WILDCAT BUS

WILDCAT BUS, a bottom of the bill B-picture produced at RKO in 1940 is proof positive that when a motion picture studio has to churn out product on a regular basis, any subject matter is fair game for a narrative. 

WILDCAT BUS is, as the name implies, an action film about, yep, a bus line. Wealthy playboy Jerry Waters (Charles Lang) and his chauffeur Donovan (Paul Guilfoyle) are forced to look for work after being evicted from their penthouse apartment. Donovan finds legitimate work as a driver for Federated Bus Line, run by the tough-as-nails daughter of the boss, Ted Dawson (Fay Wray). 

Waters meanwhile hires on with a "wildcat" car company, a crooked outfit that uses unlicensed private cars and drivers to ferry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco at cheaper rates than Federated charges. The gang also regularly performs sabotage on the buses and stages "accidents" in order to sue Federated for damages. It's all part of a revenge scheme run by an unexpected criminal mastermind to ruin Federated and the owner, Charles Dawson (Oscar O'Shea).

Things take a turn for the worse in the third act before a bus load (literally) of drivers and mechanics attack the boarding house which serves as the gang's hideout for a wild and frantic climax. 

With barely any score and a running time of 64 minutes, WILDCAT BUS is stripped down to the essentials of formula storytelling. It's not a bad little film but the only reason to recommend it to anyone is the appearance of Fay Wray (who is top billed). 

Wray appeared in dozens of films during the course of her career. Her later years found her regularly guest starring on popular dramatic television series. But Wray is forever known by the brace of horror films she made in the early '30s. These include DOCTOR X (1932), THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932), THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933), MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) and the film that made her an immortal, KING KONG (1933). 

If you have a yearning for a quick and dirty B film about buses, check out WILDCAT BUS. And if that doesn't scratch your bus itch, try Clint Eastwood's THE GAUNTLET (1977) or SPEED (1994), the film that made Sandra Bullock a star.