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The Last Journey

1936 film by Bernard Vorhaus

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ7745836 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Last Journey is a 1936 British drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring Godfrey Tearle, Hugh Williams and Judy Gunn. It was written by John Soutar, H. Fowler Mear and Joseph Jefferson Farjeon.

Synopsis

A train driver on his last journey before retirement thinks his fireman is having an affair with his wife. The driver intends to kill himself and his passengers by crashing the train. The train is filled with colourful characters, including a psychoanalyst who persuades the driver not to do it.

Cast

Godfrey Tearle as Sir Wilfred Rhodes

Hugh Williams as Gerald Winter

Judy Gunn as Diana Gregory

Mickey Brantford as Tom

Julien Mitchell as Bob Holt

Olga Lindo as Mrs. Holt

Michael Hogan as Charlie

Frank Pettingell as Goddard

Eliot Makeham as Pip

Eve Gray as Daisy

Production

The film was made at Twickenham Studios as a quota quickie.

Critical reception

Film Weekly wrote: "Competently narrated and capably acted, this is an unassuming little picture that is quite sound entertainment of its type. ... Bernard Vorhaus has kept a firm control over the rather complicated threads of the story; and, as usual, his work is marked by intelligent touches that suggest he will one day make an outstanding film."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Suspense is well-maintained and the climax is thrilling.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Last Journey” is 1936 film by Bernard Vorhaus. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Last, Journey and film, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1936—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1936-01-01. For this dossier, Last, Journey and film is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1936 film by Bernard Vorhaus” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7745836. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Last Journey”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Last Journey primary sources, The Last Journey archive and Last research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Last Journey”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Last Journey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.