Search - Love on a Branch Line on DVD

Love on Branch Line

IAN BRADSHAW | USA | 03/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the gentle but great British comedies. Great casting of theater trained actors who make this a really enjoyable & hilarious romp. Extremely watchable time & time again."

Funny and Beautiful Real Setting

D. Nelson | New England | 12/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You don't need stage sets when you have a real castle with a moat, gardens, tapestries, paneling, etc.. not to mention the real steam engine train. Our hero gets to play footplateman in one scene, and the eldest daughter is engine driver. The train is one of the best features of the film. It's a period-piece set in the year 1957.

I was told that it was a miniseries on British TV. There are 4 episodes and some text-format special features. But don't let that put you off, the text is very informative.

SPOILERS!...

There are hillarious scenes of tomfoolery where a nice old man with no legs insists that our hero dance a Charleston for him (nothing looks sillier than a man dancing a Charleston by himself), of course, at the worst possible time. Also whenever our dashing young scout is kissing one of the daughters, mother just happens to stumble upon the pair.

MORE SPOILERS! Do not read if you don't want to know too much!

The difficulty arises when our hero is pressured to shut down the statistical ministry operation at Arcady Castle, and despite all efforts to the contrary, he finds no reason to spare them the dark fate of asking them to shut down. Things do work out for the best, however, and he does "make the right decision" in the end.

END of SPOILERS...

This zany and delightful comedy is chock full of scheming females, respectable gentlemen with stoically managed agendas, and dearly held traditions that deserve preservation. As Jasper (the main character) says at one point, he has stumbled onto a world where the laws of cause and effect are temporarily suspended. He rides it out and we watch with ear-to-ear grins on our clocks.
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