The Big Bus

Director: James Frawley James Frawley

Overview

The Big Bus is set aboard a nonstop, nuclear-powered luxury bus commandeered by Joseph Bologna. Naturally, Bologna is a tortured hero with a deep dark secret (he keeps insisting he didn't eat all those passengers on his last disastrous drive). Stockard Channing and Harold Gould play the designers of the big bus, and of course they have a few skeletons in their closet. In fact, there isn't a passenger on the all-star manifest that isn't hiding something. The supporting cast features contributions by Ren? Auberjonois (parodying his M*A*S*H role), Ned Beatty, Jos? Ferrer, Ruth Gordon (doing a devastating send-up of Airport's Helen Hayes), Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, and many others; Murphy Dunne contributes a memorable bit as a smarmy cocktail pianist. Unfortunately, The Big Bus was dumped onto the summer 1976 release schedule without fanfare by Paramount, and it sank without a trace.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/11/2020
UPC:	0032429336538
Original Release:	1976
Rating:	PG
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Time:	1:28:00
Sales rank:	37,347

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Joseph Bologna	Dan Torrance
Stockard Channing	Kitty Baxter
John Beck	Shoulders
Ruth Gordon	Old Lady
Rene Auberjonois	Father Kudos
Ned Beatty	Shorty Scotty
Bob Dishy	Dr. Kurtz
Jose Ferrer	Ironman
Harold Gould	Prof. Baxter
Larry Hagman	Parking Lot Doctor
Sally Kellerman	Sybil Crane
Richard Mulligan	Claude Crane
Lynn Redgrave	Camille Levy
Richard B. Shull	Emery Bush
Stuart Margolin	Alex
Howard Hesseman	Scotty's Aide Jack
Mary Wilcox	Mary Jane Beth Sue
Walter Brooke	Mr. Ames
Vic Tayback	Goldie
Murphy Dunne	Tommy Joyce
Raymond Guth	Farm Family
Miriam Byrd-Nethery	Farm Family
Dennis Kort	Farm Family
James Jeter	Bus Bartender
Vito Scotti	Barber
Harry Holcombe	Priest
Selma Archerd	Bus Passenger
Morgan Upton	1st Cemetary Man
Dan Barrows	2nd Cemetary Man
Joe Brooks	Passenger
Richard Crystal	Passenger
David Essex	Passenger
Mickey Fox	Passenger
Judy Motulsky	Passenger
Cynthia Szigeti	Passenger
Ann Weldon	Passenger
Bert Williams	Passenger
Andrew Winner	Passenger
Carol Worthington	Passenger
Alex Brown	Passenger
Nick Pellegrino	Passenger
Harry Frazier	Passenger
Joel Schiller	Composer
David Shire	Composer

Technical Credits

Lawrence J. Cohen

Fred Freeman

Lawrence J. Cohen	Producer,Producer,Screenwriter,Screenwriter
James Frawley	Director
Fred Freeman	Producer,Screenwriter
Julia Phillips	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Lee Vasque	Special Effects
Lynn Stalmaster	Casting
Al Overton Jr.	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The Big Bus predates such Jerry Zucker-Jim Abrahams-David Zucker offerings as Airplane! and The Naked Gun but is conceptually very much in the same mold as these later off-kilter spoofs. What it lacks is the inspired zaniness of the ZAZ films, settling under James Frawley's competent-but-no-more direction for an amiable silliness. While there are a lot of chuckles (and plenty of good-natured groaners), the laughs don't come as fast and as frequently as they need to, and Frawley can't make the visual gags big enough to really pay off. There's also a big problem with the end of the film, in that it seems to just stop. In this kind of movie, a huge pay-off is absolutely essential, and its absence is keenly felt. That said, the general goodwill and silliness of the movie is contagious, and there are a number of wonderful moments (a bar brawl with a milk carton, René Auberjonois stealing a seat from Ruth Gordon and sneering "Where is your God now, old woman?") that stick with the viewer. And the large demi-star cast is quite good; Gordon deserves special praise, but all of the actors are right on the money. The Big Bus won't be a totally satisfying trip for many people, but there are some that will find its charms irresistible.