Last night's movie was a Veddy Brrrittish comedy classic called "The Runaway Bus"(1954), directed by Val Guest, who also helmed the first two Quatermass movies as well as "The Day the Earth Caught Fire". I'd heard of this film and remembered the title when it popped up on my Youtube recommendations, but I didn't know it was regarded as a long lost English classic, and, because of his sci-fi rep, I wouldn't have figured Guest as its director. It's rare to see an older movie (black and white, pre-1960s) with well over a million views, and in fact I'm not sure we've seen any of our Youtube movies with even half that amount. Most have 50-120K. I didn't even notice the view count until the movie was over, but it's proof enough of its well-loved status. One thing to know going in, however: it's Brrrittish as all get-out. Lets add an extra Veddy and call it Veddy, Veddy Brrrittish. It starts off with the kind of quirky humor you'd expect from such a film, but in the first 15 minutes, the quirkiness is turned up to a rolling boil, which - if you aren't from the UK - can make the movie feel like its off to a slow start. We're talking about eccentric characters, and in this case there's an obnoxious older woman who just has to get to Dublin, and.....oy! But when the Runaway Bus gets going, there's a whole different feel as the plot builds.
It involves the robbery of a ton of gold bullion, planned during the opening credits. The gold is in a storage building located at the London Airport. The robbers wait for a night of heavy fog to carry out their deed, and we never see them steal the gold or load it onto the BOAC bus that normally transports airline passengers to nearby towns. However, the passengers on this bus have all been rerouted due to the fog and the resulting airport shutdown, and it isn't clear to anyone where its going. The old obnoxious lady isn't happy and spends all of her time complaining. Then there's the young, beautiful, constantly grinning gal (the tragic Belinda Lee, who we saw last year in "The Secret Place"), who can't get enough of her horror comic books. She likes to read them aloud to the other passengers: tales of zombies and graveyard murders, the gorier the better. This is Belinda Lee's first movie, it's just awful what happened to her.
Because of the airport shutdown, and the woman who won't stop complaining (Margaret Rutherford), a replacement bus and driver are brought in to take the stranded passengers to Blackbushe Airport, which will deliver them to their various destinations. It's the middle of the night, the fog is like pea soup, and replacement driver "Percy Lamb" (Frankie Howerd), who doesn't even work for BOAC, is a total Nervous Norvus as he tries to drive blindly through the fog while dealing with the bickering passengers. He does have a stewardess to assist him, and I was stunned to learn when the movie was over that she was played by a 22 year old Petula Clark. Wow! When I was five years old, "Downtown" was one of my favorite songs. But she's an excellent actress too, and keeps the passengers safe while the driver is losing his mind. He can't see where he's going, Belinda Lee is scaring everyone half to death, and the driver has been told, by a mysterious gun-toting passenger, not to say anything about the gold to the police.
Frankie Howerd, I read later, was a beloved English comedian. He's great as the hapless bus driver, and the movie turns into a "Spooks Run Wild" mystery, when the bus stops in a village that appears to be deserted. Then someone starts trying to pick them off with an automatic rifle, and they end up in a haunted house. This is where the Brrrittishness pays off, and the hijinx kick into gear. After a ten-minute series of plot twists, the crooks are finally caught, but they turn out to be absolutely ruthless and............ you'll see why it got over a million views. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Runaway Bus". Have patience with the goofiness and allow it to develop. The picture is very good. ////
The previous night, we watched a solid crime drama from PRC called "Double Cross"(1941), about a disgraced cop who's thrown off the force, then takes down a crooked nightclub owner to restore his reputation. "Jim Murray" (Kane Richmond) is a motorcycle officer who's the son of the chief of police. He's a top cop when the movie starts, but his fiance "Ellen Bronson" (Pauline Moore) is the sister of Jim's colleague "Steve" (Richard Beach), who's girlfriend is the moll of "Nick Taggart" (John Miljan). Taggart owns the Silver Slipper nightclub, out of which he runs a gambling racket and a freight robbery scheme. Steve the cop knows he shouldn't be hanging around Taggart's club, but he's sweet on "Faye Saunders" (Wynne Gibson), the moll. To make matters worse, she's using Steve as a puppet, to warn Nick about upcoming police raids. She gets Steve to tip her off, and it ends up getting him killed, when - during a shootout - she grabs his gun and shoots a cop. Steve gets the gun back, but this makes it look like he was the shooter. Then he gets shot and dies, disgraced, but not before telling his friend Jim Murray what actually happened.
Jim is trying to get his Dad the chief to quit, saying its only a matter of time before the mobsters kill him, too. Jim also wants out, to live a safe life and marry his fiance Ellen. His Dad calls him a wimp, so he sticks it out for a while. But he's secretly formed a plan to get thrown off the force so he can go undercover and bust the guys who killed Steve. When he's found cavorting with Faye the bimbo, his Dad strips him of his badge and he's fired. Now he gets serious about busting Nick Taggart, and suckers Nick into letting him join the gang. After all, he's now a disgraced cop who seemingly "hates his dad". Surely he's a rebel who can be trusted.
During his infiltration, Jim discovers that the mayor is controlling Nick Taggart. Or is it the other way around? They're certainly in cahoots, so Jim offers to pull a fur coat robbery for Nick, at a warehouse, which he hopes will set him up for a bigger jewelry job that will also involve the mayor. Then he can expose the whole gang. But Faye the bimbo has figured Jim out by now; she tells Nick Taggart, but he thinks she's out to blackmail him, so he plays her a vinyl recording he surreptitiously made, of her confessing to the shooting of Steve Bronson. Faye loses her cool and does blackmail Nick to his face, saying that if she goes to trial she will implicate him in numerous murdalizations. This turns out to be a stupid move on her part, because ten seconds later, that's the end of Faye. Now Jim has no allies undercover, and his butt is on the line in the jewel robbery truck. Nick is going to finish him off. The script is surprisingly good, but the execution feels stagey or overly expository because of the extremely low budget. 90% of the scenes take place in rooms so stripped down that it looks like they cleared out the PRC offices and filmed in there. There is a hospital, a police station, and Jim's home, but rudimentary is the operative word as far as production values are concerned.
Still, it's doggone good, so Two Big Thumbs Up for "Double Cross". Make sure you specify the 1941 version because of the oft-used title. Supporting stalwart Mary Gordon, always good, is on hand as the Irish mother. The picture is soft but watchable. ////
That's all for tonight. My blogging music is Tangerine Dream "Rubycon", and Ty Tabor's new solo album "Shades". In honor of the late, great Marsha Hunt, you can re-watch her in "The Accusing Finger", which we just saw last month. I hope your week is off to a good start, and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment