The Big Bus

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The Big Bus
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Frawley
Produced by	Lawrence J. Cohen Fred Freeman
Written by	Lawrence J. Cohen Fred Freeman
Starring	Joseph Bologna Stockard Channing John Beck Rene Auberjonois
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	Harry Stradling Jr.
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 23, 1976
Running time	88 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Big Bus is a 1976 James Frawley spoof comedy starring Stockard 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 most disaster movies 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.

[edit] Cast

[edit] References

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