''The Big Bus'' is a 1976 American

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Joseph Bologna Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films ''My Favorite Year'', ''Blame It on Rio'' and ''Transylvania 6-5000 (1985 film), Transylvania ...

and

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...

, and directed by

James Frawley James Joseph Frawley (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961. He was best known for directing ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) and ''The Monkees'' television ...

. A

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

of the

disaster movie A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...

genre (which was popular at the time), it follows the maiden cross-country trip of an enormous

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

bus named ''Cyclops''. ''The Big Bus'' received mixed reviews at the time of its 1976 release, although the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' gave the film a favorable review. The film performed poorly at the box office but has since been recognized as a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

of its genre. Director Frawley won the audience award at the 1977

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival The Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (french: Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz) was a film festival held in the French resort of Avoriaz between 1973 and 1993. It was the precursor to the current Gérardmer Inter ...

Plot

Coyote Bus Lines' scientists and designers work feverishly to complete ''Cyclops'', a state-of-the-art

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...

jumbo bus, enabling man to achieve a new milestone in bus history, namely non-stop service between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Almost immediately after the bus engine is equipped with nuclear fuel, a bomb goes off, critically injuring Professor Baxter, the scientist in charge of the project. ''Cyclops'' itself is undamaged, but Coyote Bus Lines has lost both its driver and co-driver. Kitty Baxter, the professor's daughter and the Cyclops designer, is forced to turn to old flame Dan Torrance. Once a promising driver, Torrance was disgraced after he crashed his bus atop Mount Diablo, and was accused of saving his own life by eating all of his passengers. (Torrance blames his co-driver for

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

, insisting that he himself survived by eating the seats and the luggage, and only ate part of a passenger's foot by accident when it was included in a stew). Narrowly surviving an assault by vindictive fellow drivers with the help of "Shoulders" O'Brien, Torrance is recruited to drive ''Cyclops''. Meanwhile, a sinister tycoon known as "Ironman", encased in a huge

iron lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator (NPV), a mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body, and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space, to stimulate breathing.Shneerson, Dr. John M., Newmarket General ...

, plots to destroy the bus with some oil

sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

s. Ironman directs his brother Alex to sabotage ''Cyclops'' using time bombs. Alex would prefer to use a man-made earthquake, but Ironman insists that the bus be destroyed and discredited. Before its maiden voyage, Alex sneaks aboard and hides a bomb within the bus. Amidst public fanfare, the bus finally leaves New York, bound for Denver. Among the passengers are the Cranes, a neurotic married couple waiting for their divorce to finalize; Father Kudos, a priest who has lost his way; Dr. Kurtz, a disgraced

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

; Emery Bush, a man with only a few months to live; and Camille Levy, whose father died in the aforementioned Mount Diablo bus crash. At first, ''Cyclops journey is a success, and Torrance triumphantly breaks the 90 mph "wind barrier" (referenced as "breaking wind"). Soon, however, disaster strikes. Investigating a mechanical problem, Dan discovers the bomb and disarms it just seconds before an explosion rips through another part of the bus. Now unable to stop, ''Cyclops'' speeds across America. Dan is determined to achieve ''Cyclops's'' historic goal of non-stop service to Denver, but he also needs to surpass a treacherously curvy road where his father died. Dan almost succeeds, but not before a truck smashes into the upper deck windshield, and the bus runs partially off the road, ending up teetering over a cliff. To save the bus, Dan and Shoulders shift all the weight to the back by jettisoning all of the passenger luggage and then pumping the vehicle's entire carbonated beverage supply into the galley at the opposite end. Knowing he has only one more chance to destroy ''Cyclops'', Alex finally persuades Ironman to use the earthquake. Unfortunately for Ironman, Alex somehow set the co-ordinates for Ironman's house instead. Back on the road, ''Cyclops'' once again heads to its destination, but just 25 miles outside of Denver, the front and rear halves of the bus split from each other.

Cast

as Capt. Dan Torrance *

as Kitty Baxter * John Beck as "Shoulders" O'Brien *

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Aw ...

as Father Joseph Kudos *

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...

as Shorty Scotty *

Bob Dishy Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Biography He is best remembered today for playing Sergeant John J. Wilson, Columbo's polite, respectful assistant in two episodes of '' Columbo'' ("Now You See Him" and "The Greenh ...

as Dr. Kurtz *

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...

as Ironman *

Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained internati ...

as the Old Lady *

Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...

as Professor Irwin Baxter *

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...

as Parking Lot Doctor *

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar no ...

as Sybil Crane *

Richard Mulligan Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...

as Claude Crane *

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

as Camille Levy *

Richard B. Shull Richard Bruce Shull (February 24, 1929 – October 14, 1999) was an American character actor. Biography Early life Shull was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Zana Marie (née Brown), a court stenographer, and Ulysses Homer Shull, a manufa ...

as Emery Bush *

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

as Alex the Hot Dog Seller *

Howard Hesseman Howard Hesseman (February 27, 1940 – January 29, 2022) was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on ''Head of ...

as Jack * Mary Wilcox as Mary Jane Beth Sue *

Walter Brooke Walter Brooke (born Gustav William Tweer Jr., October 23, 1914 – August 20, 1986) was an American actor. Career Brooke's film career stretched from ''You're in the Army Now'' (1941 to '' Jagged Edge'' (1985). One of his best-remembered roles w ...

as Mr. Ames *

Vic Tayback Victor E. Tayback (January 6, 1930 – May 25, 1990) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Mel Sharples in the film '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' (1974) and the television series '' Alice'' (1976–1985). The latter earned him ...

as Goldie *

Murphy Dunne George "Murphy" Dunne (born June 22, 1942) is an American actor and musician. He played "Murph", the keyboardist for the Blues Brothers, in the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers'', a role he reprised in the sequel, ''Blues Brothers 2000''. Biograph ...

as Tommy Joyce *

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

as Barber

Production notes

Casting

On the director's commentary of the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

film ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...

'',

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

reveals that he cast Murphy Dunne as the leader of "Murph and the Magic Tones" because he had seen him as a cheesy lounge singer in an earlier film. Although Landis doesn't mention ''The Big Bus'' by name, the film was Dunne's only previous performance as a lounge singer.

The ''Cyclops''

The central set piece of the film is the bus itself—credited for the design is the film's art director Joel Schiller. The bus is a nuclear powered, double-decker,

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...

with 32 wheels. It is named ''Cyclops'' due to the single large headlight prominent at the front. The front also features large wraparound windows on both upper and lower decks—with the lower deck containing the cockpit and the upper, front portion containing the lounge/bar. ''Cyclops'' requires the operation of a driver and co-driver. In the film, ''Cyclops'' has a passenger capacity of 110 and is equipped with a bowling alley, Asian-style cocktail lounge with a piano bar, swimming pool, captain's dining room, private marble-and-gold bathroom with sunken tub, and chef's kitchen. Exterior features shown are an automatic washing mechanism for the ''Cyclops'' exterior; an automatic en route tire-changing system; and a display of "Flags of all Nations," which emerges from the vehicle's roof. ''Cyclops'' can be compared to the German

Neoplan Jumbocruiser The Neoplan Jumbocruiser was an articulated double-deck multi-axle city coach built by Neoplan Bus GmbH between 1975 and 1992. At in length, wide and in height, it is in the Guinness World Records as the world's largest bus with a capacity f ...

, an actual double decker articulated super bus with a capacity of 170, originally built in 1975. According to articles in 1976 issues of both ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...

'' magazine and the now defunct ''Bus World'' magazine, the real bus used in the film was a large road-worthy vehicle created by production designer Joel Schiller. Though the most visible front portions of the bus (bar and cockpit) appeared to be functional, the remainder of the body of the vehicle was mostly empty—containing only the engine, suspension and essential mechanisms used for exterior trick shots. Few behind-the-scenes and construction photos or plans have surfaced, but according to Joel Schiller's website, the actual bus built for the film was part of the Los Angeles Bicentennial Parade of 1976. Further, the ''Bus World'' article stated that the vehicle made a trip from Los Angeles to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, as a film promotion in 1976. The ''Bus World'' article also contained extensive photos and details about the building of the bus. The article states that the rear half of the bus was a separate vehicle with a driver. The two halves of the bus would arrive separately at the filming location where they were joined for shooting. The rear driver was unable to see and had to be directed by radio. In the scene in which the bus departs the terminal on its voyage, the front wheels on the rear portion of the bus are seen turning independently as the bus makes a very tight turn out of the terminal. According to car enthusiast web site Jalopnik.com, the bus was scrapped after filming. In the closing credits, Trailways Bus Lines is thanked for their help in creating the bus used in the film. It is not stated what role Trailways took in creating ''Cyclops'', although the footage of passengers boarding the bus in New York used Trailways Los Angeles bus station. The fictional bus line in the film that operates ''Cyclops'' is Coyote Bus Lines, a parody of

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

Soundtrack score

The score to the film was created by veteran film composer

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage Musical theater, musicals, film and television film score, scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film ''The Big Bus'', ''The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 f ...

. Shire is also credited with composing scores for such films as '' The Hindenburg'', ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...

'', '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact'', and ''

Short Circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

''. Shire's score for ''The Big Bus'' was in line with the disaster parody theme of the film that also incorporated elements of disco. In the '90s, ''

Film Score Monthly ''Film Score Monthly'' is an online magazine (and former print magazine) founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 in music, 1990 as ''The Soundtrack Correspondence List''. It is dedicated to the art of Film sco ...

'' magazine ran a poll asking which film score its readers would most like to see released. ''The Big Bus'' was among the top 20 scores. In 2000, a

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

CD of the film's soundtrack surfaced as a prized collectable. In January 2011, a limited edition official release of the score was produced by ''Film Score Monthly'' (Catalog No. FSM1401). The compact disc was limited to 2000 copies and contained the film's complete score, including alternate takes and excerpts of classical pieces used in various scenes. The CD also contained comedy music and vocals bits by

, who portrayed Tommy Joyce, the piano player in the bus' Oriental Lounge. The soundtrack release was sourced from the master tapes. As a result, sound quality was excellent and in stereo.

Reception

''The Big Bus'' received mixed reviews critically. The film holds a 64% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 11 reviews.

Television broadcast

''The Big Bus'' had its television premiere on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in March 1978, edited to remove some adult content and language to meet broadcast content standards of the time. Repeated in May 1980, the film has rarely been broadcast over the past 40 years on various channels, though it had been seen uncut as recently as 2009 on

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

(TCM) and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

. As of 2009,

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

holds the USA TV broadcast rights while

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

retains all other rights. Only the Warner Bros. logo appears on Showtime's airings and the original Paramount logo is preserved on TCM's print and the DVD issue.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

in the early 1980s. In 2002,

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

released the film on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in a dual-format edition containing the film in the full-screen or theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratios, (though there is some slight windowboxing with the widescreen version selected); Dolby 5.1 English Surround Sound stereo/mono mix, or Dolby 2.0 mono in English, French, and Spanish. No other extras are included, and the DVD is out of print. The film was also released on DVD in the United States on September 24, 2013, as a Warner Archive Collection DVD-R. The film has also been released on Region 4 DVD.

References

External links

* * * *
''The Big Bus''
at the

Movie Review Query Engine The Movie Review Query Engine also known as MRQE, is an online index of movie reviews. Registered users are able to access movie-specific forums and provide their own reviews. The site aggregates reviews, news, interviews, and other material assoc ...

Building the Big Bus from Bus World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bus, The 1976 films 1976 comedy films 1970s comedy road movies 1970s disaster films 1970s parody films 1970s science fiction comedy films American comedy road movies American disaster films American parody films American science fiction comedy films 1970s English-language films Disaster comedy films Films about buses Films about nuclear technology Films directed by James Frawley Films scored by David Shire Paramount Pictures films 1970s American films