80,000 Suspects

(1963, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom et al)

Val Guest's documentary-style account of an outbreak of smallpox in Bath, made more realistic by being filmed in wintry weather.
In one scene the staff of a bus garage receive vaccinations. Eight Eastern Coachworks-bodied Bath Services Bristol Ks are seen in the background, both highbridge and lowbridge, also a Bristol LS and a Bristol MW:
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Almost immediately following this, as Dr Monks (Johnson) arrives at an immunisation centre, two more Ks are seen on a busy street as members of the public queue for immunisation; one has a 'Chipmunk Crisps are OXO flavoured' side advertisement:
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As Monks leaves the centre with his wife (Claire Bloom), only one of the Ks remains, but a Bristol LS/Eastern Coachworks coach of Bristol Greyhound arrives and a group of children gets off:
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A later scene shows a Bath Services Bristol Lodekka FS/Eastern Coachworks unloading passengers in the snow. (thanks Alan Sinclair and Nigel Furness) This film was identified from the mystery page by Scot Fergie, who found it “a very good example of British realism of the early 60's, compounded by a real smallpox epidemic in Bradford in 1962.”
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Last modified: 2025/07/30 11:13