On The Buses (5 Stars)

In America British comedy series are popular. The Americans rave over sitcoms like "Vicar of Dibley", "Are you being served" and "Goodnight Sweetheart". Strangely, they don't know "On The Buses", one of the funniest series that ran from 1969 to 1973. Somehow it's slipped the attention of American audiences. Maybe they're put off by the early episodes being in black and white? I don't know. Whatever the reason, it's brilliant (with the possible exception of the final season).

In 1971 Hammer Studios made a spin-off film based on the series. It's set in a different town with different coloured buses, but it's the same characters. Is the concept successful as a film? In the case of the first film the answer is an unconditional Yes. The sequels aren't quite as good, in my opinion, because they stray from the original concept.

And just what is the original concept? The film is about buses. In the main roles we have a bus driver, a bus conductor and a bus inspector. The driver's family appear in supporting roles, but it's still about buses. In the film five minutes never go by without a red bus rolling across the screen.

For Stan Butler (the driver) and Jack Harper (the conductor) buses are their career, but their main interest is women. The slang word in the 1960's was crumpet. They're always eyeing the female conductors, which is understandable, because they're all young and wear short skirts. I'd be looking as well.

The amorous encounters are always comical. Stan gets his female colleagues onto the sofa in his mother's house, but never any further. It's the awkward fumbling that's common with teenagers, not what we'd expect from adults. It's never stated how old Stan was, but the actor playing him was 55 in the picture above. Here he is sampling passionate kisses with the bus station's cook, Bridget.

And here he is, lying in the opposite direction with the female bus driver, Sally. To be honest, I miss the days when I used to lie with girls on my parents' sofa. Those were fun days of naive innocence.

The film's main plot is about the introduction of women bus drivers into the company. Women like Sally. "Women drivers? It's a diabolical liberty!" They're good enough to be ogled and thrown onto sofas, but it's inconceivable that women should drive buses. If women can't even drive cars properly, how can they be expected to drive buses?

2 Malden Road in 1971

In case anyone is wondering where the film was made, it was filmed in Borehamwood, north of London. The house where Stan enjoyed his fun on the sofa was 2 Malden Road. I've compared it with more recent photos from Google Maps. The front of the building has been repainted, but the house is still recognisable. The large building in the background is Elstree Film Studios, which is still used by the BBC today. The Eastenders filming location, known as Albert Square, is behind the house, only 200 meters away.

2 Malden Road in 2018, courtesy of Google Streetview

This is a wonderful film, whatever the critics have to say about it, and it was immensely successful, though not outside of the UK. The high success rate is almost entirely the result of box office sales in Britain.

Success Rate:  + 25.8