Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

diadectes58 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.

audiemurph If you love the old British comedies of the post-war years, such as those starring Peter Sellers and Alec Guiness, then this movie is right up your alley. Runaway Bus contains all the trademarks of great English comedy: eccentric British characters, fast and witty dialogue, and, what I think makes them really funny, the British habit of saying things in a much more sophisticated and complicated way than us slangy Americans ever would. All enjoyable and innately funny.Anyway, there are no obvious stars in this film, like those gentlemen mentioned above. This was my first exposure to British star Frankie Howerd (even his name is spelled funny), and once I got used to his never-ending parade of facial contortions, I found him quite amusing. Margaret Rutherford is the only actor (-tress) I recognized, and she played her quirky strong-willed role as wonderfully as ever.The pacing of the film is quick, but what I think really makes this movie above par is that you are never sure about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. You will definitely change your mind multiple times, and the script does a wonderful job of leading you down one path only to change direction a few moments later. You think you know who did it, but then you are sure you are wrong. The surprises and one-liners come fast and furious all the way to the final line.This is a fun film full of classic British motifs. If this is your thing, I highly recommend it.

JohnHowardReid One of the foundation stones of conventional movie wisdom is that only seven possible story scenarios are suitable for a mass audience. Recently, screenwriter Blake Snyder has expanded this concept to ten: Monster in the House, Dude with a Problem, Fool Triumphant, Superhero, Buddy Love, Out of a Bottle, Institution, Golden Fleece, Rights-of-Passage, and Whydunit.You'd think that Mr Snyder had taken The Runaway Bus as his model, for Val Guest was inspired to use all but one of the above basics in constructing his heavily-laced plot: Monster in the House? Yes, we do have a major variation on a haunted house sequence. Dude with a Problem? Yes, a big problem. He's lost his way in the fog with a bus-load of eccentric passengers. Fool Triumphant? I'll say! Superhero? No, I'm glad to declare, but it's the only one we miss out on. Buddy Love? Yes, there's a girl on the bus. Two girls to be precise: perky, petite-as-a-picture Petula Clark and emptyheaded-but-wow-of-a-figure Belinda Lee! Out of a Bottle? Not quite the sort of addiction that Snyder implies, but cranky-as-a-hoot-owl Margaret Rutherford certainly gives that impression. Institution? Definitely! The characters find themselves in a "prison", and even the airport itself is virtually cut off and isolated. Golden Fleece? A major strand of the plot. Rights-of-Passage? That's also what it's all about. And Whydunit is actually a Whodunit here and this is the number one element of Guest's scenario. In fact, comedy really takes a second place to the mystery.For what is to all intents and purposes his movie debut, Frankie Howard seems most fortunate to have gained a big assist from writer/producer/director Val Guest who has surrounded him with a fine cast and great production values. Oddly, although the movie won critical praise, it did only moderately well at the British box office. For once, the critics were right, and picturegoers wrong. Howard's comic gifts are considerable and he comes across as a comedian with a genuinely original and amusing style.Producer Guest was taking no chances, however. In addition to Frankie, he has cast Margaret Rutherford at her eccentric best, Petula Clark (no, fans, she doesn't sing in The Runaway Bus, but you can't have everything), Belinda Lee (inclined to over-enthusiastically over-act in this, her first feature film, but who's complaining?), Toke Townley (a first-class character actor who spent most of his career playing bit parts), and perennial Hollywood heavy, George Coulouris. Although he doesn't share a single scene with his wife, Margaret Rutherford's real-life husband, Stringer Davis, has a small role as an airport official and one of the funniest lines. Explaining that the emergency bus can only be used in an emergency, he's told that at the reception desk an old lady is haranguing the staff with an umbrella. I love his laconic reply: "That's an emergency!"Producer/writer/director Guest has also hedged his bets with the screenplay itself by making the mystery and thriller angles of the story as intriguing and suspenseful as other episodes are chucklesome and amusing. The identity of the mystery "Banker" is cleverly disguised, whilst superbly film noirish photography and grand-scale art direction (that must have strained Southall's comparatively small studio space to the limit) contribute splendidly to the spooky atmosphere.

richard.fuller1 Full of stodgy British laughs from almost fifty years ago, this movie was excellent to watch when there was nothing else to do. See an incredibly young Petula Clark (it took me a while to recognize her), Margaret Rutherford as the stereotypical English grandmother complete with fox fur and parasol, but especially the laughs are had by Frankie Howard, virtually unknown to American audiences. As the bus driver of a bus with about a half dozen passengers who are stranded in one of hte legendary London fogs, Howard gets the best laughs just trying to find the bus in the fog to begin with. The movie does valley out but it is interesting to watch to the end. Petula does not sing tho. This was a fun movie, if for nothing else then to see an aged, non-HOllywood film with non-Hollywood actors.