Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy, much to the anguish of Mum, her son-in-law, Arthur, and daughter Olive. How, they wonder, will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Then Arthur is sacked, and Stan agrees to delay the wedding. Meanwhile, he hits on an idea: Arthur should learn to drive a bus. Somehow he does just that, and even gets a job. Stan then blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea ...if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to the Windsor Safari Park
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I love this movie so much
Touches You
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Not the best of the series of films, but still easy going fun. Of course there is the sexualisation of women, whilst two letchy men ogle and make their rounds, but it is a sign of the times.
Bus driver Stan Butler (Reg Varney) gets engaged to Suzy (Janet Mahoney) at his depot much to the chagrin of his family. When his brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins) loses his job, it seems that his plans to move in to a new flat with her are scuppered as he will now be the sole supporter of the family including his sister Olive's (Anna Karen) kid Little Arthur. So with the help of his conductor, Jack (Bob Grant), he teaches Arthur to drive a bus and blackmails the new depot manager, Mr Jenkins (Kevin Brennan), into giving him the job of driving the new tour bus to Windsor Safari Park. Predictably, whatever Stan and company touch turns to disaster.Following the tremendous success of the first On The Buses feature film,Hammer put out this sequel that made it to No. 17 in the Box Office top 20 of 1972. Holiday On The Buses followed in 1973. The title was chosen via a competition in The Sun newspaper, which offered a cash prize to whoever came up with the best and it went to - guess who? - a bus driver! It is all pretty familiar stuff with the cast going through the familiar gags and, on the whole, they are pretty poorly presented. For instance, Stan and Jack sabotaging Blakey's radio control and Stan towing his brother-in-law's motorcycle behind his bus. All of these were lifted from the TV series. The scenes at Windsor Safari Park include Stan and Blakey being trapped in their bus by a lion and being attacked by monkeys. But, it is funny in places especially Blakey's fire drill where he attempts to show his staff how to operate the new fire fighting equipment with absurd but, predictably, catastrophic consequences. Fans of the series - me included - will no doubt love it but people looking for something original will be sorely disappointed and, yes, like its predecessor and the TV sitcom series, the critics tore it apart.
I see the witless morons from the PC brigade are out in force. If they don't like the humour in On The Buses, then why do these poor brainwashed unfortunates bother writing in? Could it be jealousy that their heroes are lucky to get anywhere near a quarter of the viewing figures that this wonderful show received? Could it be that their own favourites aren't worth writing about? Who knows? Who cares? No matter what they do, quality will always shine through and when the rubbish has disappeared (who remembers Ben Elton for example?) the likes of On The Buses will still be fondly thought of and remembered. Long live common sense and two fingers to the PC brigade
This wasn't funny in 1972. It's not funny now.Unlike a lot of other people, I'm not bashing the film because it is incredibly sexist - I quote enjoyed that bit, or rather I enjoyed the reaction it generates in annoying PC people - I'm bashing it because it is poorly written and acted.The only really memorable character is Blakey, which British people 25 years old will recognise immediately since he was a favourite with impressionists for a long time.Avoid.