Those who regard the '70's as 'the decade that taste forgot' cite the success of 'On The Buses' in spurious defence of their views. "It was the most popular film of 1971!", they rage, "Everyone in Britain then must have been stupid!".
Er, no.
It came out at a bad time for British cinema. Big American studios had withdrawn funding for productions, hence something drastic needed to be done to keep cinemas open. The success of the 'Till Death Us Do Part' movie in 1969 provided an answer; make feature-length versions of hit television sitcoms. The bigger the sitcom the more popular the film was likely to be. In 1971, you could not find one more popular than 'On The Buses', then three years old. It made sound economic sense for a studio - in this case, Hammer Films - to buy the screen rights.
Nobody could have predicted just how successful it would turn out to be, overtaking 'Love Story' as that year's biggest picture in the U.K. Yes, it out grossed 'Diamonds Are Forever' too, but the latter only opened in December, while 'O.T.B' was on release in July, so oft-repeated comparisons between the box office performances of these films are grossly unfair.
One possible explanation for the film's extraordinary success may have been that it afforded many 'O.T.B.' fans, the ones who hadn't upgraded to colour television, with their first glimpse of their favourite show in anything other than monochrome.
Also, in the seaside towns and holiday camps it may have provided a respite for sodden tourists keen to escape from the occasionally appalling British weather ( which is how I came to see it ).
With that year's 'Carry On' ( 'Carry On At Your Convienience' ) proving a flop, 'On The Buses' was well placed to take advantage of audiences feeling let down by the latest outing of Sid, Hattie and co.
The main part of the plot ( the Luxton bus company getting up the noses of its staff by hiring women drivers ) could have formed the basis of a typical episode, but the writers were able to broaden ( some would say, coarsen ) the humour, which is why we get clippies taking their clothes off, slapstick ( Blakey getting drenched as Stan's bus goes though a puddle ) and jokes about incontinence. However, a subplot concerning Olive's pregnancy distanced the film from its television counterpart, as Arthur and Olive were childless in the series.
One thing common to nearly all these films ( apart from 'Please Sir!', ' Steptoe & Son', and 'Dad's Army' ) was the absence of the original theme music; here we get a dreary pub singalong ( credited to 'Quince Harmon' ) entitled 'Its A Great Life On The Buses'.
I can understand why some 'O.T.B' fans loathe the movies, but they should bear this in mind - for many years, this - and indeed the other two films - were the only 'On The Buses' to be found on British television.
Whatever their perceived shortcomings, they at least kept the flag flying for the crazy world of Stan, Blakey and co. Otherwise it might have been totally forgotten.
Er, no.
It came out at a bad time for British cinema. Big American studios had withdrawn funding for productions, hence something drastic needed to be done to keep cinemas open. The success of the 'Till Death Us Do Part' movie in 1969 provided an answer; make feature-length versions of hit television sitcoms. The bigger the sitcom the more popular the film was likely to be. In 1971, you could not find one more popular than 'On The Buses', then three years old. It made sound economic sense for a studio - in this case, Hammer Films - to buy the screen rights.
Nobody could have predicted just how successful it would turn out to be, overtaking 'Love Story' as that year's biggest picture in the U.K. Yes, it out grossed 'Diamonds Are Forever' too, but the latter only opened in December, while 'O.T.B' was on release in July, so oft-repeated comparisons between the box office performances of these films are grossly unfair.
One possible explanation for the film's extraordinary success may have been that it afforded many 'O.T.B.' fans, the ones who hadn't upgraded to colour television, with their first glimpse of their favourite show in anything other than monochrome.
Also, in the seaside towns and holiday camps it may have provided a respite for sodden tourists keen to escape from the occasionally appalling British weather ( which is how I came to see it ).
With that year's 'Carry On' ( 'Carry On At Your Convienience' ) proving a flop, 'On The Buses' was well placed to take advantage of audiences feeling let down by the latest outing of Sid, Hattie and co.
The main part of the plot ( the Luxton bus company getting up the noses of its staff by hiring women drivers ) could have formed the basis of a typical episode, but the writers were able to broaden ( some would say, coarsen ) the humour, which is why we get clippies taking their clothes off, slapstick ( Blakey getting drenched as Stan's bus goes though a puddle ) and jokes about incontinence. However, a subplot concerning Olive's pregnancy distanced the film from its television counterpart, as Arthur and Olive were childless in the series.
One thing common to nearly all these films ( apart from 'Please Sir!', ' Steptoe & Son', and 'Dad's Army' ) was the absence of the original theme music; here we get a dreary pub singalong ( credited to 'Quince Harmon' ) entitled 'Its A Great Life On The Buses'.
I can understand why some 'O.T.B' fans loathe the movies, but they should bear this in mind - for many years, this - and indeed the other two films - were the only 'On The Buses' to be found on British television.
Whatever their perceived shortcomings, they at least kept the flag flying for the crazy world of Stan, Blakey and co. Otherwise it might have been totally forgotten.