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At
a bus stop café along a Southern Californian road, independent bus driver
Johnny Chicoy readies his rickety old bus "Sweetheart" for the fifty-mile
run to the mission in San Juan, Mexico. Before leaving, the darkly
handsome Johnny quarrels with his tempestuous wife Alice about her drinking
and lust for money.
Soon after, the passengers arrive to begin their journey:
Camille Oakes, a sweet blonde stripper on her way to a job in San Juan;
Ernest Horton, a wisecracking traveling salesman; Van Brunt, a crotchety
demanding old man in a hurry to reach San Juan; and Elliott and Bernice
Pritchard and their rebellious teenage daughter Mildred. The bickering
Pritchards are taking Mildred on the trip in hopes of breaking up her
relationship with a boy back home. Joining them are bus stop employees
Ed "Pimples" Carson, the young handyman and mechanic, and Norma, the
star-struck waitress who dreams of being discovered in Hollywood.
As a bulletin comes over the radio warning of an approaching
storm, Camille pages through a girlie magazine and discovers that she has
been slandered by an exposé. Disregarding the warning, the bus starts
on its way, and Johnny, still angry at Alice, leaves her behind. As it
starts to rain, the man-hungry Mildred begins to flirt with Johnny while
Ernest amuses Camille by displaying the novelties he sells.
The bus winds down the slick mountain roads until a massive
landslide rumbles down the hillside, blocking the road and shaking up the
passengers. When a highway patrol helicopter lands to inform Johnny
that the main road to San Juan is closed, Johnny phones Alice to apologize
but, when she answers, drunk and abusive, he decides to navigate the bus
over the old road to San Juan and then leave Alice for good. As the
bus embarks upon its bone-jolting ride, Pritchard spots the article about
Camille and leers at her. Ernest, smitten by the alluring Camille and
blissfully unaware of her profession, is kind to her and she basks in his
benevolence.
Seeing that the wobbly old bridge that spans the river is
threatened by onrushing rapids, Johnny insists the passengers walk across.
Once they are safely on the other side, Johnny guns the bus's engine but,
midway across, a tree swept by the violent current smashes into the bridge,
causing it to break in two. When the bus's wheels skid, Carson hurries
to help free them, and Johnny safely reaches dry land.
Meanwhile,
at the café, the helicopter pilot, bent on taking advantage of Alice's
unhappiness, makes romantic advances to her, but she rebuffs him.
Chagrined, the pilot then offers to fly Alice to meet Johnny in San Juan.
While lurching down a hill, the bus's water-soaked brakes
fail, sending it crashing into a mud hole. While the passengers bicker
and complain, Johnny goes to look for a farmer with a tractor who can
extract the bus from the mud. When Johnny discovers that the nearest
farmer will not return home until later that afternoon, he takes refuge in
the barn from the teeming rain. Mildred, restless, follows and seduces
him in the hay. Back at the bus, Pritchard observes to his wife that
they are responsible for their daughter's maladjusted behavior. Once
the rain stops, Camille and Ernest stroll through the fields and Ernest
proposes.
Later, Pritchard compliments Ernest for his conquest of
Camille and shows him the exposé. Shocked, Ernest returns to the bus
and wordlessly moves away from Camille. When the farmer finally
returns, Johnny enlists his help, and on his trek back to the bus, realizes
that he is still in love with Alice.
Soon after, Alice arrives and, upon learning that Johnny has
spent the afternoon with Mildred, is deeply hurt but nevertheless boards the
bus to complete the journey to San Juan. Once there, Alice informs
Johnny that she is leaving him and walks away. Camille is met at the
station by the man who has hired her to strip but, when Ernest asks her to
return to Los Angeles with him, she informs the man she is permanently
retiring. Mildred, meanwhile, proceeds to the telegraph counter and
wires her boyfriend that she is coming home to marry him. When Johnny
learns that Alice has boarded the bus bound for Reno, he jumps in Sweetheart
and follows her and, as the highway lights illuminate the bus's darkened
interior, he sees Alice seated in the back. They then drive home
together. |
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