Love on Wheels (1932) review: Too much chin, not enough bus

Should you watch Love on Wheels today? Yes, absolutely, if you have a soft spot for dusty 1930s British silliness and people bursting into song on public transit. But if you can't stand theatrical acting or posh accents from ninety years ago, this will probably drive you absolutely nuts. 🚌

The plot is pretty simple, almost like a silent cartoon that accidentally got sound. Jack Hulbert plays Fred, this incredibly eager department store worker who falls for Jane (played by Leonora Corbett) because they keep riding the same bus.

He doesn't just ask her out like a normal human. Instead, he basically orchestrates this whole chaotic campaign to get her attention, which involves a lot of running around and weirdly aggressive smiling.

That Hulbert Energy

Jack Hulbert has this face you can't look away from. It's mostly chin and teeth, and he moves with the energy of a man who drank six cups of coffee right before the director yelled action.

There is this one scene in the department store where he starts demonstrating vacuum cleaners, and he's just so intense about it. It feels like he's trying to hypnotize the customers into buying household appliances.

Actually, the bus scenes are the best part of the whole thing. The bus conductor, played by Gordon Harker, steals every single second he's on screen with his grumpy, bulldog face.

He looks like he wants to throw everyone off the moving vehicle, which, honestly, same.

"If you're going to be late, be late with dignity."

The movie has that same loose, slightly chaotic energy you find in short comedies of the era, like Their First Mistake, where the plot is just an excuse for people to fall over. But unlike those American slapsticks, this one has a very specific, polite British weirdness to it.

It also captures that busy city commute vibe, though obviously much cleaner and more musical than the gritty streets in East Side, West Side.

The romance itself is... well, it's barely there. Jane seems more confused by Fred than actually in love with him, which is probably the most realistic part of the movie.

There is a musical number in the middle that goes on for what feels like three days. I think I actually drifted off for a second during the piano solo, my cat woke me up.

Also, the sound quality is a bit crunchy. You have to squint with your ears sometimes to understand the slang they throw around.

Some of the edit cuts is really abrupt too, like they ran out of film and just decided to jump to the next morning. But that's part of the charm, I guess.

Here are a few things I wrote down while watching:

• The bus driver deserves a raise for not crashing while everyone is dancing.
• Why does everyone in 1932 talk like they have a marble in their mouth?
• The department store manager has the most magnificent mustache I've ever seen.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it definitely won't change your life. But if you want to see a guy with a giant chin do some tap dancing on a double-decker bus, you really can't go wrong here.