Ann-Margret's Anatomy VS 'Bus Riley's Back in Town' 1965

A-M's kitten with a whip routine wreaks havoc with William Inge's kitchen sink drama, 'Bus Riley's Back in Town.'

Bus Riley’s Back in Town is one of those flicks that’s fondly remembered by some film fans but mostly forgotten by mainstream movie audiences. The 1965 slice of life drama had a troubled production, was not a critical or commercial success, isn’t often shown on television, or readily available on DVD. I was thrilled when I finally found a good version of Bus Riley on line, and the link is at the end of this essay.

Michael Parks had to live down "the next James Dean" label, in an era that was not looking for '50s rebels.

I am a movie buff with nostalgic memories of Bus Riley’s Back in Town. The story of a sailor who comes back to his home town, only to find out things have changed, and ultimately figures out he needs to change, as well, was a TV staple in the ‘70s. Watching movies like Bus Riley, Valley of the Dolls, and Peyton Place made me feel very grown up, especially if I was watching with my Mom. She was a fan of Bus Riley’s Michael Parks, who had made a TV comeback with Then Came Bronson, the hippie biker with the catch phrase, “Hang in there.”

Playwright William Inge was to the Midwest what Tennessee Williams was to the South, depicting lives of not-so-quiet desperation. Inge recycled some archetypes from his most famous work, Picnic, to portray small town life in Bus Riley’s Back in Town: the sensible widow who takes in boarders; the insecure "pretty" older and “sensitive” kid sisters; the neurotic old maid school teacher; and the ne’er-do-well charmer who comes home and shakes things up.

Ann-Margret is just a small town country club wife in 'Bus Riley's Back in Town!'

There are basically two movies going on in Bus. One is a domestic comedy-drama, told realistically for the time, with a cast of fine character actors who look and act like real people. Then there’s an Ann-Margret melodrama, still in Kitten with a Whip mode. After the opening scenes of the working class Riley family reunion with returning sailor Bus, the film cuts to A-M’s Laurel, his sexy ex. She plays possum on her pillow, when her rich older husband comes to her bed to say goodbye, before he leaves on business. The film then turns into a Ross Hunter version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: A-M sulking in bed, with a tidal wave of hair and ton of makeup, shot in gauzy cinematography by Hunter's fave lensman, Russell Metty, all accompanied with swelling piano music. And once Bus hits town, Ann-Margret’s local vixen turns into a crazy town Maggie the Cat!

Ann-Margret is basically Maggie the Crazy Cat to Michael Parks' ambivalent Bus Riley.

Most of the film follows the small town dreams and disappointments of Bus Riley's family and friends, which are often quite affecting. Then along comes A-M's Laurel, who can't seem to decide whether she loves or hates Bus. Either way, A-M is full-on Ann-Margrock, complete with babykins voice, sultry gazes through her peek-a-boo hairdo, as she swans about in Jean Louis outfits. A-M’s character also seems slightly insane, as she deliberately runs into Bus’ car as an excuse to talk, stalks, bites, and even jumps into her pool fully dressed, all to seduce him.

Most absurd is when Laurel enlists her much older BFF "Benii" as her “date,” in order to run into Bus at a local hot spot. A-M selects a slow sexy number on the jukebox that sends her into a slithery, come hither routine, with her aging pal dancing by himself, until she slinks her way back. Suddenly, it feels like we’re in Twin Peaks! Lots of A-M self-touching, with half-closed eyes, and full-hair tossing, that is totally self-parody. This was one of several early Ann-Margret movies where her sex symbol image was boosted at the expense of the film’s finished product. A-M was also one of a number of starlets touted to be the next Marilyn Monroe, after MM’s untimely demise.

Ann-Margaret's Laurel gets down with BFF "Benii" to vamp Bus. With color-coordinated their dancing shoes!

Unfortunately, the sex kitten with claws image was one that she had to live down. Finally, in 1970, directing great Mike Nichols did for A-M in Carnal Knowledge what he did for Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and later, Cher, in Silkwood: shine a light on the talent of a star with an over-exposed image. Ann-Margret went on to become a terrific actress, especially in her later TV work.

The break up between Laurel and Bus is Ann-Margret and Michael Parks’ best scene together. A-M is at Laurel’s makeup table, perpetually putting on lipstick, while Parks’ Bus is trying to have a serious talk with her. Bus takes the lipstick and Laurel snatches it right back. When Parks slaps it out of her hand, A-M snarls, “What?!!” Parks is most effective, soft-spoken as he explains why he can’t be with her anymore, and Ann-Margaret shows a glimpse of her future emotionalism as an actress, when Laurel realizes she’s really lost Bus this time. It’s a startling scene.

Bus Riley and Laurel are about to break up again for good, in this intense scene that involves a flying lipstick!

Prolific television director Harvey Hart is quite capable with the cast, save Ann-Margret. Michael Parks got a bad rap as a James Dean wannabe. While he did look like a more conventionally good-looking version of Jimmy and occasionally affected the same method acting style as Dean, he also has some Brando-esque moments as Bus Riley. In the film's opening, he is awoken repeatedly, finally by his sister's noisy boyfriend, making a racket in his car. His "Hey, Paula!" rant is a good-natured homage to Marlon's famed "Hey, Stella!" There are other moments when Parks gets to show his flair for dry humor. Yet, he also has a number of subtle dramatic scenes, especially with Jocelyn Brando as his mother and Janet Margolin, as a family friend he gradually realizes is a kindred spirit. All in all, Michael Parks makes a good impression as Bus Riley, and it should have led to better roles. I wonder if Michael Parks didn’t take off as a movie star because, like Ann-Margret, getting groomed respectively as the next James Dean or Marilyn Monroe by the mid-60s was passé.

The Riley family at breakfast, from left: Mimsy Farmer, Jocelyn Brando, and Kim Darby. And that's the back of Brett Somers' head, who plays their uptight boarder.

Kim Darby was quirky even as a teen and an acquired taste as a performer. Most famous for True Grit, these qualities suit her role as the offbeat kid sister, Gussie. The kid sis idolizes Bus, and she and Parks have a sweet rapport. As her best friend Judy, Janet Margolin, of the art house classic, David and Lisa, is most appealing. As the girl stuck in the role of adult to her divorced, depressed, and drinking mother, Margolin's doe-eyed looks and aching vulnerability are a striking contrast to Ann-Margaret's tawdry antics. 

Janet Margolin shines as Judy, the one who may be just the right girl for Bus Riley.

Most amusing is Brett Somers as the uptight boarder, Carlotta. Anybody who grew up in the '70s remembers Brett as the game show version of Elaine Stritch on Match Game, sharing whiskey-voiced, bawdy quips, and vying with Charles Nelson Reilly to see who could be more outrageous. To see Somers clutching her pearls as Parks' Bus bumbles around in his boxers or catches her on the can is especially hilarious.

Jocelyn Brando plays the warm but pragmatic Mrs. Riley, and the scenes with her children ring true. She brings a realistic mix of offering level-headed advice for happiness in small town life, with a touch of resignation. Still, Brando, who was Marlon's older sister, will always be Mommie Dearest's favorite reporter, Barbara Bennett from Redbook, to me!

Jocelyn Brando is great as always as Mrs. Riley, trying to keep wayward son Bus on the right track.

Brad Dexter, who seems to have been in every '60s movie, plays the Atomic vacuum salesman who gives Bus a career break. Their scene with housewife Alice Pearce (Bewitched's Gladys Kravitz #1) gives the movie some intentional levity. Another actress who has just one, but memorable scene, is Lisabeth Hush as Joy, the Mrs. Robinson of Bus' little berg. She’s funny and sexy in her golden lounging get-up, riffing and flirting on astrology and ESP, and offers this classic come-on to salesman Bus: "Why be a square when the world is round?" 

Lisabeth Hush is a sly hoot as sexy housewife Joy, one of Bus' 'customers.'

Ethel Griffies, the ornithologist who offered dire warnings of The Birds, is a tough old bird of a matriarch from the local funeral home here. Most striking is Crahan Denton as her closeted alcoholic mortician son who offers Bus a job—with extra duties. With a hand on Bus' knee, there's a striking close-up as he says, "I'm a lonely man, Bus." What's forward thinking is at a funeral later, Bus holds no grudges and goes over to greet him. In a similar vein, when Judy's alcoholic Mom dies in a fire caused by her burning cigarette, there's a humane assessment of her disease, not demonization. Even when Bus finally breaks up with Laurel, and she snaps that she hates him, he just replies softly, "And I feel sorry for you." Considering the hell she's put him through, I thought that was a most charitable answer.

Aside from the Dean comparisons, Michael Parks is sensitive, funny, and sexy as Bus Riley.

Mimsy Farmer—love that name!—as the older, pretty sister Paula, is alternately snarky and sweet; Larry Storch is the likeable barkeep pal; Nan Martin’s a believable mess as Judy's mother; and David Carradine, creepy even then, is Bus' buddy Stretch. Star Trek’s Scotty himself, James Doohan, rounds out the stellar cast. 

David Carradine makes an early film appearance as an old high school pal of Parks' Bus Riley.

Much was made when William Inge requested that his name be removed from Bus Riley’s Back in Town credits, due to changes made by the film’s producer, Elliot Kastner, to "glorify Ann-Margret." The screenplay was credited to "Walter Gage" in the finished film. A decade later, Ann-Margret told her side, saying the changes were made to soften her character, and that she wasn’t happy about it, either.

Could those cut scenes be restored and the re-shoots removed? Hard to say, but my guess is highly unlikely. At least it would make great fodder for a Bus Riley DVD. Meanwhile, you can either savor the small town fare of Bus Riley or chuckle at the deep dish camp of Ann-Margret purring and sneering her way through this bi-polar bonanza.

Watch Bus Riley’s Back in Town here: https://rarefilmm.com/2018/07/bus-rileys-back-in-town-1965/

Ann-Margret plays with her... oh, never mind!