Waverley Steps is a 1948 dramatised documentary film depicting a period of 30 hours in the life of people in Edinburgh, Scotland.
According to an opening caption, the film is a "glimpse into the lives of a few of [Edinburgh's] citizens between 5 o'clock one Sunday afternoon and late the following night".
The film opens with shots of two Class A4 steam locomotives: Union of South Africa approaching Waverley Station and No.
At the depot, the fireman leaves the Merlin to cycle to join his wife who is watching from a tenement window overlooking the railway.
The sailor takes a tram to Princes Street where he asks directions to Edinburgh Castle but has difficulty making himself understood.
In East Market Street, the coalman buys the afternoon newspaper (which reports the trial of the bigamist) and reads that the dog he bet on has won.
As they make their way to the dance, the advocate and his wife take their seats at the theatre where a performance of Swan Lake is about to begin.
While in Stockholm researching a book on Scandinavian cinema, Hardy became familiar with the work of Swedish director Arne Sucksdorff and was especially attracted to his Rhythm of a City.
The local council was unhappy with the original treatment showing an encounter between the Danish sailor and a prostitute.
The organ music heard during the sailor's visit to St Giles Cathedral is the Widor Toccata.
[4] In a contemporary review in the News Chronicle, Richard Winnington described Waverley Steps as "a crisp, rhythmic film with a brain and a wit behind it.
He adds that "despite the odd lapse, Waverley Steps is a remarkably fine film, as successful an evocation of a city as you are likely to come across anywhere.