Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jessie Matthews | ... | ||
Sonnie Hale | ... | ||
Muriel Aked | ... | ||
Cyril Smith | ... |
Fred the Driver
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Richard Hulton | ... | ||
Max Miller | ... | ||
Alfred Drayton | ... |
The Detective
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Hartley Power | ... |
An American Tourist
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Percy Parsons | ... |
An American Tourist
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Ursula Jeans | ... |
Eileen Jackson
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Eliot Makeham | ... | ||
D.A. Clarke-Smith | ... |
Max
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Gibb McLaughlin | ... |
Florist
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Edmund Gwenn | ... |
Mr Wakefield
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Mary Jerrold | ... |
Flora Wakefield
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It is pouring with rain at one minute to midnight on Friday the thirteenth, and the driver of a London bus is peering through his blurred windscreen as his vehicle sails down an empty road. Suddenly, lightning strikes, and a vast crane above topples into the path of the oncoming bus... Then Big Ben begins to wind backwards. Time recedes. And we discover the lives of all the passengers and the events that brought them to that late-night bus journey, from the con-man with a hundred-pound cheque to the businessman's distraught and elderly wife. Time flows on, inevitably, to the crash -- and past it, as some live and some die. Written by Igenlode Wordsmith
Even the younger actors have long since left the stage. This was filmed when the crossover from vaudeville productions was not complete. These people know how to portray character to an audience. The writers knew how to construct a good story too. The accident. The rewind showing the lead in to the now inevitable, followed by a denouement that blossoms as the petals fall. All connected, interconnected and ironic. We are an older world than they were. Average age in UK is approximately 40 now, but must have been mid 20's then. It's nice to see younger people with legitimate young peoples issues. A newly engaged couple must transcend their separate lives .. without experience to guide them. Nowadays, there are experienced prevaricators with different issues.
Enjoy this film. Don't expect modern hoopla, but allow yourself to enjoy. I give you permission :D