http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A04E4DF153CE733A25750C0A9659C946491D6CF
One Way Pendulum (1965)
HOWARD THOMPSON.
Published: March 3,
1965
IT arrived at the Baronet yesterday and it's awful. We refer
to "One Way Pendulum," a new serving of British-stirred froth that
weighs almost as much as Big Ben. And how it got those friendly notices back in
the homeland, we'll never know. The picture is excruciatingly coy and flat,
coming, believe it or not, from the Woodfall production unit that gave us,
among other things, "Tom Jones." You'd never know it.
This modern romp has to do with a family of middle-class
eccentrics. Adapted from his London stage hit by N. F. Simpson, it ticks off
the clan's various light lunacies, then gathers them up—allegorically, it would
appear—in a mock, home-courtroom trial that finally hails the blithe,
independent human spirit. At least that's what it looks like.
Son, the family pet (Jonathan Miller), stays upstairs,
happily conducting choral concerts emanating from his collection of weight
machines. Mama (Alison Legatt) prattles away downstairs, periodically stuffing
a gabby friend (Peggy Mount) with table leftovers. Daughter (Julia Foster) is
half in love and half-obsessed with the idea that her arms are too long.
(Certainly her role is.) A dotty old aunt (Mona Washbourne) verbally travels
the globe in her wheelchair.
But the bulk of the talk is that trial, surrealistically
plunked down in the home, archly touching on murder, the Bible, "Uncle
Tom's Cabin," capital punishment and, for good measure, masochism.
All this is supposed to be frightfully funny, and the
simpering cast plays it accordingly, under Peter Yate's anvil direction.
Mr. Miller, previously "Beyond the Fringe" and now
beyond the pale, is the luckiest, never having to open his mouth—just
conducting those weight machines with a knowing smirk. And wait till you hear
them — and him — blast out the "Hallelujah Chorus."
That's the finale. Hallelujah and ship it all back.
ONE WAY PENDULUM, screenplay by N. F. Simpson, directed by
Peter Yates; a Woodfall Film produced by Michael Deeley; distributed by Lopert
Pictures. At the Baronet Theater, Third Avenue
at 59th Street. Running
time: 90 minutes.
Mr. Groomkirby . . . . . Eric Sykes
Defense Counsel . . . . . George Cole
Sylvia . . . . . Julia Foster
Kirby . . . . . Jonathan Miller
Mrs. Gantry . . . . . Peggy Mount
Mrs. Groomkirby . . . . . Alison Leggatt
Aunt Mildred . . . . . Mona Washbourne
The Judge . . . . . Douglas Wilmer
Stan . . . . . Kenneth Farringdon
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January 30th, 2011
Perfect farce
This is one of the funniest movies ever made. It concerns a
ecentric British familly and is full of totally inconceivable connections. The
family, for one example is regularly visited by Mrs. Gooby who is hired to eat
all the excess food in the household. The son has a novel reason for always
wearing black and is currently stealing State Your Weight machines to provide
an excuse for so doing. No summary of this film could do justice to its
insanity.
– Steller, Pittsburg, KS
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