''The White Bus'' is a 1967 British short

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for ...

. The screenplay was jointly adapted with

Shelagh Delaney Shelagh Delaney, FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, ''A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war Br ...

from a short story in her collection ''Sweetly Sings the Donkey'' (1963). ''The White Bus'' was also the film debut of

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Plot

The main character, only referred to as 'the girl' ( Patricia Healey) leaves London, goes north on a train full of football fans and takes a trip in a white double-decker bus around an unnamed city she is visiting, although it is clearly based on Manchester; Delaney was born and grew up in nearby Salford. The Mayor (

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom '' D ...

), a local businessman, and the council's ceremonial

macebearer {{Short description, Royal court official with a ceremonial or real mace A mace-bearer, or macebearer, is a person who carries a mace, either a real weapon or ceremonial. Armed When the mace was still in actual use as a weapon, it was deemed fi ...

( John Sharp) happen also to be taking the trip while they show the city to visiting foreigners.

Cast

* Patricia Healey as The Girl *

as The Mayor * John Sharp as The Macebearer *Julie Perry as Conductress * Stephen Moore as Young Man *

Victor Henry Victor Henry (; 17 August 1850 in Colmar, Alsace6 February 1907 in Sceaux) was a French philologist, specializing in Indian languages. Biography Having held appointments at the University of Douai and the University of Lille, Henry was appoin ...

as Transistorite *

John Savident John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a retired British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1994-2006. He is also known for his performance as ...

, Fanny Carby, Malcolm Taylor, Alan O'Keeffe as Supporters *

as Brechtian *Jeanne Watts, Eddie King as Fish Shop Couple * Barry Evans as Boy *Penny Ryder as Girl * Dennis Alaba Peters as Mr Wombe

History and production

The film was originally commissioned by producer

Oscar Lewenstein Silvion Oscar Lewenstein (18 January 1917 – 23 February 1997)Robert Murph"Lewenstein, (Silvion) Oscar (1917–1997)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. was a British theatre and film producer, who helped create some of the leadin ...

, then a director of Woodfall, as one third of a 'portmanteau' feature entitled

Red, White and Zero ''Red, White and Zero'' is a 1967 British anthology film made by Woodfall Film Productions. It consists of three segments, directed by Peter Brook, Lindsay Anderson and Tony Richardson. Plot The film is split into three sections of the follow ...

, with the other sections supplied by Anderson's

Free Cinema Free Cinema was a documentary film movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s. The term referred to an absence of propagandised intent or deliberate box office appeal. Co-founded by Lindsay Anderson (but he later disdained the ...

collaborators

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...

and

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Saturday Night and S ...

from the other short stories by Shelagh Delaney. The "first real day's shooting" was on 19 October 1965, and took about a month to complete. The two other planned sections of the film developed into what became Richardson's ''Red and Blue'' and

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

's '' Ride of the Valkyrie'' (1967), Reisz having dropped out, both of which are unrelated to Delaney's work. Of these, only ''The White Bus'' received a theatrical release in the UK.Sutton, p.146

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White Bus, The 1967 films 1967 drama films British drama short films Films directed by Lindsay Anderson Films set in Manchester Films shot in Greater Manchester 1960s English-language films 1960s British films