When heavy fog prevents any flights from leaving London Airport, a group of passengers are put on a bus driven by Percy Lamb to drive to another airport. The fog is that heavy Percy doesn't know where he is going or that he is carrying stolen gold bullion that the robbers and police are relentlessly pursuing.
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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
THE RUNAWAY BUS is a lightweight British comedy feature with some nice mystery and thriller aspects in the mix. The story is set on a foggy night of the year, the location an airport transport bus which is taking the usual diverse group of passengers to a remote location but struggling to find a route through the obscured country roads. There's a bit of a light Agatha Christie feel as it becomes apparent that at least one of the passengers is merely masquerading and actually a robber involved in the theft of some gold bullion. This is a notable feature for the always likeable Frankie Howerd, playing the replacement bus driver involved in all manner of pratfalls and goofy humour; his brand of comedy acting is well established even by this stage of his career. The film is low budget but has lots of humour and a very good supporting cast. Margaret Rutherford is the loudmouth, Terence Alexander a shady rival. Petula Clark is very young, unrecognisable in fact as the friendly but pushy stewardess. George Coulouris is another shady character, and there are bit parts for film regulars Marianne Stone and Sam Kydd.
Pretty dire but just about watchable. A rather strange film too. I kept getting the feeling that I was watching two films at the same time: one a rather dull and silly crime thriller, and the other a Carry On film that Fankie Howerd seemed to think he was in. Just watch the movie and them imagine it without Frankie Howerd. See what I mean. He does not contribute anything to the story. He does his routine and the cast just stare at him bewildered. He then shuts up and the cast pick up where they left off and get on with it. It's almost like they started making the film as a regular crime thriller but then had second thoughts, so brought Frankie Howerd in to liven things up, and quickly wrote a few gags and lines for him.
Remember Smogs?Those terrifying combinations of factory smoke and fog that were eventually eradicated by the Clean Air Act?Well,if you're old enough to have experienced them,"The Runaway Bus" may be just up your street. Set in the halcyon days when London only had one airport and it was actually called London Airport,"The Runaway Bus" relies heavily on plot no 5 in the Movie Writers' Handbook,the travelling companions in peril perhaps best exemplified in its earlier incarnation "Stagecoach". A bus containing a master criminal on the run with gold bullion gets lost in the fog.The bus is driven by Mr Frankie Howerd,a comedian of such peculiar talents that he is almost sui generis.His outrageous personae are only approached by those of his near contemporary Mr Kenneth Williams who lacked Howerd's bombastic streak. Outstanding amongst the passengers is the equally eccentric Miss Margaret Rutherford who,strangely,a few years later was to win an Oscar for her performance in another film about London Airport in the fog - "The V.I.P.s". Stalwarts of British stage,screen and TV happily rhubarb around adding to the fun. In 1957 Mr Howerd found the transition from his true medium - radio - to the movies an uneasy one and "The Runaway Bus" suffered as a consequence.Watched with half a century's hindsight and nostalgia it seems an amusing,and,considering that almost all the cast have gone to the great rehearsal room in the sky,almost poignant. It fills a gap between the innocence of "Doctor in the house" and the sauciness of the rapidly approaching "Carry On" franchise,and fills it very pleasingly.
This film is a must see for any fan of the following movies: The Cat And The Canary (Bob Hope), Any Agatha Christie Movie (Margaret Rutherford ONLY!), Ask A Policeman (Will Hay, Harbottle & Albert), OH! Mr Porter (Will Hay, Harbottle & Albert) or What A Carve Up! (Sid Jmes & Kenneth Moore), The House In Nightmare Park (Frankie Howard). Brilliantly shot movie, fog rolls in and creates a real feeling of horror. Add to this brilliant performances by Frankie (Very Young) and Margaret Rutherford. Watch this film in bed when it's dark outside! Subsitute bus driver (Howard) takes a group of passengers from the airport (where its very foggy) to another destination. Once the bus sets off we hear news of a robbery (done by THE BANKER) bars of gold bullion have been stolen and the other place the police think the gold could be is in the boot of the RUNAWAY BUS. Frankie loses his way the thick fog and soon the RUNAWAY BUS is in the middle of nowhere! The small number of passengers are all behaving very odd for various reasons but is one of them THE BANKER? Brilliant, who done it?
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