Peter Ustinov is a conman released from jail who poses as a computer programmer to carry out the con of his life! Opening sequences show him catching an AEC Routemaster into London - and arriving on an RT. The RM is from the xxxCLT batch, on route 15:
The RT is anonymous:
A view of RM1658 (658DYE):
A shot in traffic of an RT is followed by Ustinov alighting from an RTL (LLU992). The route number is not visible, but the destination is Victoria:
"Maggie Smith takes a job as a London Transport clippie. She is shown helping a woman off the bus with a pushchair.
The bus moves off and leaves her to chase after it. A watching inspector then marks her performance and she loses the job." (thanks Chris Hough). The bus in question is that RTL with registration LLU992 again, this time on route 185 to Lewisham.
Smith has to get on the following bus; the registration is JXNxxx but it's not on 185.
These scenes throw up an interesting question - what RTL had registration LLU992 - the answer is, none, it was issued to a Bedford KD truck in the London Transport Service fleet, which was sold on in 1965. David Thrower has a still of Peter Ustinov standing on the platform of RTL1050 (LLU829), which was much used in films. David notes that
"the bus was used because it was kept in a garden by a law student, Tim Lewis, close to Twickenham Studios in 1964, then operated at Pioneer Coaches, Richmond, until the end of the 1960s, and was handy for the film companies to borrow." Alan Farrow has posted a photograph of RTL1050 during filming of 'Hot Millions' with the LLU992 plates. Why the change of plates? No idea!
Stuart Turner adds
"Later, Karl Malden, the head of the corporation, is being driven along a dual carriageway in his Rolls Royce; through the window various coaches are parked in a central reservation, one is pretty definitely a Maidstone & District AEC Reliance/Harrington Wayfarer and then a bit further on another two coaches(?) appear - one looks like it might be an East Kent AEC Reliance/Park Royal.
The next shot shows the Rolls in the middle lane of a very empty motorway, presumably the M1, as it is being followed by a [Midland Red]
BMMO CM6T, while on the opposite carriageway an early Bedford VAL/Plaxton Val appears." [Unfortunately you can't quite get both clearly in the same frame}
"This run ends up at Heathrow Airport(!) outside the Europa Building where we see a couple of BEA Routemasters and an unidentifiable Duple Commander (I think)." [for overseas readers, it's the M4 that passes Heathrow Airport, but the M1 where you would have been likely to see a Midland Red motorway coach!]
