The Runaway Bus (1954, United Kingdom)
Running time: 78 minutes
Language: English
The Runaway Bus 1954 British mystery film review
While heavy fog puts the transport around London to a halt, passengers at the London Airport are stuck for hours without any hope of leaving any time soon. The lucky ones are transported on the buses to other airports, where the fog is not so thick, but elderly Cynthia Beeston is among those, who try to reach Dublin and there are no good news for them. But through her charisma, she forces the airport staff to bring around one more bus, which would take them to Blackbushe Airport. The only problem is the only available bus is the emergency relief coach number 13 and there is no sign of the driver, who was supposed to be in charge of that. Percy Lamb, the relief driver, is lost at the London Airport due to the fog - first he lost the bearing, then he lost the sight of the bus, and finally, he lost the way to the main airport building. Stewardess "Nikki" Nicholls, who was put in charge of the transport of the four passengers to Dublin, helps Percy find the bus. As they were about to leave the airport, a commotion started nearby - a gang of criminals was in the process of stealing the gold bars from a storage and hiding it in the boot of coach number 13. Also, at the last moment, an additional passenger joined the group aboard the bus - pilot Peter Jones asks the stewardess if he can get a lift. Soon the coach 13 vanishes into the fog...
A comedy thriller penned and directed by Val Guest, starring comedian Frankie Howerd, veteran actress Margaret Rutherford and singer Petula Clark. This does not sound like a good idea for a movie, the production was made on a very low budget, but somehow the whole concept actually works almost perfectly. The plot lacks realism, the whole sets are covered in darkness and fog, but this builds an interesting atmosphere on a verge of being a parody and a serious production. The comedy is not the strong point of The Runaway Bus, but the mystery element and the guessing game who among the passengers could be a criminal keeps the film interesting right until the end.
Can you solve a case like this?
Our rating |
6 / 10 |
Movie value |
7 / 10 |
Realism factor |
2 / 5 |
Adventure factor |
3 / 5 |
Story complexity |
3 / 5 |
216 |
Cast of The Runaway Bus
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as Percy Lamb | |
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as Cynthia Beeston | |
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as Lee Nichols | |
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as Peter Jones | |
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as Janie Grey | |
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as Ernest Shroeder | |
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as Henry Waterman | |
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as Inspector Henley | |
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as transport dispatcher |
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