When Percy Lamb says 'Just follow this' meaning the luggage straps tied to the headlights - the luggage straps are nowhere to be seen prior as if they mysteriously appeared in his hand.
Maybe you have to be British and I'm not but my opinion of the comedic talents of Frankie Howerd lies somewhat to the south of Jerry Lewis. Give it a C.
It must have been terrible to have to share a stage/screen with Margaret Rutherford. She only had to look at the camera and she had already stolen the scene - a consummate comedy actress whom, alongside Frankie Howerd keeps this rather daft crime caper bubbling along quite nicely for 75 minutes.
There's one thing that will keep this mid-20th century comedy from ever being outdated - London's fog.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.
I would have given a higher rating if the sound & picture quality were better because this is really a very funny enjoyable movie. I think most people will like it if they can get around the poor quality.
Remember Smogs?Those terrifying combinations of factory smoke and fog that were eventually eradicated by the Clean Air Act?
British comedian Frankie Howerd, best known to TV fans as the star of the historical satire Up Pompeii, makes his feature film debut alongside Margaret Rutherford, George Coulouris, Belinda Lee and English songstress Petula Clark. Howerd plays Percy Lamb, a novice bus driver, who, as London is submerged in thick fog, is assigned to drive the number "13" coach from London airport to another a couple of hours away.
This is a great comedy film,with a large number of British stars on their way up including later pop star Petula Clarke who these days lives in france. The whole set up hinges on the fact that a fog covers the south east England and a Gold bullion robeery has been waiting for this very thing to happen.
I cannot imagine what people saw in this film. Frankie Howerd is irritating to me, not because he was more gay than Liberace (no problem there) but because the movie is not about him being gay.
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.
