This much-maligned addition to the On TheBuses trilogy takes the Butler family out of their usual surroundings and exchanges the bus depot and Mum’s front parlour for the luxury and exhilaration of the knees-up atmosphere of a holiday camp in Wales (it was filmed at Pontins holiday camp in Prestatyn).
Mum, Olive and Arthur are there on holiday but Stan and Jack – having been sacked from the depot – are working there, operating the camp’s open-top bus. But they haven’t got away from Blakey – he is the camp’s security inspector!
It’s actually less than two minutes before we get our first dollop of sexism – a woman running for the bus finds her breasts fall out of her dress for no reason whatsoever.
Still, it does at least make Stan laugh – but then what doesn’t? He and Jack spend the entire movie laughing uproariously with little or no provocation. You get the impression that they’d wet themselves watching paint dry.
The plot sees Stan lusting after a young girl, but being continually thwarted by her domineering mother.
It’s a “recipe for hilarity” (sic) and whether it’s on a storm-lashed boat or the swimming baths, Stan and Mavis’s exploits always produce the same result.
Later conquests include Maria, an Italian stereotype, and a staff co-worker. Even Stan’s mum gets a one-night stand, with Stan considerately reminding her to “put your tin drawers on.”
When one of the comic “highpoints” is Arthur Mullard overhearing Olive trying to locate a light switch in the dark (“I can’t find it”) and thinking she’s talking about sex, you can see why this work reaches the upper levels of literary sophistication.
New comedy characters were introduced for the film – among them Kate Williams (from Love Thy Neighbour) and Wilfrid Brambell (Steptoe & Son). All the series regulars are present, and if you enjoyed the TV series you’ll love the film. If not, you’d better wait for the next bus!
Stan Butler
Reg Varney Inspector Cyril ‘Blakey’ Blake
Stephen Lewis Jack Harper
Bob Grant Mrs Mabel Butler (Mum)
Doris Hare Arthur
Michael Robbins Olive
Anna Karen Bert
Wilfrid Brambell Joan
Kate Williams Wally Briggs
Arthur Mullard Lil Briggs
Queenie Watts George Coombs
Henry McGee Little Arthur
Adam Rhodes Mrs Coombs
Hal Dyer Luigi
Franco derosa Maria
Gigi Gatti Mrs Hudson
Eunice Black Mavis
Maureen Sweeney Sandra
Sandra Bryant Doreen
Carolae Donoghue Joyce
Tara Lynn
Director
Bryan Izzard
Related Posts
On the Buses (1971) The first time the TV series On The Buses toppled Coronation Street from the…
Stan Butler
