A rundown bus, a troubled wife, and a burlesque dancer cross paths on a fateful mountain ride.
THE WAYWARD BUS
The Steinbeck people! The Steinbeck passions! The Steinbeck power!
Three strangers - a stripper (Mansfield), an alcoholic wife (Collins), and a travelling salesman (Dailey) - embark on a life-changing journey on a fateful bus ride. As the road presents challenges, each character faces his or her own shortcomings, not knowing where life will lead next.
Proof that sometimes the most dangerous detours happen between rest stops.
With Joan Collins as a liquor-loving wife and Jayne Mansfield as a burlesque dancer, The Wayward Bus loads up its drama with personalities as volatile as the California mountain roads. Victor Vicas keeps the action mostly on the bus, ensuring every breakdown—mechanical or emotional—gets the spotlight it deserves.
— SassyFlix Programmer
The Wayward Bus is a 1957 American drama film directed by Victor Vicas about a group of strangers—including a burlesque dancer, an alcoholic wife, and a traveling salesman—whose lives intersect during a life-altering bus journey through the California mountains.
- Director
- Victor Vicas
- Writers
- Ivan Moffat, John Steinbeck
- Release
- 1957
- Runtime
- 1h 27m
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- English
- Genres
- Drama
Synopsis
Unhappy with what has become of her life, she decides to "surprise" her husband midway through his bus trip. Among the passengers, Camille Oakes is a burlesque dancer on the way to a well-paying job in San Juan. Camille gets caught up in a flirtation with traveling salesman Ernest Horton.
Most of the story takes place on the bus. Slowly making their way through a treacherous California mountain region, the passengers undergo a variety of life-altering experiences. The journey has its most profound effects upon the iconoclastic salesman and the lonely burlesque dancer.
Why Cult
See Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, and Dan Dailey navigate more than just treacherous roads as their characters clash and confide aboard a battered bus.
Most of the story unfolds within the cramped quarters of a rundown bus, turning every conversation and confrontation into high-stakes emotional mileage.
From Mansfield’s burlesque dancer to Collins’s dissatisfied wife, every passenger brings baggage—and not just the kind that fits in the overhead rack.
Trailer
Scene Gallery
Questions from the Vault
What is The Wayward Bus about? +
The Wayward Bus is a 1957 drama about a group of strangers, including a burlesque dancer, an alcoholic wife, and a traveling salesman, who experience life-changing events during a bus ride through the California mountains.
When was The Wayward Bus released? +
The Wayward Bus was released in 1957.
Who directed The Wayward Bus? +
Victor Vicas directed The Wayward Bus.
How long is The Wayward Bus? +
The Wayward Bus has a runtime of 87 minutes.
What genre is The Wayward Bus? +
The Wayward Bus is a drama.
