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The Runaway Bus

Play trailer Poster for The Runaway Bus 1954 1h 20m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
When a thick wave of fog rolls through London, visibility in Heathrow Airport drops to zero. With all flights canceled, inept bus driver Percy Lamb (Frankie Howerd) has the task of driving stranded passengers to an unaffected airport. Lamb has quite a few interesting personalities onboard, including the boisterous Miss Cynthia Beeston (Margaret Rutherford) and an innovative stewardess (Petula Clark). But Lamb is carrying more than passengers -- he's unknowingly transporting stolen goods.

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The Runaway Bus

Critics Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A modestly amusing caper film from producer, writer and director Val Guest. Rated: B- May 16, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Despite the poor film quality there is a little gem of a film here. Heavy fog hits London so a bus is hired to take people to another airport but the crooks are amongst the passengers Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Great early Frankie Howerd vehicle (no pun intended). When heavy fog prevents any flights from leaving London Airport, a group of passengers are put on a bus driven by Percy Lamb (Howerd in his first starring role) to drive to another airport. The fog is that heavy Percy doesn't know where he is going or that he is carrying stolen gold bullion that the robbers and police are relentlessly pursuing. Veteran film maker Val Guest directs the combination of comedy and drama very well. Essentially it's a rehash of the old smuggled goods story used previously in films like The Ghost Train and Oh Mr Porter, but here it has the added bonus of Frankie providing the laughs and a superb cast including Margaret Rutherford, a young Petula Clark and Terence Alexander. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Frankie Howard is about the only good thing in this dumb British Comedy. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a film I have loved since childhood, Frankie Howerd's comedy is spot on hilarious and has great charm. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Runaway Bus

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Cast & Crew

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Val Guest

Director

Frankie Howerd

Percy Lamb

Margaret Rutherford

Miss Cynthia Beeston

Petula Clark

"Nikki" Nicholls

Belinda Lee

Janie Grey

George Coulouris

Ernest Schroeder
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The Runaway Bus

The Runaway Bus (1954) The Runaway Bus (1954) The Runaway Bus (1954) The Runaway Bus (1954) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When a thick wave of fog rolls through London, visibility in Heathrow Airport drops to zero. With all flights canceled, inept bus driver Percy Lamb (Frankie Howerd) has the task of driving stranded passengers to an unaffected airport. Lamb has quite a few interesting personalities onboard, including the boisterous Miss Cynthia Beeston (Margaret Rutherford) and an innovative stewardess (Petula Clark). But Lamb is carrying more than passengers -- he's unknowingly transporting stolen goods.
Director
Val Guest
Producer
Val Guest
Screenwriter
Val Guest
Production Co
Val Guest Productions
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 9, 2016
Runtime
1h 20m
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