The Runaway Bus

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.