40-495: Holiday on the Buses is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Bryan Izzard and starring Reg Varney , Doris Hare , Michael Robbins , Anna Karen , Stephen Lewis and Bob Grant . It was produced by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe for Hammer Films , and is the third and final spin-off film from the ITV sitcom On the Buses . It succeeded the films On the Buses (1971) and Mutiny on
80-431: A bedside lamp, she ruins it during the night by leaving handprints over the painted walls while trying to find the room's light switch. This forces Arthur and Stan to redo the work the next day with Stan telling them not to mess it up again as they'd now used up all the paint. Once finished, Arthur decides to use petrol from his motorcycle to clean the brushes, yet in doing so, neglects to tell anyone that Olive poured it down
120-414: A bicycle ride, the second when acting as lifeguards when they had no driving to do on the day & the third being her mother interrupting them when Stan asked Mavis to join him for a drink (her mother decides to join the two of them). Stan then attempts to woo a member of staff, Sandra, despite this being against his terms of employment. When he does manage to secure some time with her, he becomes obliged by
160-452: A film's atmosphere, character, and story, and therefore, the labels "drama" and "comedy" are too broad to be considered a genre. Instead, his taxonomy argues that comedy is a type of film that contains at least a dozen different sub-types. A number of hybrid genres have emerged, such as action comedy and romantic comedy . The first comedy film was L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895), directed and produced by film pioneer Louis Lumière . Less than
200-805: A five-year multi-million investment plan for the remaining five parks. Refurbishment work completed in 2010 included a new half-board restaurant and ice skating rink at the Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park, and a new roller skating rink at the Brean Sands Holiday Park. Proposals of rebuilding the Camber Sands and Southport Holiday Parks and doubling the capacity of the Pakefield Holiday Park were also made. In November 2010, Pontins entered administrative receivership and in January 2011,
240-478: A mainstream audience. The success of the American television show Saturday Night Live drove decades of cinema with racier content allowed on television drawing on the program's stars and characters, with bigger successes including Wayne's World , Mean Girls , Ghostbusters and Animal House . Parody and joke-based films continue to find audiences. While comedic films are among the most popular with audiences at
280-509: A minute long, it shows a boy playing a prank on a gardener. The most notable comedy actors of the silent film era (1895–1927) were Charlie Chaplin , Harold Lloyd , and Buster Keaton , though they were able to make the transition into “ talkies ” after the 1920s. Film-makers in the 1960s skillfully employed the use of comedy film to make social statements by building their narratives around sensitive cultural, political or social issues. Such films include Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned to Love
320-544: A mishap while travelling to the camp leads to them losing most of their luggage in the river, while one case they recover is so filled with mud that the clothes inside are ruined. Meanwhile, as the Butler family try to begin enjoying their holiday, Blakey decides to keep a watchful eye on Stan and Jack as they get up to their usual tricks and misadventures, all while spending time with the camp's nurse, whom he loves, and using his spare time to teach an old-time dancing class to some of
360-459: A separate genre, but rather, provides a better understanding of the film. Pontin%27s Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK , founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin . It was acquired by Britannia Hotels in 2011. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment at resorts, or "holiday parks", as they have branded them. Accommodation
400-526: A talk with Stan, however after he sees Maria kiss Stan he grabs hold of Stan pulling him into the kitchen and promptly leading beats up Stan. However, the Inspector's joy is short-lived when Luigi angrily accuses him of lying, after the manager, unaware of the truth, reveals that no such amorous event occurred in his chalet as he and his wife were only out for a few minutes. Later that day in the nurses office, after Stan had been seen to after his injuries received in
440-436: Is derived from classical comedy in theatre . Some of the earliest silent films were slapstick comedies , which often relied on visual depictions, such as sight gags and pratfalls, so they could be enjoyed without requiring sound. To provide drama and excitement to silent movies, live music was played in sync with the action on the screen, on pianos, organs, and other instruments. When sound films became more prevalent during
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#1732873641645480-443: Is still recovering, also has a job at the camp as its new security inspector. Despite this, Stan decides to invite his family to stay there for a holiday on his staff discount, though his tight-fisted brother-in-law, Arthur, refuses to pay for the train fare, instead relying on his motorcycle and sidecar to transport the Butler family, consisting of himself, Stan's Mum, his wife and Stan's sister Olive, and his son Little Arthur. However,
520-487: Is usually in the form of chalets (which Pontins calls "apartments"). In 2022, it was rated the worst British holiday park chain out of a field of 19 in a survey by consumer association Which? As of April 2024 , two of the remaining Pontins resorts (Brean Sands and Pakefield) were closed to the public for a temporary but extended period due to serving as accommmodation for construction workers on nearby projects. Fred Pontin opened his first holiday camp in 1946 on
560-488: The labour exchange and being out of work for weeks, Jack comes across an advert in a newspaper looking for a bus crew and suggests that both he and Stan go for an interview to see if they can get the advertised job. Stan and Jack manage to secure the job and started work at a Pontins holiday camp in Prestatyn , North Wales , as a bus crew for its tour bus. But their joy is short-lived when they discover that Blakey, whose foot
600-440: The 1920s, comedy films grew in popularity, as laughter could result from both burlesque situations but also from humorous dialogue . Comedy, compared with other film genres , places more focus on individual star actors, with many former stand-up comics transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. In The Screenwriters Taxonomy (2017), Eric R. Williams contends that film genres are fundamentally based upon
640-490: The Bluecoats were Stu Francis , Shane Richie , Bobby Davro , Bradley Walsh , Nick Wilton , Lee Mack and Carol Lee Scott (who later played " Grotbags "). In 1978, the company was sold to Coral for £56 million. In 1980, Coral (including Pontins) was taken over by Bass Brewing , who sold Pontins in 1987 to a management buyout team led by Trevor Hemmings . It was sold again in 1989, to Scottish & Newcastle . Over
680-584: The Bomb , Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and The Graduate . In America, the sexual revolution drove an appetite for comedies that celebrated and parodied changing social morals, including Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Fanny Hill . In Britain, a camp sensibility lay behind the successful Carry On films , while in America subversive independent film-maker John Waters made camp films for college audiences with his drag queen friends that eventually found
720-537: The Buses (1972). A fourth film was planned but cancelled. The negligent bus driving of Stan Butler, a driver for the Town & District bus company, finally causes a major accident in the garage forecourt. The first one injures Blakey, this being caused by Stan not focusing on the road after a woman suffered a wardrobe malfunction with her top and almost running into a car brakes hard with Blakey falling off. The second accident (thanks to Jack not looking behind) being damaging
760-466: The Buses and Mutiny on the Buses (1972), this third movie culled from the hit TV series is one of the worst films you'll ever see. Having been sacked from the bus depot, Stan and Jack fetch up at a Welsh holiday camp. The film's only achievement is the sheer amount of smutty sniggering it manages to cram into 85 minutes. Absolutely abysmal." Hugh Leonard writing in the Sunday Independent gave
800-404: The art of getting a laugh is not yet, as one had begun to think, quite dead. For the rest, Anna Karen once more sacrifices all human dignity for the part of Olive, while Reg Varney, Bob Grant, and in particular Stephen Lewis, all grunt, groan and emit dirty sniggers every time a 'piece of skirt' comes into view." The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "After 1971's On
840-403: The beach. However, the pair panic when the bus sinks into wet sand and cannot be moved, leading them to decide to wait until morning to try moving it again believing that the sand will have dried out by then. When they first return to move the bus next morning they find that the tide is partly in and believing the tide is going out choose to return an hour later, this later decision however leads to
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#1732873641645880-428: The beat-up, Jack visits the nurse for a quick fling, having been doing so behind Blakey's back, but is forced to leave through the window when Blakey comes to see her, accidentally leaving behind his jacket in her office. When the Inspector finds them, he wrongly believes Stan is seeing her and, in a fit of rage, chases him. This proves to be the final straw for the manager who sacks Blakey for having romantic liaisons with
920-708: The box office, there is an 'historical bias against a close and serious consideration of comedy' when it comes to critical reception and conferring of awards, such as at the Academy Awards . Film writer Cailian Savage observes "Comedies have won Oscars, although they’ve usually been comedy-dramas, involved very depressing scenes, or appealed to stone-hearted drama lovers in some other way, such as Shakespeare in Love ." According to Williams' taxonomy , all film descriptions should contain their type (comedy or drama) combined with one (or more) sub-genres. This combination does not create
960-474: The bus being completely submerged by the tide and the pair are promptly sacked for their actions. Left on the dole again Stan and Jack return to the labour exchange for new jobs, only to find that Blakey to their horror is now a clerk at the exchange. Although he initially gloats over Stan's predicament, he eventually provides him a job appropriate for someone who is "always smashing things up". The story ends with Stan as
1000-401: The camp's guests. At the same time, Mum encounters an Irish widower by the name of Bert, whom she forms a close friendship with upon learning he is holidaying at the camp. While working the tour bus, Stan makes attempts to snare the affections of a female guest by the name of Mavis, but is repeatedly thwarted by her overbearing mother. One occasion being when her mother asked Mavis to join her for
1040-490: The company was bought out of receivership by Britannia Hotels . In 2014, the former Pontins resort at Sand Bay was purchased by the group and it became the sixth resort to be operated under the new Pontins brand. On 30 November 2023, Britannia Hotels, owners of Pontins, suddenly closed the parks at Prestatyn and Camber Sands with immediate effect, affecting people who had made bookings for the Christmas period. On 3 January 2024
1080-427: The disaster, Stan takes the family on a boat cruise, using it as a final attempt to seduce Mavis, but this fails when he struggles with the stormy seas, eventually succumbing to seasickness while Jack takes advantage to steal his love. Although the repainting goes well upon the Butler's return the paintwork is still wet requiring six hours to dry, as a result of Olive not being able to find the light switch as there wasn't
1120-483: The driver of a wrecking ball for a demolition company, bringing down a building. It was filmed on location at The Pontin's Holiday Camp, Prestatyn , North Wales . Interiors were completed at EMI-MGM Elstree Studios , Borehamwood. Scenes were also filmed at Dyserth, at the Waterfall Shop. Other locations include Rhuddlan and Rhyl. The open top bus was XFM 229, a Bristol LD new to Crosville Motor Services which
1160-506: The family to babysit Little Arthur, but is so focused with Mavis, he inadvertently allows his nephew to get hold of a water pistol which Little Arthur fills with ink and he sprays around one of the bedrooms of the Butlers' chalet. Horrified, knowing that they would have to pay for the damage as it wasn't minor, the Butlers become forced to redecorate the chalet before Blakey or the management find out as Stan would get sacked. Seeking to make up for
1200-400: The film zero stars out of four, commenting "This one should be buried in unhallowed ground." Comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor . These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending , with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film, and it
1240-430: The manager's car from accidentally reversing into it and trapping the manager underneath the bonnet. The final accident once again after not concentrating on the road being the wrecking of two of the company's buses after another crashes into the side of Stan's bus. As a result of this, both he and Blakey are sacked, along with Stan's close friend and conductor, Jack. Forced to look for new jobs, after failing to find work at
Holiday on the Buses - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-599: The next ten years, the company closed or sold off multiple sites. In a three-year programme in the mid-1990s, the remaining camps were modernised. By 2000, the company was operating only eight camps, and was sold back to Hemmings. In 2008, the company was sold to Ocean Parcs for £46 million. Wall Park holiday centre was not included in the sale. In January 2009, Pontins announced the closure of its Hemsby holiday centre. Pontins Blackpool in Squires Gate closed in October 2009 and
1320-408: The nurse against staff policies. For the Butler family, their holiday ends with reasonable success despite the mishaps, though as they return home, they suffer one more mishap when they lose their luggage once again in the same river (mainly thanks to Olive). Meanwhile, Stan and Jack, delighted that Blakey is now gone, set their sights on two new female guests, and borrow the bus for an evening trip to
1360-569: The park at Southport was suddenly closed following flooding in Storm Henk . In March 2021 a whistleblower provided the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) with an internal Pontins document listing what were considered to be common Irish surnames, deeming people so named to be "undesirable guests" whose booking was to be refused. This was done to be able to refuse bookings from Romani and Irish Travellers based on their name; discrimination
1400-629: The site of a former U.S. army base (built during World War II ), at Brean Sands near Weston-super-Mare in Somerset at a cost of £23,000. Pontin formed a syndicate, in which he held 50% control, to own the camp. Within a year he had six camps. Over the years he bought more camps and personally ran them for a year, before selling them to the syndicate. He gradually expanded his empire to thirty sites. The camps were smaller and less expensive than Butlin's holiday camps. Pontins had Bluecoats to entertain their guests, as opposed to Butlins Redcoats . Among
1440-493: The toilet, resulting in it being blown up when Stan carelessly discards a cigarette into it. Needing to once again repair the damage, Stan and Jack steal a new toilet from the camp's stores, while having Olive and Arthur join Blakey's old-time dancing class in order to divert the Inspector's attention. Olive however manages to break her glasses and because the toilet in their chalet is not finished she loses her way and winds up going into
1480-612: The wrong chalet and another man's bed by mistake. Shortly after repairing the damage, Stan attempts to win the affections of Maria, an Italian woman who works at the staff canteen and cleans the manager's chalet, unaware that her brother Luigi, a chef in the staff canteen, is overprotective of her, but on the night that he tries to seduce her in the manager's chalet, he is forced to hide when the manager and his wife return earlier than he expected. The next morning, Blakey jumps to conclusions about Stan's fling and informs Luigi of what he misheard. At first Luigi doesn't believe Blakey but will have
1520-519: Was also by accent. The practice was investigated by the EHRC, which found Pontins was "directly discriminating on the basis of race", breaching the Equality Act 2010 . The Britannia Hotel Group , which owns Pontins, made a legal agreement with the EHRC to investigate and end the practice, and change its policies and systems accordingly. As of January 2024 Pontins operated the following resorts: This
1560-521: Was scrapped in 1982. The film marked the final appearances of Reg Varney and Michael Robbins in the On the Buses franchise, the actors having already left the TV series in its final season which aired the same year of the film's release. The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Dire third spin-off from the television series, in which Queenie Watts and Arthur Mullard eventually crop up in a guest capacity to demonstrate that
1600-577: Was subsequently demolished after being acquired by property developer Persimmon , leaving only five parks still operating under the Pontins brand. Pontins headquarters were relocated to the Southport Holiday Park, Ainsdale in Southport . From the original Hemmings buy-out until then, the headquarters were at Sagar House in the village of Eccleston, Lancashire . In September 2009, Pontins announced
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