Buses on Screen > Films > Films S > S W A L K AKA Melody (1971, Mark Lester, Jack Wild, Tracy Hyde)

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Alan Parker-directed, and in some ways prefigures 'Fame'. There's an early view of Melody herself walking with London Transport AEC Routemaster RM268 (WLT268) batch passing: Includes a scene at a bus stop identified by Nazuna as "in Hercules Road in Lambeth, London near the pub named the Pineapple Inn." Wild and Lester fail to board a bus in a scrum of other children: They then flag down and board another bus travelling in the other direction. In fact the adverts on the rear suggest both buses are played by preserved London Transport Leyland RTL453 (KLB648) (thanks Carlos Wallberg). Leon Daniels notes: "The bus in this was driven by Mike Underhill and he recalls telling Mark Lester to take his feet off the seats of the preserved bus used (RTL453) during the filming. When he asked 'who do you think you are?', Mike said 'the owner of this bus!!!'"
There's a glimpse of a red Arrow AEC Merlin in Trafalgar Square, and Routemaster RM402 (WLT402): Mark Savelli notes "A very good bus scene is that prolonged shot of an RT and an RM passing the loving couple as they wait to cross a road. The whole scene is set whilst a Bee Gees song plays. Very moving." The RM is RM121 (VLT121); the RT is RT1095 (JXN123): When Melody (Hyde) and Daniel (Lester) spend time on the beach in Weymouth, a Western National Bristol Lodekka FLF is seen in the background:

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