Man on the Train. Naming Johnny Hallyday was a big clue indeed.

Bedridden and partially blind,
he released the real from its rind;
and said: Let there be blue
and saw it was true
and retired his body and mind.

Derek Jarman's Blue

And a limerick that's more than just a drill or an amusement. Gorgeous, Walter.

Though the passengers felt aggravated,
The officer seemed educated,
Polite and well-spoken,
His English unbroken.
“I was at Oxford”, he stated.

But one didn’t buy it; instead,
Gilbert clobbered the chap on the head.
“What on earth …!” they exclaimed,
So Gilbert explained:
“I was at Cambridge”, he said.

Shelley Winters heroically died in
This movie where passengers ridin'
A luxury ship
That did a big flip
Learned it's foolish to tick off Poseidon.

A bit of an Adventure, though, eh, RogerBob?

Still puzzled by yours, Brian. Should I Ask a Policeman?

Yes, one incident from the film wasn't much of a clue. Here's another:


The tune of this sweet serenade
Must be memorised; later, replayed,
For the song is in code,
And the notes of this ode
Are a message that must be relayed.

Is this the same film, Brian?

It was more than a mere passing tiff:
She shot that damn rapist! The stiff
Was dead, but instead
Of remaining, she fled
With her friend and drove off of a cliff.

Every cent, when the cook’s a big winner,
gets consumed in one wonderful dinner.
     Thank the Lord that one guest
     will admit he’s impressed,
but he, too, is a foreigner sinner.

RogerBob - Thelma? Louise?

Julie - Babette...?

It's the same film, Ann. Perhaps I'm being a bit obscure. The serenade was sung under a hotel window, and memorised by an old lady. The passengers are on a train that has been side-tracked for nefarious purposes. The title of the film makes reference to a well-known conjuror's trick.

Aha! The Lady Vanishes!

(Sorry, Brian; that must have been like pulling teeth.)

Ome of my favorite Hitchcock films. I thought the officer boasting 'I was at Oxford' followed by Michael Redgrave bashing him over the head with a chair, and saying 'I was at Cambridge', would be a giveaway, but I underestimated the tenacity of your teeth.

Could be because I've never actually seen the film. I have David Thomson's "Have You Seen" at my elbow.

Oh! You should watch it immediately, Ann. It's a delightful film, one of the select few that I can watch over and over again.

The Guardian called the film "one of the greatest train movies from the genre's golden era", and a contender for the "title of best comedy thriller ever made".

Roger. Wilco.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6gpvp1
.
.

Oh, Brian, BRIAN - thank you!

Within the first few minutes I laughed aloud (the half-heard cod-German!) and that's something that doesn't often happen when one is completely alone. The script is a pure gem and the confident pace that has no truck with "set pieces" held me in my typing chair till my bum froze.

Even though I knew (from previous posts) the end of the affair and the musical McGuffin, I cared what, and how it, happened. I was happy to let Hitch "startle the suckers" and went along - happily.

Happy is the word. A state of mind not easily achieved in these sick and sorry times. So - thank you.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Ann. In fact, after writing the limericks and helping you to identify it, I suggested to Francoise that perhaps it was time to watch it again ourselves this weekend. She did not demur.

No Pun
 

A while back in Boulder, Colorado
I spent a great night with a shadow
While her first name
and another’s the same
her second is Shadow, not Maddow

... except that "O Best Beloved" is from the Just-So Stories.

Indeed. Oh, dear. Hmmmm...

Ann, I'm told that when I was still tiny (far too young to remember it myself) my mother used to read me the Just-So Stories over and over again until I knew them by heart, but never tired of them, although she, perhaps, did. On one occasion, she tried skipping a few phrases, but I told her sternly: "You left out 'O Best Beloved'." She didn't try that again.