Today marks the 45th anniversary of one of my favorite guilty pleasures, THE BIG BUS. If you have not seen it, stop what you are doing and watch it! A comedy spoof that pre-dates Airplane, the movie features a nuclear-powered bus on it's initial non-stop from from New York to Denver. And is shot in Los Angeles, of course.
First up, the warehouse down in where the bus is built is no longer there, but you can see the Port of Los Angeles in the background, and the small round building in several shots. This in Terminal Island between Long Beach and San Pedro.
These scenes were shot at the Inglewood Park Cemetery at 720 E Florence Avenue in Los Angeles. This was tricky as they used two parts of the same area trying to make it look like the same spot. Here Stockard is next to this grave near a treee..
However the reverse shots are of a different spot…
…and then back to the original area.
The bus depot no longer exists but was at the corner of 6th and Main Streets in Downtown Los Angeles.
To slow the bus down using foam, they to the area of 24242 Main Street in Santa Clarita, California.
The final scene was shot at the Big Tujunga Dam in the San Gabriel Mountains.
I was excited to talk to Sally Kellerman about The Big Bus and have her sign my DVD!
Found this great vintage article on the making of The Big Bus.
