The 1970s saw a plethora of cinematic releases of popular situation comedy (sit-com) television series in the UK.
On The Buses was one of the most popular shows attracting huge ratings in days before multi channels and streaming services let alone home video.
Mutiny On The Buses was the second of three film spin-offs from the show and an excellent example of the genre. On The Buses followed the escapades of a driver and his 'clippy.' Followed of course by a peculiar management strategy featuring a bus 'inspector'.
Sexual innuendos. Check.
A kitchen sink example of working class family life in the UK. Check.
Innocent yet effective comedy that still strings a laugh in today's troubled times. Check.
The TV shows were often made with small budgets using flimsy sets. These film adaptations allowed some location work and better standard studio set design although they are low budget by today's sophisticated standards.
Take Mutiny. Partly shot on location at Windsor Safari Park.
Standard's. Yet another word when it comes to the politically incorrect humour of these films.
True they wouldn't pass today's snowflake society but in the seventies anything went it appears. Was that such a bad thing?
These films still enjoy a cult following today.
The cast seem to fully enjoy their roles. Sadly many have passed away in recent years.
Plot summary
Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy, much to the anguish of Mum, her son-in-law, Arthur, and daughter Olive. How, they wonder, will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Then Arthur is sacked, and Stan agrees to delay the wedding. Meanwhile, he hits on an idea: Arthur should learn to drive a bus. Somehow he does just that, and even gets a job. Stan then blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea ...if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to the Windsor Safari Park
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
November 04, 2021 at 01:00 AM
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Excellent example of 1970s sit-com TV shows movie spin-offs in the UK.
"I'm getting a little tired of your crude remarks."
Mutiny on the Buses is a sophisticated, intertextual, self-reflexive discourse on the nature of the classic novel by Charles Nordhoff. It also takes in Kafkaesque leanings by exercising a circular narrative. That some could mistake it for a witless, charmless and crass 70s sex comedy is beyond me.
The film also exhibits a razor-sharp social conscience. After accidentally demolishing a stop, Jack (Bob Grant) suggests "We'll say some hooligans did it... lot of stupid louts doing things like that these days."
In all seriousness though it really is utter garbage. There's an increase in slapstick, the ineptness of which would be funny were it not for the jingly-jangy 70s soundtrack. Definitely not one of Ron Grainer's better days.
In its defence, this one probably has a better plot than the others (which isn't exactly difficult) as Blakey gets a new manager to assess his operation. Blakey's forced to clamp down with more stringent rules, cueing an inevitable worker rebellion. When Blakey orders his staff to wear "nothing but their uniforms", they come without shoes and shirts. This also includes the seven-strong female crew, who like nothing better than exposing their breasts to the entire staff. Even a company darts night can be rigged by showing a pair of red knickers.
The climactic pay-off is a shameless plug for Windsor Safari Park, with a lion and monkeys on the bus. However, this desperate pile of contrived cheese is again salvaged by the wonderful Stephen Lewis. Some of the situations are just gross - a baby defecates in a potty while Stan's at the dinnertable. Rather predictably, he later excretes in Arthur's cap. The baby, that is. Not Stan, though that would have probably been funnier.
As with my two other Buses reviews, I have to stress the humour division inherent in the set-up. When Blakey (A creation of comic genius in Lewis's hands) is on screen, it's hilarious. When he isn't, it's absolutely dire. Most of the "humour" is, as usual, shockingly un-PC. Stan strings girls along with the promise of marriage in order to get sex, and accuses Blakey of being a homosexual. Other unsettling scenes show Michael Robbins shaking his baby and screaming for it to "Shut up!" Letting off a foam extinguisher in someone's face is also shown to be within acceptable safety guidelines.
A clothes-ripping catfight threatens to engender interest, though is foiled by involving Anna Karen. This is particularly nauseous when Reg Varney accidentally gropes his screen sister's left breast.
Very occasionally a line might get a laugh in an unforeseen modern context. After seeing a female conductor emerging with Stan from the top deck, Blakey cries: "You know the regulations, you're not even supposed to eat your lunch upstairs." Yes, this film is truly terrible... yet in a funny sort of way I can't help but like it.
Stan's happiness is scuppered once again.
Stan gets engaged and is all set to move out, but his plans are scuppered when Arthur loses his job.
The second of the three movies, and it's a must for fans of the TV series, it translated well from sitcom to movie, not many shows managed to do it successfully, I can think of only this and Steptoe and son.
It is as you'd expect, bawdy, raucous, slapstick and a little bit cheeky, in there lies its charm, it's definitely not meant to be taken too seriously. Humour along the lines of the later Carry on films, and confessions movies.
Lots of amusing scenes, the misunderstanding about staff uniform is funny, Arthur and Olive on the out of control bike, the sabotaged radio, the foam, plenty of entertaining moments.
Cheeky postcards humour, it's enjoyable, 7/10.