Buses on Screen - Films B-Bl

Babette s'en va t'en Guerre AKA Babette Goes to War (1959, Brigitte Bardot)

A London scene has a passing (postwar) AEC RT:

Mike Harvey notes the appearance of East Kent Leyland Titan TD4 JG8207. "The film is set in France, England and Germany. It was premiered in Paris on 18 September 1959. Babette (Bardot) escapes from Northern France in 1940 and arrives with some good time girls by boat on the Kent Coast. From there they take a bus trip to London, being 'buzzed' on the way by a German warplane piloted by two French POWs who have escaped and stolen the plane from the German Flying School: Babette is then recruited as a spy setting out to capture a Gestapo chief for the allies. This is a comedy, but I would describe it more as a lighthearted rather than a funny film. The bus appears for about four minutes, just 11 minutes into the film." "JG8207 was new to East Kent in November 1936. It was a manual gearbox diesel Leyland TD4 with a six bay Park Royal L27/26R body of a style fitted to 135 East Kent TD4/TD5 chassis between 1936 and 1939, with some of the bodies supplied by Park Royal and some by Brush. In June 1949, JG8207 was rebodied by Park Royal with a five bay L27/26R body. JG8207 was loaned to the film-makers between 19 March 1959 and 20 April 1959. It finally returned to its operating base at Canterbury on 25 April 1959. The filming took place in France and London. For the film, the bus was given a pseudo-wartime guise, with the red mudguards repainted to black, and the top of the upper deck in grey. 'Blackout' masks were fitted to the headlamps (and interior lights?) and the white marker lines were added to the mudguards and the lower edge of the body. By 1959, there were no six bay bodies left in the East Kent fleet, although in 1940 all the double deckers were lowbridge and six bay, except for five highbridge Weymann/Daimler COG5s inherited from the Isle of Thanet Tramway in 1936. The rebodied TD4 was as near as they could get to what was running around in 1940, before 'utility' bodies were on the drawing board." There's also a brief appearance by a London Transport AEC RT.

Bachelor Party (1984, Tom Hanks)

Rick Gassko, played by Tom Hanks, drives a Ford B-700 Catholic school bus. "After fiancee Debbie shows up a hotel party, Rick and friends wind up chasing her (using the bus) to a mall, where the bus winds up crashing through a wall that happens to be the screen of a movie theatre showing a 3D film. ('Great special effects, man!') After patching up their differences at the film's end, Rick and Debbie depart for their honeymoon in the bus." (thanks Jim O'Malley)

Backdraft (1991, Kurt Russell)

Tale of Chicago firefighters: Carlos Wallberg notes a New Look visible through the window of the fire truck early in the movie in a scene set in the 1960s or 1970s. There's also a brief appearance by a dark green Flxible New Look.

Badge 373 (1973, Robert Duvall, Henry Darrow, Verna Bloom)

Robert Duvall drives a New York transit bus in a getaway sequence.

Ballad in Blue (1964, Ray Charles)

Has an appearance by London Transport RTL1050 (LLU829). (Thanks David Thrower)

Band of Thieves (1962, Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band)

A treat for trad jazz fans with a storming soundtrack, this also features extended inside and outside footage of Denham Coaches LUW61, a Harrington 'dorsal fin' bodied Leyland Tiger.

Batman (1966, Adam West, Burt Ward)

Carlos Wallberg notes a scene with two green GM Old Look buses in the background.

Batoru Rowaiaru AKA Battle Royale (2000)

Opens with a group of Japanese schoolchildren being transported in this Isuzu Super Cruiser SHD:

Battle Cry (1955, Van Heflin, Aldo Ray)

"Scene at the end of the movie where lumberjack turned Marine Andy Hookens (Aldo Rey) comes back home to his wife Pat Rogers Hookens (Ann Blythe)and son. He gets off a Model A Ford with "Royal Mail" markings on the side." (thanks John T Patterson)

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973, Roddy McDowall)

Edwin Janoch recalls "In the final film of the 'Apes' series, after an atomic war the survivors of the city are in a final battle with the apes. In the battle scene, the troops from the 'dead city' are traveling in an old school bus. I do not know the year, make or model."

The Battle of the Sexes (1959, Peter Sellers, Constance Cummings, Robert Morley)

"It was set in Edinburgh and there were several Edinburgh Corporation buses visible including a couple of Daimlers, a Tiger Cub in quite a clear shot and various PD2 BMMO-front machines, presumably the famous 'monstrous masses of shivering tin'." (thanks Mike Lloyd) None of the buses are seen clearly, there are even very distant views of tourist coaches. Here the Leyland Tiger Cub is followed by a Daimler CV:

...and here are two Leyland Titan PD2s:

Beautiful Thing (1996, Linda Henry, Meera Syal)

East London boy-meets-boy romance overshadowed by Henry's performance is enlivened by an appearance by Stagecoach Selkent T791 (OHV791Y), a 1983 Leyland Titan with route 180 wound up:

The opening scenes have a glimpse of another Titan, but this isn't a Stagecoach:

Beat the Devil (1953, Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida et al)

Has some footage of Italian buses, at least one identified as an OM Taurus 400 (thanks Carlos Wallberg)

Bedazzled (1967, Peter Cooke, Dudley Moore, Eleanor Bron)

No, you fool, not the inferior remake with Liz Hurley, in this movie the Devil is played by a smartly-suited Peter Cooke who contrives to be both sinister and endearingly loopy at the same time.
Early in the movie a London Country AEC RF passes outside the cafe where Bron's character is working as a waitress. Further in, Cooke and Moore board London Transport RTL596 (KGU46), and another sequence has Moore and Bron sitting upstairs on an RT family bus.

Before Sunrise (1995, Julie Delpie, Ethan Hawke)

An extended sequence in Vienna has the two stars sitting at the back of a tram as it pursues its route through the city. Other trams and buses are seen through the windows.

Beginning of the End (1957, Peter Graves)

Giant grasshoppers invade Chicago. Bill Vandervoort reports a scene showing a couple of 1950s Chicago Transit Authority buses.

The Belles of St Trinians (1954, Alistair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole)

Opens with the schoolgirls disembarking from London Transport T609 (EYK244) a 10T10 AEC Regal/Weymann coach, and from the windows (!) of another vehicle seen only in one shot.

A visiting sports team arrives in rare Maudsley Marathon/Santos HOC164 (thanks Bob Wingrove and Colin Read)

Belle-Ville Rendezvous (2003 feature-length animation)

"Features a shot in Paris of a very detailed drawing of a RATP Renault 4TF complete with open platform" (thanks Chris Hough)

Be My Guest (1965, David Hemmings)

Opening sequence includes a brief appearance by a Southdown Leyland Tiger Cub/Weymann from the 1130-44 batch parked on Brighton seafront, also later a Bristol K from Brighton and Hove.

Bend it Like Beckham (2002, Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightly)

Stefan Baguette notes a scene: "at Hamburg Airport in which a triple-doored red and white Mercedes-Benz O405N2 used as an airside bus passes in the foreground."

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1973, James Franciscus, Kim Hunter)

Edwin Janoch recalls "During the discovery of the ruins of 'old New York City' Charlton Heston is walking in the ruins that are underground, and in the background you see an image of a city bus encased in rock. You only see the front of the bus." It's a 1969 GMC TDH 5303 Fishbowl.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City ( 1927, German documentary film)

Has lots of footage of all kinds of urban transportation, but clearly seen are Bussing and NAG doubledeckers .

The Best of Everything (1959, Joan Crawford)

"At the beginning, as Johnny Mathis sings the song 'Chances Are', a New York City old look GM comes up and people get off (going to work). Later in the film the office takes a picnic trip on Greyhound buses: Silversides and GM PD-4103s." (thanks Bruce Korusek)

Bhaji on the Beach (1993, dir Gurinder Chadha)

Centres on a day trip from Birmingham to Blackpool on Ford Transit minibus A630HNF.

We also see several Blackpool Transport Leyland Atlanteans:

.....and there's a blurred glimpse of an Optare City Pacer passing a Plaxton Supreme VI-bodied coach:

Unsurprisingly there are views of Blackpool's illuminated trams:

The Big Blockade (1941, Will Hay)

Briefly features a small bus, ostensibly German:

The Big Bus (1976)

Disaster film parody features a nonstop tripledecker nuclear-powered bus. Carlos Wallberg notes several Eagles with the 'Coyote' fleetname.

The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress (2006, documentary)

"About 10 minutes in there is a night shot of a modern (US-style) transit bus passing a horse-drawn carriage. By setting, the scene is in Austin, Texas, USA -- that would make it part of the Capital Metro fleet. It appears to be an 11m bus and may be route 7, but I am unable to make out further details. About three quarters of the way through there is another night shot of a different bus, which says 'ER Combined Route' and 'Metro'. It is painted different than the first one. The length of the bus fills the screen as it drives by.

The Big Job (1965, Sid James, Dick Emery, Lance Percival)

Jon Price notes "Unofficial entry into the "Carry On" series (same director, producer, scriptwriter and large part of cast) about recovering loot from a tree in a police station yard. Unidentified Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol LS saloon during a scene in a new town. Picture shot at Pinewood so not sure where new town scenes filmed but would guess bus is United Counties or Eastern National." Abu Tahir adds the locations used were Chalfont St Giles, Iver Heath and Fulmer in Buckinghamshire, and Bracknell, Berkshire.

The Big Money (1956, Ian Carmichael, Belinda Lee)

Features London Transport AEC Regent III RTs and an AEC Regal IV RF (+Colin Read)

Big Trouble in Little China (1986, Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall)

A White 706 bus is used as a tour bus - and apparently gets heavily shot up!

The White Model 706 tour bus was developed specifically for sightseeing in the National Park System of the United States of America and went into service between 1936 and 1940. In the mid 1960s the Yellowstone buses were phased out, and about that time Skagway Streetcar Company of Skagway, Alaska, assembled a fleet of them, until they were sold to Yellowstone National Park in 2000. Duane Brassette adds: "The bus used in the movie was one of the Skagway buses that were sold back to Yellowstone Park in 2000. The little explosive points can still be seen on the bus from where the 'bullets' hit the bus. That bus carried the name 'Hollywood' thereafter."

Check Duane's website The Opentop Bus Company (producers of scale models of the White 706) for more history. Thanks also to Alex Schmidt.

Billion Dollar Brain (1967, Michael Caine)

Carlos Wallberg notes passing London double deckers before the opening credits and later Helsinki trams (one of which is on route 10) and a blue city bus.
Nobby notes two Routemasters in the opening of the film: "First on Route 137 I think � second was side view and at night but could have been the Silver Lady unpainted RM"
Carlos also records a Honeywell mainframe computer, but like the hovercraft in 'Who Dares Wins', that'll have to wait for a different website!

Billy Elliot (2000, Julie Walters, Jamie Bell)

Striking miners try to prevent a coach full of strikebreakers crossing the picket line. The coach is NPT672M, a Bedford YRT/Plaxton Elite III (new to Roberts, Wingate, in dark blue livery and fitted with wire mesh protection over the windows.
Later in the film there is a brief side view of a National Express Rapide coach on the trip south from Durham to London, and later still a Rapide coach (the same?) is seen leaving Durham bus station.

Billy Liar (1963, Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie)

Numerous Bradford buses can be seen as Courtenay walks through the city centre (thanks Roy Peploe). Sadly although there is interesting footage showing the rebuilding of the city, and the trolleybus wires are clearly visible, you don't see the buses clearly. Here a motorbus and then a trolleybus are seen at the top of the hill:

Sometimes buses are seen as reflections, or as a backdrop to the action:

Chris Hough adds, "Some of the fantasy shows a defeated army being marched into captivity past Billy. It was suggested locally at the time that the extras were off duty Leeds City Transport bus crews in their normal uniforms 'marching' through a redevelopment area Indeed my father (a guard in local parlance) always said that he had taken part." Does this comment refer to this scene?

Rog Ingle notes "one of the ex London Transport RTs (Bradford batch 401-425)....with completely the wrong sound effects. Not sure what they used in the film but it was not an RT." The bus in question is Bradford 421 (HLX235), which had been London Transport RT418:

As 421 passes, there's a glimpse of a Bradford trolleybus at the foot of the hill:

The Black Cat (1934, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi)

A young American couple are travelling in Hungary in a bus that goes out of control and crashes off the road in heavy rain, and Lugosi takes them to a mansion owned by Karloff. Paul Howard notes the licence plate as MI7326, "it's possibly a Huff, but I'll keep looking." More information needed!

Blackmail (1929, Anny Ondra)

"Alfred Hitchcock's (and England's) first talkie has views of trams in close-up in what appear to be studio locations. Original silent version may have same scenes" (+Colin Read)

The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1941, Will Hay)

A London tram passes the House of Parliament, and a back projected LT-class AEC Renown passes behind a band:

...but perhaps more interesting is an appearance by a dorsal-finned GNO120 seen front and back - (can anyone identify?)

Lastly a London STL is followed at a distance by a trolleybus

The Black Windmill (1974, Michael Caine)

"Includes YNM 982L, a Ford R226/Duple Dominant coach of Eastonways, Ramsgate, with Michael Caine hiding on the back seat when coming through Customs after unloading from a hovercraft." (thanks Mervyn Askew)

The sequence is memorable for its depiction of the HoverLloyd hovercraft service to Ramsgate, through some strange editing it actually features three of the six SRN4s built. The interiors, including the car deck, are of GH-2004 'Swift', the exterior views show the 'Swift', GH-2005 'Sure' and GH-2008 'Sir Christopher'. The editing is such that as the coach is guided down the ramp from the 'Sir Christopher', the 'Sir Christopher' is also seen arriving in the background!
This is the 'Swift' as it approaches:

As it lands it metamorphoses into the 'Sure':

....but as the doors open it becomes the 'Sir Christopher'....

....and as the coach is guided down the ramp, the 'Sir Christopher' lands in the background....

Soon after this comes a sequence with Caine and co-star Janet Suzman riding London Transport AEC Routemaster RM151 (WLT151) on route 88:

Blade (1998, Wesley Snipes)

Riverside Transit 111, a GMC New Look TDH4519, supplied by Regional Transit Service - also several other vehicles glimpsed.

Blade II (2002, Wesley Snipes)

Has a passing close-up of an Arriva London AEC Routemaster RML.

Blessed Assurance AKA The Price of Heaven (1997, dir Peter Bogdanovich)

Features a Blue Ridge Trailways GMC 4104

Blind Date AKA Chance Meeting (1959, Stanley Baker, Hardy Kruger)

Jon Price recalls "At the begining and end of the film shots of London Transport RTL/RTW types, would be able to identify if watching on video. Also background shots of RTs. Some shots at Heathrow Airport show background shots of BEA RF coaches and an airside articulated tractor/trailer style bus."

The Blind Goddess (1948, Eric Portman, Anne Crawford)

Several London Transport AEC Regent STLs appear, including STL2502 seen on service 60 passing the London Savoy Hotel. (+Colin Read)

Blood Red Roses (1986, Elizabeth McLennan, James Grant, Gregor Fisher, Julie Graham)

Concerns the life of a female trade union activist. "It was filmed in East Kilbride, where I live, and in one scene a preserved Western SMT Leyland Titan PD3 appeared briefly. This was the wrong company for East Kilbride,where Central SMT was always the dominant operator until the 1980s." (thanks Alan Sinclair)

Blow Out (1981, John Travolta)

Set in Philadelphia. A woman is prevented from getting on transit bus 8193 and then murdered.

Blow Up (1966, David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles)

As Hemmings drives through London, he passes a line of AEC Routemasters, none of them identifiable. There is also the briefest of glimpses of a Green Line AEC RF, and even a very distant XA class Daimler Fleetline among Routemasters

At one point he finds himself behind London Transport Routemaster RM1930 (ALD930B):

He also passes MLW703D, a 1966 Plaxton Panorama II bodied Bedford VAM5 of Super of Upminster:

A passing AEC RT appears to be RT4179 (LYF238)

The Blue Lamp (1950, Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde) "This has general London street scenes with buses and trolleybuses, but you can make out in one shot a hired Tilling Bristol K type. (the bus is in soft focus so details cannot be seen)" (thanks Bob Wingrove)
Jon Price identfies ST, STL, RT (roof box & standard), a Green Line AEC Regal coach and a number of trolleybuses as well as the on loan Tilling Bristol K type.

Blue Murder at St Trinians (1957, Alistair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole)

A fictional operator featured was the Dreadnought Motor Traction Co, of Wantage, run by Captain Ricketts (played by Terry-Thomas). His yard has a double deck open top bus (1920-1930 era) being used as an office showing registration number LA 9928, apparently an ex LGOC B-type; this is the registration of preserved B340.

Seen in the yard are two derelict early Bedfords, one front-entrance, one rear-entrance. I couldn't see registrations on either, although I have CCR's report of JT8077, a Duple-bodied Bedford WTB now preserved.

Lead of the two coaches that arrive to take the schoolgirls to Rome is Bedford UD9381. This has 'Thame' as its destination. It's towing Bedford DL9779, which is abandoned en route.

In Rome itself this Fiat coach is glimpsed:

"The classic line from the film being -
Q -'Will we get to Rome in these?'
A - 'Well we have come all the way from Wantage.' " (thanks Vic Gackowski)

Blue Thunder (1983, Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Malcolm McDowell)

As Frank Murphy (Scheider) is taken to the top secret base where the 'Blue Thunder' helicopter was developed, the car follows a white/orange motorcoach through the gates. As the demonstration takes place in a replica street full of dummies, the helicopter shoots up and destroys a grey-painted transit bus - interior and exterior shots. After the demonstration a second silver/blue motorcoach is glimpsed.
When Murphy crashlands his helicopter in Los Angeles, he narrowly misses a small yellow school bus.

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