The Runaway Bus

It must have been terrible to have to share a stage/screen with Margaret Rutherford. She only had to look at the camera and she had already stolen the scene - a consummate comedy actress whom, alongside Frankie Howerd, keeps this rather daft crime caper bubbling along quite nicely for 75 minutes. A pea-soup fog has delayed all the flights from London's Heathrow Airport - as was it's wont back then - and so a motley collection of passengers are having to take a coach to a nearby airport. Unbeknown to them, though, there has been a daring raid on a warehouse at the airport and their bus contains the loot - £200,000 worth of gold bullion. Lost in the fog, the passengers much reach their destination before the sinister leader of the gang tracks them down. Howerd was never my favourite comedian, but here he delivers well - tempered by some strong supporting performances from Petula Clark, George Coulouris and Terence Alexander - and, of course, the redoubtable Miss Rutherford as "Miss Beeston". The jokes are a bit predictable, but it's an enjoyable piece of harmless fun that I really quite enjoyed.