Buses on Screen - Films S-Sl

Sabotage AKA A Woman Alone (1936, Sylvia Sydney, Oskar Homolka)

Hitchcock thriller set in the London suburbs, centring on the sabotage emanating from a small cinema. Glimpses of numerous London Transport STs, LTs and STLs. In the climax of the movie a bus is blown up by a bomb intended for Piccadilly Circus. A young boy is seen boarding an STL while unwittingly carrying the device. A vehicle identifiable from the bus is STL789 (BXD450), seen for several seconds from the offside. After the explosion, the wrecked chassis seen is not an AEC, and therefore not an STL.
Towards the end of the film another bomb destroys the cinema. An STL is seen in the ensuing chaos. Part of the registration plate is visible, suggesting it may be STL331 (AXM601), a 1934 'Leaning Back' type STL. The scene is shot on a film set built at the Gaumont British studios in Shepherd's Bush. (+Colin Read)

Safety Last (1923, Harold Lloyd)

One of the great silent classics. In one scene Lloyd tries to jump on a moving Los Angeles trolley. Short clips from this movie can be seen at Getty Images: Film Page - key 'Safety Last' into the search box.

Salt and Pepper (1968, Sammy Davis Junior, Peter Lawford)

The stars play two Soho nightclub owners. Reportedly features former London Transport RT1431 (JXC194), a Craven-bodied AEC Regent III RT. (+Colin Read)

The Sandwich Man (1966, Michael Bentine)

"Near the beginning of the film Bentine is seen boarding RTL KGU438 on route 22, and there follow several internal and external shots (including one with a Duple Donington coach behind in traffic), but he is then seen alighting from LYF124! Also features background shots of various RTs and a Duple (Bella Vega?)coach. Towards the end of the film there is a scene with a runaway lawnmower shot (I think) at Hyde Park Corner which features background shots of a Tilling green ECW bodied Bristol LS or MW coach and a similar coach in red/cream - Bristol Greyhound?" (thanks Jon Price)
KGU438 was RTL362, which also appears in The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961); LYF124 was RTL1183. Screen capture of one of these RTL class London Transport Leyland Titan PD2s by Paul Denyer.

Bob Wingrove also recalls an Amphicar driving down the Thames!

Sapphire (1959, Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig)

Features RTL1087 (LUC264) on service 24 to Pimlico. Thanks to Paul Denyer for this screen capture: Sapphire

FILM: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing)

"Red AEC Routemaster in Piccadilly Circus during opening titles and brief shots of AEC Merlins in street scenes." (thanks Jon Price)

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960, Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field)

Has glimpses of Nottingham buses. Clearly seen is 176 (OTV176) a 1954 AEC Regent III, also a Trent Leyland Titan PD3 and a Nottingham Corporation trolleybus, and footage of the Raleigh bicycle works.

Scarlet Thread (1951, Lawrence Harvey, Sydney Tafler, Kethleen Byron)

Has London street scenes, including an RT on route 3 at Piccadilly Circus, and another on route 1:

A roofbox RT and two STLs:

Part of the movie was shot in Cambridge, and this Eastern Counties Bristol K/Eastern Coachworks passes:

....this coach is also seen; I believe it's a Bristol L/Eastern Coachworks:

The Saving of Bill Blewitt (1937, Crown Film Unit)

"It's all about how Bill saved up to buy a new boat when his was wrecked. All the parts are acted by the villagers of Mousehole in Cornwall. There are 2 buses seen. The first one is ACV350, a nice glorious close up (a Morris Commercial???). The second one is really distant and I have no idea what it can be. (Something from Western National perhaps?)."

(thanks Bob Wingrove)

Saving Silverman AKA Evil Woman (2001, Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn)

Set in Seattle, but filmed in Vancouver - hence the BC Transit Flyer E900 seen reflected in a porn shop window! (thanks Richard DeArmond)

The School of Rock (2003, Jack Black, Joan Cusack)

The children's rock band travels to the Battle of the Bands competition aboard a yellow Bluebird school bus.

School for Scoundrels (1960, Ian Carmichael, Alistair Sim, Terry-Thomas) has its own page - CLICK HERE

Schulmädchenreport (various from 1970)

"This series of films was produced in the early 1970s and is late-night entertainment (at least by German 1970s standards) about school girls in their late teens. In one film I can't identify now, there is a scene in which a MAN 750HO Metrobus is seen running down a street. From what I recall, the bus is in Munich livery (blue and cream with red front grille)." (thanks Stefan Baguette)

Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964, Richard Attenborough, Kim Stanley) has its own page - CLICK HERE

The Secret Partner (1961, Stewart Grainger, Bernard Lee)

One scene has a London Transport Leyland Titan PD2 RTL crossing Tower Bridge. Towards the end a roofbox AEC Regent III RT is seen on service 53.

FILM: Sea Wife (1957, Joan Collins, Richard Burton)

Alex reports: "Richard Burton travels to London to trace an old flame (Joan Collins) and in the early minutes of the film there are several London street scene clips, including Trafalgar Square, in which red RTs are seen passing the camera. Probably around a dozen RTs are seen in total."

Secret People (1952, Audrey Hepburn)

A London Transport ST is seen near the beginning. (+Colin Read)

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989, Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor)

Unbelievably stupid film has appearances in New York by motorcoaches of Carefree Lines and Academy Lines in the opening credits. At least 9 New York RTS plus 2 GM New Looks appear through the rest of the movie. Watch on fast forward (actually fast backward might be more entertaining).

See Spot Run (2001, David Arquette)

A bus (MCI?) slides backwards off a muddy mountainside

Oops!

Selena (1997, Jennifer Lopez)

The story of Mexican singer Selena Quintanilla; "while touring in a red/silver Eagle coach it suffers an accident and a Chevrolet cabriolet tries to tow it unsuccessfully" (thanks Carlos Wallberg)

A Sense of Freedom (1980, Scottish Television TV movie)

"Features preserved Glasgow Corporation D216 (FYS 999), a Daimler CVD6-30/Alexander and Leyland Atlantean LA1, a Leyland Atlantean PDR1/1/Alexander(FYS998)." (thanks Alan Sinclair)

Also seen is this in-service Glasgow Leyland Atlantean AN68/Alexander:

The Seven Ups (1973, Roy Scheider)

"A short scene with a Greyhound MCI MC-7 bus" (thanks Bruce Korusek) The driver is Bob 'Tex' Marrs.

Seven Years in Tibet (1997, Brad Pitt)

"Filmed in Argentina, it´s about a German man who spends seven years in Tibet. An ex Uruguay Old Look appears at City of La Plata railway station, pretending to be a 1930s Austrian bus! A steam loco and a Curtiss C46 Commando featured." (thanks Carlos Wallberg)

Shadowlands (1993, Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger)

A scene in the Randolph Hotel, Oxford has a highbridge City of Oxford AEC Regent passing outside the window - it's not well seen and one wonders why the filmmakers bothered:

Later, in a scene set in London, a roofbox AEC Regent III RT is glimpsed in heavy rain.

Shadow of a Man (1954, Ronald Leigh-Hunt)

Features two views of Hastings trolleybuses. (+Colin Read)

Shaft in Africa (1973, Richard Roundtree, Frank Finlay)

Shot in Ethiopia, an extended scene has a blue left hand drive bus (registration xx7145) travelling across country

The Shaggy Dog (2005, Tim Allen)

Regional Transit Service, California, Flxible Metros 2558 and 2847 were used in filming; 2558 for interiors; 2847 for exterior shots - an extensive album of photographs from the shoot can be viewed on the Regional Transit Service website, but this is what you see in the movie:

The Shamrock Conspiracy (1995, Edward Woodward, Eilzabeth Hurley)

In a movie dating from the time when Hurley was astonishingly pretty rather than just glamorous, Woodward plays a similar role to his 'Equalizer' character. Seen is a GM Fishbowl in New York City colours and numbered 8135, although the majority of the movie is shot in Toronto.

Shaun of the Dead (2004, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost)

Silly and clever zombie Britflick has several appearances by a Redroute Leyland Lynx, although I've not identified which one:

....and a fleeting glimpse of a Metroline 'decker:

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman)

Briefly features a prison bus.
At the end of the movie, Red heads out of Maine en route to Fort Hancock in Texas on a Trailways bus number CSS-476 (thanks Geoff Cook). This was a Blue Ridge Trailways GMC 4104 restored as a Carolina Scenic Trailways bus. The driver was Bob Bryson. The tinted windows were replaced for the film with clear glass and reinstated afterwards. (from correspondence on Yahoo groups)

The Sheltering Sky (1990, Debra Winger, John Malkovich)

Carlos Wallberg notes "At the opening titles, black and white street scenes in New York City are shown with some buses and a subway, may be around the 1940s. Later the action is in a French colony in northern Africa, may be Algeria; a green tram passes by."

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code AKA Dressed to Kill (1946, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce)

"A close-up of an early LGOC bus - possibly K424 which you show on your site as featuring in a more recent film."[Star! with Julie Andrews] "Later there is a sequence filmed through the rear window of a car travelling through London. Another early car follows close behind, and there are some people posed in period costumes to create the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes era but the give away that the film was made as recently as 1946 comes from a glimpse of a more modern London bus, possibly an RT." (thanks Alex)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce)

Has brief but quite clear footage of London trams

Shiner (2000, Michael Caine)

Unpleasant film nevertheless has a strong performance by Michael Caine. A Big Bus Company Daimler Fleetline appears briefly early on, and there are glimpses of other London buses, including what appears to be Stagecoach London VA67 (R167VPU), a Volvo Olympian/Alexander, one of two seen on route 8.

- also Metroline, the Original London Sightseeing Tour and First London, and Clarkes of London and Coopers (?):

The standout sequence from a bus fan's point of view has to be the sight of RM642 (WLT642), apparently on Route 68 pursuing Caine down the road past a second Routemaster - or so it seems, although it's incidental to the action. At first we see only the registration plate, then the bus itself!

Shirley Valentine (1989, Pauline Collins, Tom Conti)

Scenes in Mikonos, Greece feature a Mercedes 35-seater in a white & blue 'Manoulas Travel' livery. (thanks Bill Mellor)

A Shot in the Dark (1964, Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer)

"There's a Paris traffic scene in which a crowd on a RATP Renault peer down into Clouseau's Mini in which he and Sommer are stark naked. The bus is a TN series, and the last two digits of its fleet number are xx23, cut out, stencil-wise, on the rear platform valance." (thanks Mike Lloyd)

The Shout (1978, Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt)

Shot in North Devon. A cream and brown Bedford OB is glimpsed twice: once parked in the distance, and once through a window as it passes outside. Could this be much-filmed HOD75?

Showboat (1951, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson)

A glimpse of horsedrawn trams.

The Singing Streets (1952)

Several Edinburgh Corporation buses and a tram appear, mostly in the edge of the frame, but we do get to see these Daimler CVD6 singledeckers:

Sitting Target (1972, Oliver Reed, Ian McShane)

At the end of film, the chase scene (using a Hillman Avenger!), through the National Carriers depot and railway yards at Battersea, includes background shots of an East Kent Park Royal coach in maroon/cream (an AEC Reliance?), three Bristol RE/ECW in green/cream, a red/cream BET style single decker (Trent?), Alexander Y type & Mark 4 Duple Commander (North Western?), Royal Blue Bristol RELH/ECW and a white Plaxton Elite. (thanks Jon Price)

Siu Lam Juk Kau AKA Shaolin Soccer (2001, Stephen Chow)

Carlos Wallberg notes an appearance by a Chinese double decker in the trailer for this movie - more information needed!

Sixty Six (2006, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Rea)

Bob Wingrove saw this being filmed in October 2005 and buttonholed a prop man!
"The film is called 66 and is set in 1966 when a boy has his Bar Mitzvah on the same day as the World Cup Final. The bus being used was a tatty RML (JJD---D i just didn't get the reg number in time) but it has day-glo yellow blinds for the 14 (deffo not in 66!) and to be honest it looks like they just got a bus at random. No fleet name and just looked awful." The trailer for this film also shows a grey coach. More information needed!

The Skulls II (2002, Robin Dunne, Nathan West)

Features Oakville Transit 903, a 1990 Orion V 05.501. Photographs of this bus can be seen in the Oakville Transit gallery at Felix Tse's Greater Toronto Bus Page

Slap Shot (1977, Paul Newman)

The hockey team use a converted Prevost as their team bus

Sleepers (1996, Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon)

Margaret Stuski notes a Greyhound Mack MV-620D

Slither (1972, James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman, Louise Lasser)

Caan's character escapes a holdup by boarding Greyhound 7624 to Marlboro. Later in the movie he and Peter Boyle arrive by car at a bank in Los Angeles (towing an Airstream motor home) and are overtaken by GM New Look 6006; two other Fishbowls appear in the scene.

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