Buses on Screen - Films M-Ml

The Mackintosh Man (1973, Paul Newman)

"When Newman escapes from his 'safe house' in Ireland he catches a bus to the nearest village - it is a red lower and white upper CIE Leyland - either a Leyland Tiger Cub or very possibly a Leopard. The machine has "lollipop stick" ad boards on either roof panels." (thanks Scot Fergie) Gary Manahan confirms this as CIE E106 (AZD156), a 1962 Leyland Leopard L2/CIE.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981, Mel Gibson)

Filmed in New South Wales. The stockade around which much of the action happens uses a modified yellow bus as a wheeled 'gate'.

Magical Mystery Tour (1967, The Beatles)

The Beatles used a wackily-painted Bedford VAL14/Plaxton Panorama I registration URO913E, "supplied by Foxes of Hayes ( Middlesex) whose yard was in Featherstone Road, Southall. The yellow/blue basic livery of the Beatle's coach was Foxes' base livery." (thanks Paul Hilton).
Allan Haynes was sound assistant on the film: "The location was the RAF aerodrome at West Malling, near Maidstone, Kent, which was redundant and on a 'care and maintenance' basis. Ringo actually drove it in the film; I think he must have had some previous experience as I saw him come back from a familiarisation run around the airfield perimeter, looking extremely confident."

Magic Town (1947, James Stewart)

Colin Read notes "Opening scene includes glimpse of a Fifth Avenue Coach Company double-decker (good close up nearside view)."

Magnum Force (1973, Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook)

A green/cream San Francisco transit bus is sideswiped by Harry Calahan's car late in the film.

Major Barbara (1941, Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison et al)

Has a brief rear view of a London Transport STL-class AEC Regent

Malcolm (1986, Colin Friels)

"Focuses on the lead character, who knows every type of Melbourne Tram ever made or even designed, and as you probably know, one of the largest tram networks in the world is in Melbourne. It's a very funny and charming film (it also has a small Honda car, which splits apart, each front seat gets to drive their own side (and balance the newly created two-wheeler)." (thanks Paul Denyer)

Malta Story (1953, Alec Guinness)

One sequence during this movie about the siege of Malta during World War 2 features this bus, 5292:

Peter Relf identified this on the Maltabuses Yahoo group as an International. In the movie the bus is strafed by an enemy aircraft:

......but in real life reportedly 5292 went on to be rebodied and served in Malta until quite recently.

Manhattan (1979, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton)

Opens with several New Looks and a school minibus (thanks Carlos Wallberg)

Man in the Moon (1960, Kenneth Moore, Shirley Ann Field)

"Poor 'comedy' about a British would be astronaut. At one point Shirley Ann Field's character boards a Bedford OB with bus bodywork FUJ463; plenty of internal & external shots. Shows Guildhall as destination. Film was shot at Pinewood Studios." (thanks Jon Price)
Screen captures from a clip by Paul Denyer

The Man in the White Suit (1951, Alec Guinness)

"A Manchester Corporation Crossley TDD4 trolleybus passes the Daily Express building on Ancoats Street, Manchester [after dark]." (thanks Bob Wingrove)

A Man of No Importance (1994, Albert Finney)

"Finney stars as a Dublin bus conductor who is addicted to Oscar Wilde. He entertains his passengers with declamation of Wilde's verse. The film features a number of preserved CIE buses of the period including a Leyland Titan and a number of saloons including an ex GNR Gardner." (thanks Chris Hough) I can't confirm the GNR, but CIE buses appear throughout the film, often in the background. However, definitely seen are:
CIE R788 (OIK984), a 1958 CIE-bodied Leyland Titan OPD2/2 - this is the bus used for interior filming:

CIE RA73 (OYI838), a 1959 CIE-bodied Leyland Titan PD3/2:

CIE P347 (ZO6857), a 1953 CIE-bodied Leyland Tiger PS2/14:

I believe this is CIE P220 (ZJ5960), a 1951 CIE-bodied Leyland Tiger OPS3/1, but would welcome confirmation:

R788 is the star of the show, in one scene being used to run a car off the road, and Finney is great!

Man of the Moment (1955, Norman Wisdom)

Opening shot of Whitehall with London Transport STLs:

Also seen briefly is this trolleybus, apparently in Geneva:

(+Colin Read)

The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970, Roger Moore, Hildegarde Neil)

"Very slow thriller about a man whose less regimented other self is released when he momentarily dies after a car crash and proceeds to take over his life. During the opening sequence you can see a blue/white Duple coach on London's Embankment, a nice shot of a 'Red Arrow' AEC Merlin followed by RT and RM turning onto Parliament Square, and around the elevated section of the M4 various unidentified contemporary Plaxton & Duple coaches, and a BEA liveried RMA AEC Routemaster with luggage trailer. Later scenes have various background shots of unidentified RT/RM/RML and another BEA RMA and trailer. Good contemporary lorries too." (thanks Jon Price) The Red Arrow AEC Merlin is MBS602 (AML602H) on route 503:

As noted the coaches can't be identified, the bodies are Plaxton, Duple and Plaxton again:

The BEA Routemasters are blurred but well-seen:

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934, Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre)

Dave Windaybank notes a London Transport STL and an ST toward the end of this Alfred Hitchcock movie, the (Hitchcock) remake of which is listed below:

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956, James Stewart, Doris Day)

"Alfred Hitchcock film opens with Stewart, Day and son riding a bus in Morocco. Later on, London Transport double deckers are shown outside Albert Hall and other London locations." (thanks Bill Vandervoort)

The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955, Moira Shearer, John Justin)

Two shots early on of preserved London General AEC B-type B340 (LA9928). (+Colin Read)

The Man Who Never Was (1956, Clifton Webb)

Paul Burgess writes: "About 20 minutes from the end, I believe I saw a side view of an Aldershot & District Strachan bodied AEC Reliance from the 1954 batch MOR581-605. It is clearly visible moving slowly in the background of a scene looking out from a house doorway across the street. As a big A& D fan I nearly jumped off my seat!"

The Man With the Golden Arm (1955, Frank Sinatra)

Set in Chicago. Sinatra alights from a transit bus bound for Lincoln Park in the opening (studio-set) scene. (+Colin Read) Can anyone help identify?

The Man With the Golden Gun (1974, Roger Moore)

A scene in Hong Kong has what appears to be a bus station in the background. (thanks Geoff Cook)
"There is indeed a shot of some Hong Kong buses with one being a half cab Guy saloon with a Birmingham tin front while the only semi-identifiable decker was a front entrance machine again with a Guy tin front The livery was a half and half red/cream scheme with the red on the lower deck I feel that this was the then livery of the Kowloon company." (thanks Chris Hough)
"Also then the livery of CMB who went blue around 1972, KMB were operating CVG6s and Regent Vs at that time while CMB had the Arabs." (thanks Stephen Allcroft)

March to Aldermaston (1959, narrated by Richard Burton)

A documentary about the Easter 1958 antinuclear march from London to Aldermaston perhaps unsurprisingly features several buses along the way. Only the rear of this Routemaster appears on route 44A

A London trolleybus passes in the night on route 657, and another in daylight

RT4224 (KYY827)

Thames Valley lowbridge Bristol Ks

and Lodekkas

and a 2RT2 AEC RT of Smiths Coaches of Reading

Mars Attacks! (1996, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close et al)

Features a Greyhound MCI (thanks Carlos Wallberg)

Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Lawrence AKA The Very Thought of You (1998, Monica Potter, Joseph Fiennes, Rufus Sewell, Tom Hollander)

Rufus Sewell takes a trip on the upper deck of a Routemaster

A scene at Stansted Airport in Essex includes Berkhof-bodied P875FMO, a Volvo B10M in The Glider livery.

Joseph Fiennes's character is later passed by this Neoplan:

...and in another sequence he finds his car boxed in by Routemasters. The front one appears to be from the xxxCLT batch:

The rear one is identifiable as RML2456 (JJD456D) on route 15.

Also glimpsed is this RML

....and an M-class Metrobus:

Maytime in Mayfair (1949, Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding)

Features London street scenes shot in Technicolor (thanks Bob Wingrove) Colin Read elaborates: "Excellent nearside view of STL, offiside view of an unidentifiable coach and an LT. This is followed by an offside shot of an STL all regrettably obscured by opening credits. Filmed in Park Lane."

The Medusa Touch (1978, Richard Burton)

A London Transport RT is pursued by an RM which the camera follows through an arch outside Westminster Abbey - an integral part of the plot in establishing how the heavy road traffic contributes to the finale when the whole edifice crumbles (a model shot). 'Westminster Abbey' is actually Bristol Cathedral - the two London buses were hired in for filming! In one shot a (green!) Bristol Omnibus single decker creeps into view, possibly a Bristol RE/Eastern Coachworks with National Bus Company double N white logo on the roof. (thanks Scot Fergie)

Meet the Applegates (1990, Ed Begley jr, Stockard Channing)

Features a yellow school bus.

Men in Black (1997, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith)

An early scene features an open top doubledecker of New York Apple Tours - a former London Transport DMS-class Daimler Fleetline. Also a New York transit bus is glimpsed. (thanks Alan Stephens) more information needed

Merry Andrew (1958, Danny Kaye)

An unexpected entry: a Danny Kaye musical! An early scene has him riding a bicycle and passed by a double decker bus - a very odd beast. In London Transport livery, it has an open platform on the left, although it's driven on the right side of the road. There is no glass in the windows and the driver sits in the lower saloon with the passengers! Would anyone like to attempt an identification?

Although the film-makers have gone to some trouble to pretend it's being filmed in England (but please don't mention the conductor's accent) - it clearly isn't.

Metro (1997, Eddie Murphy)

Lots of footage of San Francisco's streetcars, including cars actually in service, staged shots (the film makers rented the cars) and faked shots on a section of Jones Street: here tracks were painted on and motorised replicas used.

Metro Mobility (xxxx)

A film produced by GM for the New York World's Fair, promoting the company's vision of bus rapid transit.

The Mexican (2001, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts)

Several New Looks are glimpsed in one scene.

Michael Collins (1996, Liam Neeson)

"There's a brief view of a 1920s vintage bus in the station yard when Collins returns to Ireland after his release from prison in England. Also,there are various shots of pseudo-trams,which in fact run on rubber tyres,in the scenes set in Dublin,which I think were filmed on a huge custom-built set. However,the type of tram depicted wasn't brought into service in Dublin until after Collins' death! In one scene,a "tram" passes behind Collins and his companions which doesn't even have its trolley pole on the wire! I didn't know the Dublin United Tramways had conduit lines at this time!" (thanks Alan Sinclair)
The Internet Movie Database reports a 1980s-vintage bus appearing in the background of one scene, but having seen the movie I'm wondering if this is one of the trams.

Midnight Cowboy (1969, Jon Voigt, Dustin Hoffman)

A bus trip aboard a GM PD4107 'Buffalo' from New York to Florida, fleet number 300, also a number of New Looks glimpsed.

Midnight Run (Robert De Niro, Charles, Grodin)

A trip on an MCI MC8 in the livery of 'Interstate Coach Lines' ends in a shootout. At least two other similar coaches are seen in the sequence.

A Midsummer Day's Work (1939, Crown Film Unit)

"All about laying an underground telephone cable between Aylesbury and Amersham. Seen are a pre-war City of Oxford AEC Regent,

and a Leyland Cub of London Transport, C54 (BXD679) on a school special." (thanks Bob Wingrove)

Mike Bassett, England Manager (2001, Ricky Tomlinson)

John Hammond notes an early sequence features an opentop Bristol VRTSL3/Estern Coachworks of Stephensons of Rochford - this is former National Welsh VHB677S.

Millions Like Us (1943, dir Launder and Gilliat) has its own page - CLICK HERE

The Mind Benders (1962, Dirk Bogarde)

A scene in The High in Oxford features two City of Oxford AEC Regents. H909 (PWL420) is a 1951 Regent III/Weymann; 968 (968CWL) is a 1958 Regent V/Weymann. There is a third AEC in the background:

The Misfits (1961, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift)

Underrated movie whoes three leads were all dead within five years. Carlos Wallberg notes "a Reno´s bus in the background, in the scene shot on a bridge".

Miss Congeniality (2000, Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine)

The New York scenes include a passing Grayline open top Bristol VRTSL3/Eastern Coachworks:

The majority of the film is set in San Antonio, Texas, but actually filmed in Austin. A red replica trolley passes the camera, but seen inside and out is green number 019:

These are Chance Coach American Heritage Streetcars.

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