The Interrupted Journey

Daniel Birt’s The Interrupted Journey opens with a gorgeous noir composition in which John North (Richard Todd) and his mistress Susan (Christine Norden) escape into the night, intending to abandon their marriages. Later, on the train whooshing them toward their new life together, North has second thoughts, pulls the emergency cord, and runs home; moments later, he and his wife (Valerie Hobson) hear North’s train crash in the distance, killing 30 people, including Susan. Inspired by an actual English train crash the year earlier initially thought to have been caused by an emergency cord pull, this clever set-up begins a highly entertaining story that twists delightfully through disaster recovery, police investigation, suspicion of murder, and domestic turmoil. While it may have a few plot holes and, for some, a disappointing ending, The Interrupted Journey combines narrative tension and dark shadows into a quintessential British noir.