Holiday on the Buses

"Their Most Hilarious Yet!"

1973 1h 25m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 64

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Due to a female passenger falling out of her top whilst running for the bus Stan is distracted and crashes the bus resulting in the depot managers car being written off. As a result Stan, Jack and Blakey are fired. Stan and Jack soon get new jobs as a bus crew at a Pontins holiday resort but discover that Blakey has also gotten a job there as the chief security guard.

“Their Most Hilarious Yet!”

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Cast

Reg Varney
Stan Butler
Stephen Lewis
Inspector Blakey
Doris Hare
Mrs. Mabel Butler
Michael Robbins
Arthur Rudge
Anna Karen
Olive Rudge
Bob Grant
Jack Harper
Wilfrid Brambell
Bert Thompson
Kate Williams
Joan - Red Cross Nurse

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bryan Izzard
Writers: Ronald Chesney, Ronald Wolfe
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "On the Buses Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bryan Izzard, shot by Brian Probyn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Denis King. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor James Needs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Reg Varney and Stephen Lewis and Doris Hare carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Their Most Hilarious Yet!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bryan Izzard directs. Brian Probyn behind the camera. Denis King scores. James Needs cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
253 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "On the Buses Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Bryan Izzard, shot by Brian Probyn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Denis King. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor James Needs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Reg Varney and Stephen Lewis and Doris Hare carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Their Most Hilarious Yet!".
9IMDB entry: tt0071613 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 64 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Brian Probyn
Original score: Denis King
Editing: James Needs
Makeup / hair: Ricky Rickaby
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Holiday on the Buses (1973)

Part of

On the Buses Collection

A British comedy film series spin-off from the TV sitcom, that spawned two further films.

Also by

Bryan Izzard

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-02-10
★ 5/10
Pratfalls and smut a go go. Come the 1970s we British really began to love our smut, it was a constitutional right to enjoy bawdy humour. Of course the quality was rarely above average, where the "Carry On" franchise would plunge the bawdy depths to try and get its laughs, and the "Confessions Of" series was never really any good to begin with anyway, but as long as they had people like Robin Askwith larking about amongst boobs, buttocks and innuendo unbound, then it was often enough for Brit cinema goers of a certain age. On the Buses was a hugely popular TV series in the UK that ran for 7 series from 1969 to 1973. As was the case with many British situation comedies in the 70s, big screen outings would follow for the On the Buses crowd, three of them in fact, of which Holiday on the Buses was the last, and for many it was mercifully the death knell for such ventures. It's a tired looking film when viewed now, the makers straining every sinew to keep the bawdy formula working, with much loved characters thrust into ever stupid situations to try and get laughs. Yet for fans of the series there is still some rewards to be found, but for interested outsiders looking in it's unlikely to generate more than a smile on the comedy scale. It's hard to believe now that the likes of Stan Harper (Reg Varney) and Jack Harper (Bob Grant) could ever be seen as good looking enough to womanise and get sex on tap! But that's exactly what 1970s audiences were asked to buy into. Just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean the fire has gone out down below. So here Stan the bus driver and Jack the conductor are now working at a Pontins Holiday Camp (how 70s British is that?!) and they basically try and get laid at every opportunity. As does Stan's sexually frustrated sister, Olive (played by the wonderful Anna Karen), only she just wants a bit from her husband Arthur! (Michael Robbins). Even widowed Ma Butler (Doris Hare) is up for a bit of the other, courtesy of the king of dirty old men, Wilfrid Brambell. Naturally nemesis Inspector Cyril 'Blakey' Blake (Stephen Lewis) is on hand to provide the roguish lads with some japery opportunities, with the Hitler lookalike even getting a love interest himself here in the form of the holiday camp Nurse played by Kate Williams. There's some good moments such as a swimming pool sequence of events, or Arthur Mullard attempting to dance (you have to know the actor to understand how funny that can be), while even Brambell doing his normal pervy routine is fun enough at times, but ultimately it rounds out as a picture for fans only, and even then it asks much of us to forgive it its lazy sins. 5/10
r96sk2020-12-28
★ 6/10
The last film to come from the <em>'On the Buses'</em> television series, the weakest one at that. <em>'Holiday on the Buses'</em> isn't far off the preceding two spin-offs, but it just felt a bit flat throughout to me. I didn't feel bored by any of it, though also didn't find that much entertainment either. It's just very meh. I am someone who enjoys the actual on the bus shenanigans most, which is somewhat lacking here - and even when they are on a bus, it's a tour one. The sexism remains, to the shock of nobody. Reg Varney, Bob Grant and Stephen Lewis remain enjoyable, especially Lewis. As with the its predecessors, none of the support cast stand out majorly. There are a few amusing moments, but more limp ones to be honest. Most of the jokes felt repeated from the 1971 and 1972 productions. No surprise they ended these films here.