The Cornish Coast in The Sign of the Ram (1948)

Shot at Lizard Point, Cornwall, England (+ some compositing of the house and lighthouse)

In the establishing shots at the start of the film, Sherida Binyon’s (Phyllis Thaxter) arrival by train to “The Cornish Riviera” is suggested by shots of a fictional rail station called Tremerrion. This sequence includes a real Great Western Railway poster painted by Frank Newbould, which was used to advertise the route from London’s Paddington station to Cornwall. The poster was apparently in use from 1923-1947. Amazingly, this sequence does not have a single shot of a train!

I appreciate the cheekiness of introducing the film’s setting with an idyllic painting of a quaint fishing village shielded by cliffs when that is so far from what The Sign of the Ram depicts.

Here’s the poster in color:

image

This particular poster isn’t included on the National Railway Museum’s website, but there are a lot of other wonderful posters featured in their online collection.

Notes

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