Night Mail

Film Description

  • Year: 1936
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Director: Harry Watt, Basil Wright
  • Screenwriter: W. H. Auden

The film follows the distribution of mail by train in the 1930s, focusing on the so-called Postal Special train, a train dedicated only to carrying the post and with no members of the public. The night train travels on the mainline route from Euston station in London to Glasgow, Scotland, on to Edinburgh and then Aberdeen. External shots include the train itself passing at speed down the tracks, aerial views of the countryside, and interior shots of the sorting van (actually shot in studio). Much of the film highlights the role of postal workers in the delivery of the mail.