Directed by Robert W. Paul Running time 39 secs Language Silent Director Robert W. Paul Cinematography Robert W. Paul | Release date 1898 (1898) Country United Kingdom Initial release 1898 Produced by Robert W. Paul | |
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Production
company Paul's Animatograph Works Similar Come Along - Do!, Blackfriars Bridge, The Twins' Tea Party, A Sea Cave Near Lisbon, A Chess Dispute | ||
A Switchback Railway is an 1898 British short black-and-white silent actuality film, directed by Robert W. Paul, featuring patrons riding on a switchback railway at a fairground. "This dynamically composed actuality," according to Micahael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later." It is included on the BFI DVD R.W. Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908. It is arguable that the filmmaker, R.W. Paul, missed a trick by not placing the camera inside one of the moving cars to simulate the ride from the passenger's perspective, although he might have had difficulty keeping the camera steady. Nonetheless, the film was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later.