The On the Buses crew strike again!
Jack: Huh, look, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll lift it up an' stick it back in the pavement.
Stan: Oh, don't talk out the back o' your 'ead. You'd need an elephant to lift this up.
Arthur: Olive. Give 'im an 'and.
— Jack Harper, Stan Butler, and Arthur Rudge discussing how to fix a bus stop that Arthur has crashed into.
Mutiny on the Buses is a 1972 film and the second film spin-off of On the Buses. It stars Reg Varney, Doris Hare, Michael Robbins, Anna Karen, Bob Grant, and Stephen Lewis.
Bus driver Stan Butler (Varney) has recently gotten engaged to Susy (Janet Mahoney), a pretty, young clippie. While his conductor, Jack Harper (Grant), is happy for him, Stan's family is not, with his mum, Mabel (Hare), saddened he'll be moving out. However, when his brother-in-law Arthur Rudge (Robbins) loses his job, Stan is unable to leave as he is now the sole money-earner in the household.
Jack reveals news, overheard from Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake (Lewis), that they have a new manager, Mr. Jenkins (Kevin Brennan), who is planning to introduce mass reforms to the depot. When Mr. Jenkins decides to hire more drivers, Stan gets Arthur a job, so the family won't have to rely on him, yet still he is unable to afford to move out with Susy. Arthur's new job also causes issues for his wife, Stan's sister Olive (Karen), who starts a fight with his clippie, Nymphy Norah (Pat Ashton), for trying to flirt with him.
In a last-ditch effort to earn more money, Stan Blackmails Mr. Jenkins into letting him run the new safari tour service to Windsor Safari Park. Although a damaged door on the safari bus leaves Stan and Blakey getting more than they bargained for as Hilarity Ensues.
The film was followed by Holiday on the Buses in 1973.
Tropes on the Buses:
- Agony of the Feet: When Mr. Jenkins leads Stan away to drive his bus away from the growing fire, Stan throws the nozzle of the firehose to Jack, who doesn't notice until it lands right on his foot.
- Alliterative Name: Norah is better known as "Nymphy Norah".
- All There in the Script: Another one of the clippies' names isn't given in the film but is given in the credits as "Gladys".
- Ancestral Name: Olive and Arthur's child's name is finally revealed to be "Arthur", just like his father. To differentiate between the two, the child is known as "Little Arthur".
- Bad Boss: Mr. Jenkins. He's never in a good mood and always threatening to give the bus staff the sack.
- Blackmail: Stan and Jack use their knowledge that Mr. Jenkins has been having an affair with Nymphy Norah to get Stan the job of running the Windsor Safari Park tours.
- Blowing a Raspberry: Stan does to Blakey to show how fed-up he is with the new radio control system:Blakey: You got the message then, have ya? Any comments?Stan: Yeah, only one... pbbbbbbt!Blakey: Little interference, I think, sir.
- Bookends: The film begins and ends with Stan proposing to a clippie while making out with her on the top deck of his bus.
- Brief Accent Imitation:
- Stan uses a camp voice to mock Blakey after Blakey says he wishes he could kiss him goodbye.
- Jack also uses one when accusing Blakey of being gay.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Nymphy Norah's big breasts are a great asset to her, and Jack even tries to grab hold of them at one point.
- Catfight: Olive gets into one with Nymphy Norah out of rage that she's been flirting with Arthur. When Olive is pulled off her, Mrs. Butler takes her place and tries to hit her with a metal tray:Olive: Oh, that slut, I'll kill 'er!
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Olive is furious when she sees Arthur getting friendly with Nymphy Norah, and later tries to attack her.
- Clothing Damage:
- Olive and Nymphy Norah rip each other's dresses during their Catfight.
- Nymphy Norah rips her tights while making out with Mr. Jenkins.
- The lion that gets on the safari bus rips Stan's trousers with its claws.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure:
- After he lands in horse manure, Stan has to remove his trousers, which causes him great embarrassment when he returns to the depot and Blakey sees his light blue boxers.
- When Nymphy Norah rips her dress during their Catfight, Olive's bra is in full display.
- Continuity Nod: During the opening credits, Blakey waits for Stan next to a puddle just like he did in On the Buses. Remembering how he got splashed last time, Blakey jumps back and avoids it. However, while he is celebrating this, another car speeds through and soaks him.
- Covered in Gunge:
- When Stan is thrown off the bus while teaching Arthur how to drive, he lands in a haystack and is covered from head to toe in horse manure.
- Blakey, Stan, Mr. Jenkins, Olive, Jack, and Arthur all get covered in foam during the fire drill.
- Covers Always Lie: The poster depicts a giraffe as one of the animals that gets onto the bus during the safari tour, but no giraffes do so in the film.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Sandra bends over and gives Blakey a good view of her knickers to distract him during the darts tournament.
- Doomed New Clothes:
- Arthur has his new busman's cap for less than a day before Little Arthur poops in it.
- Stan's new safari tour uniform is ripped by a lion's claws.
- The Door Slams You: When rushing Stan into the cab so he can get his bus away from the growing flames, Mr. Jenkins slams the door on his face.
- Drives Like Crazy:
- A distracted Arthur plows his motorcycle into the back of Stan's bus during the opening credits.
- When learning how to drive a bus, Arthur tears off down the road unable to stop with Stan clinging to the bus' door until he swerves into a farm and manages to brake before he can hit anything. During another one of his lessons, he backs into a bus stop.
- Olive is learning how to drive a motorbike, but the very idea scares Jack. When she does start driving, he isn't wrong - she can't steer for love nor money and ends up swerving into the depot unable to stop:Jack: Well, I tell you what - if those two are gonna be on the roads, I'm takin' a job on the railways.
- Exact Words: Blakey tells the bus staff that they are only to wear the company uniform as supplied, so in protest, they all show up to work the next day wearing only their caps, jackets, and trousers/skirts.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: After Arthur crashes his motorbike into a workman's tent, Olive ends up stuck bottom-first in a manhole.
- Gasshole: Mrs. Butler burps just after calling out Nymphy Norah for being common.
- Gilligan Cut: After Stan tells Susy that Arthur plans to stay awake all night and learn the Highway Code, the film cuts to Arthur snoring away in bed.
- Going Commando: Stan and the clippies don't wear any underwear when showing up to work in only the uniform items provided by the company.
- Gold Digger: Arthur accuses Nymphy Norah of being one for hooking up with Mr. Jenkins.
- Groin Attack:
- When the bus drivers turn up to work wearing only the uniform items provided by the company, Stan complains that without his underpants his trousers are causing quite an uncomfortable itch in his groin.
- During the fire drill, Arthur pulls out the firehose, which catches Stan between the legs and causes him a great deal of pain.
- Here We Go Again!: After Susy leaves him, Stan falls in love with Gloria and proposes to her, starting up the trouble of having to save up for a flat all over again.
- Hypocritical Humour:
- A jealous Olive calls Nymphy Norah a fat cow, despite the fact that her own weight has always been a source of humour throughout On the Buses.
- Mrs. Butler calls Nymphy Norah so common, before letting out a belch.
- When a bus cruises by without stopping for Stan at a bus stop, he shouts "Lousy rotten buses!". A jump cut to later shows him and Jack practicing darts instead of driving their route.
- Insistent Terminology: Arthur insists he hasn't been sacked, but rather that he's been made redundant.
- Introductory Opening Credits: The film's opening titles list the main characters, but also their relation to Stan, e.g. Arthur is his brother-in-law, Blakey is his inspector, etc.
- Lady Drunk: While Arthur gets friendly with Nymphy Norah, Olive and Mrs. Butler get very drunk to help Olive get over her sadness.
- Mischief-Making Monkey: Some monkeys sneak onto the safari bus and cause trouble for Stan and Blakey, especially once they get hold of the steering wheel.
- The Movie: This was the second film spin-off of On the Buses.
- Never My Fault: After Arthur backs a bus into a bus stop, he refuses to take responsibility for it and blames it on the bus' gears.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- The fire in the depot was all Stan's fault. If he never got fish and chips on duty and tried to hide them on the bus' engine, they would've never caught alight, while if he never decided to throw them into the inspection pit, the fire wouldn't have broken out.
- Jack breaks the handle off the foam machine and drops it in the inspection pit during the fire drill, causing the machine to be unable to be turned off and the depot fills up with foam.
- If Stan didn't try to show off the emergency door to Susy, he would've never broken the handle and so the bus would've never been able to get a lion onboard. This not only costs Stan a raise in pay but also the bus company a large revenue stream.
- No Full Name Given:
- We don't get to find out Susy or Nymphy Norah's last names.
- The same can be said for Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins' first names.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Jack messes with the radio control system, Blakey's attempts to reach him and Stan causes him to end up on the same signal as two policemen. When one of the policemen talks about tarts they have been eating, Blakey assumes it is Stan and Jack talking about tarts they've picked up.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: During the fire in the depot, Stan grabs an underwear-clad Suzy and holds her over his shoulder, copping a feel of her bottom as he does so.
- Plank Gag: During the fire drill, Arthur turns around while holding a ladder and swings it into Blakey.
- Pooping Where You Shouldn't: When Arthur is showing off his new uniform, Little Arthur craps in his new cap.
- Potty Failure: Little Arthur still isn't potty trained, much to Arthur's disgust.
- Pun-Based Title: The film's title is a play on Mutiny on the Bounty.
- Really Gets Around: Norah, so much so that the busmen call her "Nymphy Norah".
- Right in Front of Me: When Mr. Jenkins tries to get Stan and Jack to take their bus out, they just crack jokes and laugh him off. When Blakey mentions he is Mr. Jenkins, they realise they have been acting this way in front of their new manager and react in horror.
- Roadside Wave: Just like in On the Buses, Blakey gets sprayed with water from a passing vehicle during the opening credits.
- Sequel Non-Entity: The female inspectors from the last film seemingly disappeared without a trace, so Stan and Jack are working together once more.
- Shirtless Scene: Arthur has one when he refuses to wear his pyjama shirt after Olive has sewed tennis balls to the back of it.
- Shout-Out:
- Nymphy Norah wears a shirt with Porky Pig on it.
- After seeing Arthur with tennis balls sewed to the back of his pyjamas, Stan remarks that he looks like The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- When Jack sees Stan in his new uniform for the Windsor Safari Park tours, he calls him "Sanders of the River".
- Slut-Shaming: Olive insults Nymphy Norah's promiscuity before their Catfight:Olive: Oh, she'll take it awf for you, she does for every other bloke.
- Stuff Blowing Up: During the darts tournament, Blakey throws a dart at the bell above the dartboard, which causes a small explosion.
- Tagline: "Back again in their SECOND big screen comedy".
- Teeny Weenie: Arthur takes great offense to the idea that he has "shriveled up" with age.
- Time Skip: After Arthur's first driving lesson, the film jumps ahead by three weeks to another lesson.
- Villain Has a Point: Mr. Jenkins is a bully, but he's right that the Town & District Bus Company staff look unprofessional and sloppy.
