliat (Director) who died in 1994.

Prologue
The Great St. Trianian’s Train Robbery was originally released in February 1966. It is the fourth in a series of St. Trinian’s Comedies based on Ronald Searle's cartoon creations. It continues many of the established trademarks from the earlier films.

Introduction
The film runs for 90 minutes and is certified “U” by the British Board of Film Censors. It was the first of the St. Trinian’s films to be made in colour.

The Plot
A train robbery has taken place and the stolen money is hidden in a disused mansion. The headmistress of St. Trinian’s school, Amber Spottiswoode, persuades the new Minister of Schools (one of her many lovers) to make the school a generous grant and subsequently she moves the school into Hamingwell Grange (could this name have been chosen to indicate the quality and style of acting), the previously mentioned disused mansion.

Now the farce begins. The Ministry suspecting the corrupt Minister of Schools of misappropriation of funds and sends undercover staff into the school to obtain incriminating evidence. The inspectors are discovered and captured by the pupils and later arrested by the police.

The thieves attempt to retrieve the money by posing as caterers on Parents Day. They are caught in the act and a chase takes place (Benny Hill style). The thieves are captured and the girls hailed as heroines.

The Characters
The Headmistress, Miss Amber Spottiswoode, played by Dora Bryan displays the kindly understanding of girlish ways characteristic of the previous headmistress Miss Fritton. A role established by the great Alistair Simms in drag, sadly not present in this film).
The School Teachers all reassemble for the schools reopening. Mabel Radnage (Barbara Couper), the deputy headmistress, has been released from Holloway Prison where she's done time for running an illegal charity. The maths teacher Veronica Bledlow (Elspeth Duxbury) is a poker game gambler and cheat (dropping aces in her wake). The French mistress, Albertine (Carole Ann Ford, the Doctor Who companion) is an artist's model. The games mistress comes from a women's wrestling match. The arts mistress gives up her job as a stripper. The music mistress rolls out of a pub somewhat the worse for drink.
The train robbers are led by Alphonse Askett aka Alf Askett, played by Frankie Howard. Askett runs a hairdresser shop as a disguise for the gang’s headquarters. Frankie Howard plays the part in the camp style suggestive of his future role in Up Pompeii. His gang is made up of Willy the Jelly-Man, Len the Lender - a bank officer and Gilbert the Wheel (Reg Varney) a driving instructor who abandons his student mid-lesson.
My best loved character in the film, Flash Harry Hackett played by George Cole, is a school governor who stocks the school with equipment (slot machines) in the gym and in the library such educational and literary gems as (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Fanny Hill and other books which had been reprinted following the new Obscene Publications Act of 1959) and sets up a betting shop with unusual chips.

The Directors
Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat worked in partnership for many years, writing and directing such films as The Lady Vanishes and The Green Man.
Parody and Satire
The film satirizes a number of contemporary events. The storyline is overtly based on the Great Train Robbery of 1963. The 1960 Betting and Gaming Act permitted street betting shops. The school having obtained its own gaming licence used pupils as counters, with different heights of girl to represent different values. The Labour government’s policy of 1965 requesting but not instructing Local Education Authorities to prepare plans for introducing comprehensive systems is satirized with the threatened closure of the privately run St Trinian’s schools.
With the money recovered and the robbers arrested, the newspaper headlines proclaim: 300 MBEs FOR ST. TRINIAN. THOUSANDS RETURN THEIR MEDALS. "A DIABOLICAL LIBERTY" SAYS RINGO, satirising the people who reportedly turned in their MBEs in disgust when the Beatles were awarded theirs.
The film also parodies the popular thrillers and spy films of the day. Radio transmitters are hidden in Alphonse’s hair dryer and shower head, a radio aerial is hidden in a lacrosse stick which also prints photos. The unseen mastermind, The Voice, is another stock character of thrillers and adventure films, is played by Stratford Johns, famous for his role as a detective in television’s Z Cars .
The train chase of two trains (the robbers in one, the schoolgirls in the other), a small inspection train driven by the teachers and a hand-pumped train car operated by two of the Fourth Formers.
The film pokes fun at the trends of the sixties with mens hair fashions, long and permed. When Alponse Mistenly dies his customers hair lavender, he persuades him that he is a trend setter.

Innovation v Tradition
The previous films in the series made by Searle contained no sexuality. In The Great St Trianians Train Robbery, the sixth form hold a pyjama party with young men. They wear baby doll nighties and fishnet tights (though many will say not actually as sexy as the stockings and suspenders of previous films).

The Fourth form has more of the tradition appearance and character. They hold a midnight feast in their dorm with a large open fire. When the thieves first attempt to retrieve their money, they are bombarded by the girls using tomatoes, flour bombs and jolly hockey sticks.

The Music
The soundtrack was written by Malcolm Arnold. Arnold is best known for his soundtrack for The Bridge over the River Kwai for which he won an academy award. His soundtrack for The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery is lighter with recurring themes full of wit and humour. The main theme is suggestive of school assembly played on the piano in a duet. Best of all is the memorable shady theme for the spivcharacter played by George Cole. The school song is a battle song, St Trinians, StTrinians, Our battle cry, St Trinians, StTrinians, Willnever die.

The Trains
The ftrain chase was shot exclusively on the Longmoor Military. A variety of steam locomotives an early Southern diesel multiple unit, an 0-6-0 diesel shunter (switcher) and a track inspection trolley all feature. Its good fun, the trains are real trains.

The Cost and Availability
The film is available on VHS Tape, published on 18th August 1997 by Warner Home Video and retails at approximately £5.99.
A two-DVD set of all four St Trinains films are available on DVD, realeased on 3rd November 2003 by Warner Brothers retailing at £14.99.

Epilogue
Sadly Alistair Sims and Joyce Grenfal stars of the previous three St Trinians films are missing from The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery. The film is however a great British classic comedy inspiring many future films and should be seen and recognised by generations to come.
 

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