Buses on Screen - Films C-Cl

Cadillac Man (1990, Robin Williams, Tim Robbins)

Williams plays a womanising used car salesman. Alan Aron comments "The dealership was an actual, at the time closed, dealership on Northern Boulevarde, in the Long Island City section of the borough of Queens. Williams is having an affair with a secretary of the dealership. Her husband, played by Robbins, comes into the lot on a motorcycle looking for his wife. While the camera is on him, two Queens Surface buses pass behind him in revenue service."

Calendar Girls (2003, Julie Walters, Helen Mirren)

John Hewitt notes "The recently released feature film 'Calendar Girls' has Pennine Motor Services Leyland National LN19 (BYW432V, new as London Transport LS432) operating on a school bus service. Both exterior and interior shots." The exterior footage is brief but very good:

Later US footage includes this sleek coach:

A Canterbury Tale (1944, Eric Portman, Sheila Sim)

Brief but clear shot of East Kent BJG281, a then-new utility-bodied Guy Arab II; immediately before this either this or a similar vehicle is glimpsed from a train window. (+Colin Read)

There is also a scene at a bus terminus in Chilham in Kent, the bus is seen only from the inside, behind the driver, but the conductress is seen changing the destination blind):

We can only wish this very distant view of what appears to be an East Kent Dennis Lancet were a bit closer:

The Cape Town Affair (1967, Jacqueline Bisset, James Brolin)

"Starts with a long sequence showing internal and external shots of a Cape Town Transport? 30' forward entrance (sliding door) Leyland Titan PD3 with St Helens style radiator grill but with a full front similar to those delivered to Bolton Corporation (UBNxxx). There may be more but I haven't seen the film all the way through!" (thanks Jon Price)

The Cardinal (1963, Tom Tryon, Carol Lynley)

"Brief exterior and interior scenes of a Boston streetcar near the beginning of the film. According to an early 1960s copy of 'Modern Tramway', these were filmed on a stretch of disused track using a car borrowed from the Seashore Museum at Kennebunkport, Maine." (thanks Alan Sinclair)

Carla's Song (1996, Robert Carlyle, Oyanka Cabezas)

Carlyle is a bus driver; his co-star in the first half of the movie is Strathclyde PTE Leyland Atlantean/Alexander LA1218 (XUS589S), in scenes in Glasgow and at Loch Lomond. (thanks Steven O):

In the second half we see a variety of buses in Nicaragua, mostly unidentifiable:

Carlyle travels on this Bluebird:

Nicaraguan buses come in many guises:

Although of these two scenes the burning wreck comes earlier, I wonder if dramatic licence has been taken and this is the same bus?

Carry On Admiral (1957, David Tomlinson, Peggy Cummins, Brian Reece)

Despite the title this is not one of the Carry On series of films. Although part of it was filmed in Portsmouth, and despite the presence of a Beadle-bodied Southdown Leyland Tiger Cub PSUC1/2, the 'deckers here are Maidstone and District......both Stuart Turner and Allan Haynes have suggested Chatham dockyard as the location. Allan enlarges on this: "The first one looks like one of the 1948 batch of KKK-registered Bristol K6A/Weymanns, the second one with the painted radiator may be one of the Weymann-rebodied wartime Guy Arabs. These were all based at Gillingham, so this leads me to conclude that the scene was shot at Chatham Dockyard. So what is the Southdown doing there ? Up to the early 1950s the Royal Marines Band was based in Chatham but then moved to Deal, and later to Portsmouth, though I thought it was after 1957. Has the Southdown brought Band members from Portsmouth? Could be the other way round of course, but my favourite is - local extras on the deckers, Band on the Southdown, and shot at Chatham. But then it looks as if all three vehicles have brought in extras ... Or maybe the Southdown has been invited to just make it look like Portsmouth............."

Carry On films have their own page - CLICK HERE

Carve Her Name with Pride (1958, Virginia McKenna)

Colin Read comments "London Transport's preserved STL469 is shown in a fine rear shot pulling up at a bus stop. Vehicle is in all-red livery (incorrect for wartime)"

Casino Royale (1967, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress)

"Has a very brief appearance of an RTL in, Trafalgar Square I think from memory. It was RTL848 hired for this shot from Passenger Vehicle Sales (London) Ltd in September 1966. The bus was resold by PVS the following month to Kearseys Coaches of Cheltenham" (thanks Maurice Bateman)

Cat and Mouse (1958, Lee Patterson, Ann Sears))

Sears boards London Transport AEC Regent III RT4394 on service 16 bound for Victoria. The footage includes interior lower deck shots. (+Colin Read)

Catch Me if You Can (2002, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks)

Two New York City GM New Looks appear in an early scene. Much later in the movie an orange/white New Look is seen outside Miami International Airport, also an Old Look.

Catch Us If You Can (1965, The Dave Clark Five)

London scenes feature an AEC Routemaster on route 137, and another more distant:

Two unidentifiable RTLs, one on route 60:

Part of a Bedford SB/Duple Super Vega;

Both Nick Webster and Pete Sincock have noted an AEC Regent III, Pete adds "with a four bay rear entrance body (possibly Weymann). In the film it appears as the control tower of a go-kart track, and is in very good order, minus a few seats but all the glass is present. It is in what appears to be an unrelieved single colour. This part of the film is set in Devon, possibly Dartmoor as the climax is at Burgh Island. The Burgh Island 'ferry' also features." So is this a Devon General Regent>

The Chalk Garden (1964, John and Hayley Mills)

"It was shot around Eastbourne and in the middle of the film is a shot of an open-top Southdown austerity Guy Arab on the service to Beachy Head. Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills go upstairs and travel for a couple of minutes on it. The Gardner engine is quite distinctive throughout the scene. It must have been quite an experience sampling the 5LW under-powered vehicles struggling up to the Head!" (thanks Chris Hebbron)

Chance of a Lifetime (1950, Bernard Miles)

Jon Price notes Bernard Miles travels on a London Transport utility Guy Arab (internal and external shots). The Guy is clearly seen and is identified by Colin Read as G52 (GLL552) - this was a Guy Arab I/Park Royal.

In another scene an AEC Regent ST passes in front of an STL and another G waiting at traffic lights. (+Colin Read)

Charlotte Gray (2001, Cate Blanchette)

Set in wartime England and France. "For the first ten or so minutes you get varying views of 1940s London complete with what looks like a roofbox RT in wartime red and white livery in reasonable close-up. The last ten minutes show a London bus front end in a bomb crater." (thanks Steve Bunce)

Cheer, Boys, Cheer (1939, Edmund Gwenn)

Comedy about rival breweries features two London Transport AEC Regent STLs; one is STL1559 (CXX280), seen being overtaken by a sports car, the other is seen from a variety of angles (+Colin Read).

Children of Men (2006, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore)

Stunning film set in 2027 - a grim vision of Britain in which London buses are still red but with windows protected by wire mesh. Two grubby M-class MCW Metrobuses appear, one all-red, the other with a grey skirt. An interesting innovation is moving adverts (a computer generated effect. Check out the changes in the parked M in these two shots as the second pulls in beside it

In a movie that applies commendable attention to detail there is one obvious continuity problem. As the second M is about to pull away, Clive Owen's character runs to board it. However, the footage aboard the bus is of an Arriva London VLW-class Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini:

Julianne Moore realises our hero hasn't shaved today....

As Owen leaves the bus the painted over 'cow horns' of Arriva can be seen

This Homeland Security bus is one of a pair of (Belfast) Citybus Bristol RELL6Gs with Alexander (Belfast) bodies, new in November 1981 and acquired by Pinewood Studios in October 2005 (thanks Aaron Donohoe)

The climactic shanty town battle scene features this wrecked Leyland-DAB artic, identified by 'PTD673S' as RNL 234W....

....and behind it, not clearly seen, are two derelict Leyland Lynxes:

Churchill: The Hollywood Years (1980, Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour)

Features KOD585, a 1949 AEC Regent III with Weymann body new to Devon General fleet number DR585 - apparently intended to resemble a London bus. In long shot it's clearly in Devon General livery.

Circle of Danger (1951, Ray Milland)

A short early sequence in Whitehall features what appears to be a London Transport G-type Guy Arab. (+Colin Read)

Circle of Friends (1995, Minnie Driver, Saffron Burrows, Colin Firth)

Romance about a girl going to college in Dublin features footage inside and out of CIE P347 (ZO6857), a 1953 CIE-bodied Leyland Tiger PS2/14:

There are also three CIE doubledeckers seen , one of which is R389 (ZH4538), a 1949 all-Leyland Titan PD2/3.

The others are RA35 (CYI670) and RA73 (OYI838), both 1959 Leyland Titan PD3/2s bodied by CIE:

The vehicles appear throughout the film as part of busy street scenes, but the Tiger is also seen in open country.

The Citadel (1938, Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell)

Several London street scenes showing AEC Regent STLs and a Tilling ST. In a sequence towards the end of the movie, a small boy is almost run over by ST741 (GN4612), shown in close up - this is a studio shot, which may explain why the bus is apparently on the wrong side of the road! Colin Read adds "Incidentally, the film is available in a computer-colorised version. Whereas this has been expertly done, this does not apply to the buses, one of which appears virtually silver all over." (+Colin Read)

City Slickers (1991, Billy Crystal, Jack Palance)

The final airport scenes shot at Los Angeles Airport have a GMC New Look T8H5307A in New York City Transit livery in the shots. It is actually a former Southern California Rapid Transit District 3100-series bus, which has appeared in a number of movies as a New York bus.

Clash By Night (1963, Terence Longdon, Harry Fowler).

"British 'B' prison escape drama, features Commer/Karrier minibus 883CPP throughout; carries fleet number 3 and looks to have had a round fleetname vinyl covered up or removed." (thanks Jon Price)

Claudine (1974, Diahann Carroll)

"Carroll rides a New York City New Look GM to work in the suburbs with other black women." (thanks Bruce Korusek)

The Client (1994, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones)

Has a night shot of a Memphis trolley car.

Closer (2004, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen)

Former London Buses M443 (GYE443W) plays the parts of two London buses early in this movie. Firstly it passes on route 153:

Another M passes in the distance......

....then M443 returns on route 109 in time for Jude Law and Natalie Portman to board, and there's an extended scene aboard.

M443 was originally used on Airbus services to Heathrow Airport with 9 seats and luggage racks downstairs. It was reseated to conventional layout before privatisation to Metroline; it appears that by the time 'Closer' was made it was with Media Bus Hire of Romford.

Closing Numbers (1992, Jane Asher, Tim Woodward)

Southern National Mercedes 719 (J969EYD) appeared in this Channel 4 film. "The bus was allocated to my home town Yeovil at the time, and it was away with one of our drivers for a few weeks on location. Think it was used as a bus, with the driver but I haven't seen the film." (thanks Steve Oxbrow)

The Clouded Yellow (1951, Trevor Howard, Jean Simmons, Kenneth More)

Robert Wyburn notes "A British (?) detective film with exceedingly slow 1950s action which I saw in B & W in 1976 (!) - probably B & W anyway. To pad out the 'action' we follow someone's journey from South London to a Newcastle-upon-Tyne suburb. He boards a London RT to get him to Morden, and we see him boarding a pre-1923 stock tube train to get him to King's Cross (I think the main part of the Northern Line was 100 per cent 1938-stock by then). He then boards the Flying Scotsman (or other express) of which we see aerial shots on its journey to Newcastle. Here he catches an electric train to a suburban station from which he catches a BUT trolleybus." This glimpse shows two London Transport RTs in traffic:

Colin Read comments "Superb thriller with Trevor Howard. A brief scene in a Newcastle bus station." Seen therein is Valliant Coaches SNL399 (can anyone identify?), but the Newcastle Corporation double decker will remain unknown:

The stars board Newcastle trolleybus 483 (LTN483), a Q1 type BUT 9641T with MCCW bodywork on service 31B to Gosforth.

Colin also notes the "Absolutely superb offside view of Cumberland Leyland Tiger no 257 (GAO517) in a Lake District scene. Bedford OB DWD249 appears later (brief rear view)." In fact two coaches appear in this view, this is the first, unidentified:

....while we see DWD249 front and back. Note the 'Lancastrian' fleetname appears to have been added over the owner's name:

There is also a brief appearance by this (Newcastle?) tram:

(screencaptures courtesy of stronghold)

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