- The Big Bus
Infobox_Film
name = The Big Bus
caption =film poster byJack Davis
imdb_id = 0074205
amg_id = 1:5388
director =James Frawley
writer = Lawrence J. Cohen
Fred Freeman
starring =Joseph Bologna Stockard Channing John Beck Rene Auberjonois
producer = Lawrence J. Cohen
Fred Freeman
music =David Shire
cinematography = Harry Stradling Jr.
distributor =Paramount Pictures
released =
runtime = 88 min.
mpaa_rating = Rated PG
country = USA
language = English"The Big Bus" is a 1976 American
James Frawley spoof comedy starringStockard Channing as Kitty Baxter and Joe Bologna as controversial driver ("Eat one lousy foot and they call you a cannibal") Dan Torrance. A spoof of mostdisaster movie s up until that time, it follows the maiden cross-country trip -- New York to Denver, non-stop -- of an enormous nuclear powered bus named Cyclops that's equipped with a bowling alley, swimming pool, formal dining room ("The Bicentennial Dining Room"), piano bar ("The Oriental Lounge"), Automatic Washing System ("AWM"), Automatic Tire Changer, and The Flags of All Nations. A bomb planted by a saboteur (hired by the oil sheiks to discredit non oil-powered transport) damages the bus' braking system, preventing the bus from stopping.A high point is when they try to balance the bus, which is teetering on the brink of a cliff (Harbinger Curve, where Dan's father evidently lost control and died some years before), by flooding the galley with soft drinks from the fountain. Of course Stockard/Kitty is in there about to drown in soda pop, and Joe/Dan has to rescue her. "All those years, why did you have to bed all those other girls?" she asks him. "I bedded them so I could think of you," he says, "but from now on I'm only going to bed you, and think of them." "You're a strange one, Dan," she replies.
Actor John Beck plays the co-driver "Shoulders" O'Brien, a nickname he acquired because he has
narcolepsy and often falls asleep and drives on the shoulders of the road. Coincidentally, he also happened to have big shoulders."The Big Bus" was notorious for its mostly bad reviews and disastrous performance at the box office. Nevertheless, it has gained something of a cult following among fans of spoof comedies.
Cast
*
Joseph Bologna
*Stockard Channing
*Rene Auberjonois
*Ned Beatty
*John Beck
*Bob Dishy
*José Ferrer
*Ruth Gordon
*Harold Gould
*Larry Hagman
*Howard Hesseman
*Sally Kellerman
*Stuart Margolin
*Richard Mulligan
*Lynn Redgrave
*Vito Scotti
*Vic Tayback ee also
*
Airplane! References
External links
*imdb title|id=0074205
* [http://www.thestopbutton.com/indices/film_by_title/the_big_bus_1976.html Review at The Stop Button]
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