The Railwaymen

Directed by Richard Q. McNaughton

The Railwaymen shows the public information film moving onto a peacetime footing, and is one of the first films to bear the name of the Central Office of Information. The COI would go on to sponsor thousands of films, long and short, over the next 65 years. Made by the government’s Crown Film Unit, which had turned out brilliant propaganda during the war, The Railwaymen isn’t one of the unit’s best films. But it is enjoyable and interesting, and one of a significant series encouraging recruitment to various industries in the postwar reconstruction effort.