The Runaway Bus

Certainly not one of the classic 50s comedies, but it allows Frankie to give full reign to his unique talent. There are rather too many unbelievable plot twists and many of the characters are two dimensional, but there are some good chuckles. Nice to see a young Petula, and also Belinda Lee, one of the many blonde bombshells of the 50s who were hyped as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe. Disappointingly, if you enjoy watching 50s films for their shots of towns and villages in the post war period, this one seems to have been shot almost exclusively in the studio and backlot Verdict : If you are a big fan of Frankie Howerd's style, go for it.

Frankie Howerd who for some unexplained reason never got big stardom on the big screen made a very funny feature film debut where he plays a bus driver in The Runaway Bus. In fact part of the plot is that he's driving the bus for the wrong company.

It's supposed to be a regular bus, but a very pushy stewardess for British Overseas Airlines Corporation (BOAC) played by Petula Clark manages to dragoon Howerd into driving a shuttle bus that BOAC has for its passengers. Nothing is flying at Heathrow because of the fog, but the company will shuttle some passengers to another airport where they can make connections.

One of them wants to real bad because they've just stolen several gold bullion bars from the Bank of England and they're trying to affect a getaway. The problem is just who among the passengers is the thief? And the suspicions are not just confined to the passengers.

Complicating things is the fact that Howerd in the fog manages to drive the bus to an abandoned village that the British Army uses for war games. Believe it or not, it's all both pretty funny and suspenseful at the time.

Such various and sundry characters as Margaret Rutherford, George Coulouris, Terence Alexander, and Belinda Lee are all passengers on the bus. They all deliver performances well within their typecasting range.

Howerd never got big screen stardom on either side of the pond. His real fame was on the small screen in the United Kingdom. For me this was a nice introduction to his brand of comedy. I liked it and I think so will you.

There's one thing that will keep this mid-20th century comedy from ever being outdated - London's fog. The Heathrow haze in this film is thicker than pea soup, and will be familiar to all Londoners, most Brits and many tourists who have traveled to or through London. Indeed, the fog itself has a major role in "The Runaway Bus."

This British comedy-caper is a delightful film to watch, with the fog helping to compound the suspense. It's not a laugh-a-minute script, but just a very good mix of dialog, antics and filming. The mystery is too good to give any hints that might dampen the delightful surprise ending. The caper culprit had me stumped all the way.

The cast is perfect for this film. There are only a couple of big names that would be known around the cinematic globe in the mid-20th century - Petula Clark and Margaret Rutherford. The rest of the cast would have been unknown to all but the English audiences of the day. But Frankie Howard as Percy Lamb, George Coulouris as Edward Schroeder, Terence Alexander as Peter Jones and all the rest give top notch performances.

Petula Clark provides a sense of order as a stewardess charged with getting some airline passengers to another airport. Her Lee Nicholls is a contrast with the hapless Percy Lamb who is the emergency relief bus driver. Rutherford's Miss Cynthia Beeston is a familiar cantankerous dowager role.

The title of this film is odd, because the bus is never driven wildly or out of control, as the term "runaway" implies. It would be more accurate to call it a lost bus. Movie buffs who like older movies, British films, and comedy capers should enjoy this film.

Here are a couple of favorite lines.

Percy Lamb, "This would have to happen now, just when I wanted a day off. My grandmother, poor old soul." Duty Officer, "Is she dead?" Percy Lamb, "No, she's home on leave."

Lee Nichols, "I'm sure we all feel safer knowing we're who we say we are."

One of the foundation stones of conventional movie wisdom is that only seven possible story scenarios are suitable for a mass audience. Recently, screenwriter Blake Snyder has expanded this concept to ten: Monster in the House, Dude with a Problem, Fool Triumphant, Superhero, Buddy Love, Out of a Bottle, Institution, Golden Fleece, Rights-of-Passage, and Whydunit.

You'd think that Mr Snyder had taken The Runaway Bus as his model, for Val Guest was inspired to use all but one of the above basics in constructing his heavily-laced plot: Monster in the House? Yes, we do have a major variation on a haunted house sequence. Dude with a Problem? Yes, a big problem. He's lost his way in the fog with a bus-load of eccentric passengers. Fool Triumphant? I'll say! Superhero? No, I'm glad to declare, but it's the only one we miss out on. Buddy Love? Yes, there's a girl on the bus. Two girls to be precise: perky, petite-as-a-picture Petula Clark and emptyheaded-but-wow-of-a-figure Belinda Lee! Out of a Bottle? Not quite the sort of addiction that Snyder implies, but cranky-as-a-hoot-owl Margaret Rutherford certainly gives that impression. Institution? Definitely! The characters find themselves in a "prison", and even the airport itself is virtually cut off and isolated. Golden Fleece? A major strand of the plot. Rights-of-Passage? That's also what it's all about. And Whydunit is actually a Whodunit here and this is the number one element of Guest's scenario. In fact, comedy really takes a second place to the mystery.

For what is to all intents and purposes his movie debut, Frankie Howard seems most fortunate to have gained a big assist from writer/producer/director Val Guest who has surrounded him with a fine cast and great production values. Oddly, although the movie won critical praise, it did only moderately well at the British box office. For once, the critics were right, and picturegoers wrong. Howard's comic gifts are considerable and he comes across as a comedian with a genuinely original and amusing style.

Producer Guest was taking no chances, however. In addition to Frankie, he has cast Margaret Rutherford at her eccentric best, Petula Clark (no, fans, she doesn't sing in The Runaway Bus, but you can't have everything), Belinda Lee (inclined to over-enthusiastically over-act in this, her first feature film, but who's complaining?), Toke Townley (a first-class character actor who spent most of his career playing bit parts), and perennial Hollywood heavy, George Coulouris. Although he doesn't share a single scene with his wife, Margaret Rutherford's real-life husband, Stringer Davis, has a small role as an airport official and one of the funniest lines. Explaining that the emergency bus can only be used in an emergency, he's told that at the reception desk an old lady is haranguing the staff with an umbrella. I love his laconic reply: "That's an emergency!"

Producer/writer/director Guest has also hedged his bets with the screenplay itself by making the mystery and thriller angles of the story as intriguing and suspenseful as other episodes are chucklesome and amusing. The identity of the mystery "Banker" is cleverly disguised, whilst superbly film noirish photography and grand-scale art direction (that must have strained Southall's comparatively small studio space to the limit) contribute splendidly to the spooky atmosphere.

I taped this probably about 15 years or so ago, and I enjoyed it very much then. A young Frankie Howerd is hilarious, as is the interplay between Margaret Rutherford and Toke Townley. The young female airhead who keeps saying stupid things gets a bit annoying very quickly, but that's the only drawback. I must confess I have never recognized Petula Clark as the stewardess - she's a relatively good actress whatever else she is. And its so nostalgic that it all takes place in a fog...it's been so long that I've been in England that I miss it! It's an enjoyable film and I recommend it to anyone who likes mystery stories or British comedy.