In an age of celebrity saturation it is easy to be cynical when it comes to those who work in the performing arts. Jenny Agutter is a definite exception. She is an actress for whom the viewing public have always held considerable affection, enhanced by the fact that she practically grew up on screen, following her debut at the age of twelve.

Agutter’s multitude of roles have demonstrated not only her versatility but also a distinct lack of snobbery on her part. She was plucky in the face of a Nazi invasion in The Eagle Has Landed and escaped a dystopian regime whilst sporting a mini dress in the camp cult classic Logan’s Run. On television, she could pop up playing the author Mary Shelley one minute, then appear in an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man the next.

By the time that she reached fully-fledged womanhood, the public’s love for her had, at least for much of the male population, turned into a crush. If any remained resistant then her role as lycanthrope loving Nurse Alex Price in John Landis’ comic horror An American Werewolf in London put paid to that.

When Agutter says "Hello" to me however, it is in a familiar, jaunty tone of the sort that might be used when inviting you in for a cup of tea. Alas, not today, though, as she is on the other end of a phone line to talk about The Railway Children. This classic 1970 film, the staple of many a Bank Holiday’s viewing, is returning to the cinema on 2 April in a digitally restored print just in time for both the Easter holidays and its 40th birthday celebrations.

In The Railway Children Agutter plays Roberta, the eldest of three siblings from a wealthy Edwardian family obliged to move to Yorkshire after their father is arrested on suspicion of espionage. Relocating to a run-down cottage in the countryside, the trio of children become local heroes after they avert a disaster on the nearby railway line.

Agutter (eighteen when the film was released) gives a spellbinding performance as a woman coming of age at a time of great change for her family. It is the role which, even all these years later, is still the one that she is most associated with. “It had a lot of publicity when it came out,” she recalls. “There was a royal premiere and it got really good reviews.”

After the initial hullabaloo however, Agutter had to work hard to stay in the public eye. “The Railway Children put me in good stead for people knowing my name, but it was a film when no other films were really being made; it was a very quiet time for the industry in this country. I did masses of classics on television and then I went into theatre. I worked in repertory companies and ended up at the National Theatre playing Miranda opposite Sir John Gielgud directed by Sir Peter Hall. I was completely out of my depth, actually.”

She attributes being cast opposite the theatrical legend down to her appearance in The Railway Children. “Peter Hall wanted somebody who didn’t have a theatre background. I had done theatre but my peer group had all come out of RADA and the rest.”

Agutter then tried her luck in America where The Railway Children had enjoyed a brief but critically lauded run. “I didn’t really think of myself as being a household name for The Railway Children until I returned to England fifteen years later and people were always talking about it. Every interview was ‘but of course you played Roberta,’ which was strange as there was lots of other work in between.”

If she regards this as a curse as well as a blessing she shows no signs of it. and is obviously still proud of The Railway Children, and rightly so. The film remains a superbly crafted piece of cinema. So how does Agutter explain the perennial popularity of the film?

“I think, first of all, that it comes from an extraordinary book which has never been out of print since 1905. [Director] Lionel Jeffries made an adaptation that has a clarity about it which captures what works in the book and translates it into a film script and a story which is very honest and very straightforward. There’s lots of stuff happening in it, something to entertain the adults, something for the children…and just visually it’s very good.”

Much of the credit for the film has to go to the late Jeffries, who not only directed but also wrote The Railway Children's screenplay. A true English eccentric, Jeffries' stamp is everywhere on The Railway Children, imbuing life and humour into even the most minor of characters. I had hoped that, like the role he played in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, Jeffries really was a slightly off-the-wall, grandfather figure. “Absolutely,” Agutter confirms with admiration in her voice, "he was out of his time, larger than life. I remember him with his red scarf around his neck and shouting out in this gruff voice but being totally fatherly.”

I ask her if she is now able to step back from her involvement in the film and just enjoy it as an audience member. “Well, I’m sort of amazed at how high my voice is in the film,” she replies. “Apart from that I just watch the film and see what extraordinary choices that Lionel made in the way he put the film together.”

The final, moving scene, where Roberta is reunited with her father at the railway station is a piece of cinematic brilliance. Agutter, who clearly knows not only her own craft, but that of filmmaking in general, explains why it is so affecting.

“It is a technical scene rather than anything else and very well put together. In the book the scene is very easy to read and very emotional but Lionel translated it into this series of images. The soundtrack goes into the background and you hear this sort of pinging noise, the sound of the doors closing, the people’s voices are cut off a little. Then there is this person in the mist. It’s almost a luminous experience. It is lovely but totally a technical scene. When you watch it you are just completely swept up by it.”

Of course, Jenny Agutter still makes regular appearances on both stage and screen. As our time comes to an end, I tell her that I am excited by her reunion with the director John Landis for his upcoming black comedy Burke and Hare. “Oh, I play a tiny role,” she claims. “He likes to put lots of people in his films so that you have to spot them. So look out for me.”

He just wanted you back, I suggest, to which she laughs before agreeing and, even after just a short time talking to Jenny Agutter, it is easy to see why he would.

The Railway Children: 40th Anniversary is out in cinemas 2 April, and available on DVD and Blu-ray 3 May.

words: Alan Diment