"One Way Pendulum" is the type of film that won't be enjoyable to everyone. Some may think that's an understatement. Perhaps the better pronoun would be "many," as in many won't find it enjoyable. That's because this crazy film is
well, just that – crazy. It bounces all over the place with eccentric characters and situations. No one in the Groomkirby household is "normal" or sane.
Arthur Groomkirby (Eric Sykes) lives in a fantasy world in which he longs for being a great barrister or something like that. It's hard to tell, really. His son, Kirby (Jonathan Miller) is over the edge. He collects weight machines that were common in the mid-20th century. They "spoke" to people who weighed themselves. Kirby has wired them in some way that he makes a chorus out of them. It's beyond understanding, believe me.
Mrs. Groomkirby (Alison Leggatt) is eccentric just in being part of the clan. Sylvia (Julie Foster) might be close to normal, but she's part of this household. And anyone who's in it for long, can't be normal. George Cole plays family friend, Fred, also a defense counsel in Arthur's imaginary trial. Other characters in this trial are overboard wacko. Douglas Wilmer as the judge is so stupidly funny, and Graham Crowden as the prosecuting counsel is a broken record hung up on the time of 3:15, the 23rd of August. At one point, the judge says he won't foster in his court such "psychological poppycock." But, he notes that not one of the 43 murder victims has come forward to testify for the accused. The prosecuting counsel (Graham Crowden) grills Groomkirby about all the places he has never been. Groomkirby can't say, because he doesn't know where some of them are, i.e., Reykjavík, (Iceland).
There are other characters – Aunt Mildred, Detective Barnes, Mrs. Gantry, and more, who contribute to the irrationality of this script. Indeed, it seems more like a handful of separate skits pieced together. There is some dark stuff in the film, and some stuff that's not PC, but it's so overall wacko that it just seems part of the insanity.
People who enjoy far out comedy (or, perhaps flights of fancy themselves?) should enjoy this film. It will be confusing, even to most of we strange ones; but it's also very funny. Those not of this ilk had best not watch this film – you'll just turn it off or walk away soon after it starts anyway. Then, there's always the danger of a person who tends toward violence throwing a shoe at his TV or computer screen. No sense in destroying an expensive piece of equipment for such insanity.
Here are some of the more sophisticated lines – that make no sense at all, and are so funny because of it.
The Judge (Douglas Wilmer), "In deciding upon the sentence I shall impose in this case, I have been influenced by one consideration. It is this – that in sentencing a man to death for one crime, we may well be putting him beyond the reach of the law in respect of those crimes which he has not yet had an opportunity to commit. The law however is not to be cheated in this way. I shall therefore discharge you."
The Judge, "When did you cease your masochism?" Arthur Groomkirby, "It was taking up too much of my time."
Judge, "I see. The facts are beginning to emerge. You took up masochism when you began to realize that unless you did so, the end you were at might come away and you with it; and you remained loyal to your masochism just so long as it suited you. The moment it was no longer useful to you, you abandoned it without the slightest compunction. I can find no possible strain of excuse for behavior of this kind."
Arthur Groomkirby (Eric Sykes) lives in a fantasy world in which he longs for being a great barrister or something like that. It's hard to tell, really. His son, Kirby (Jonathan Miller) is over the edge. He collects weight machines that were common in the mid-20th century. They "spoke" to people who weighed themselves. Kirby has wired them in some way that he makes a chorus out of them. It's beyond understanding, believe me.
Mrs. Groomkirby (Alison Leggatt) is eccentric just in being part of the clan. Sylvia (Julie Foster) might be close to normal, but she's part of this household. And anyone who's in it for long, can't be normal. George Cole plays family friend, Fred, also a defense counsel in Arthur's imaginary trial. Other characters in this trial are overboard wacko. Douglas Wilmer as the judge is so stupidly funny, and Graham Crowden as the prosecuting counsel is a broken record hung up on the time of 3:15, the 23rd of August. At one point, the judge says he won't foster in his court such "psychological poppycock." But, he notes that not one of the 43 murder victims has come forward to testify for the accused. The prosecuting counsel (Graham Crowden) grills Groomkirby about all the places he has never been. Groomkirby can't say, because he doesn't know where some of them are, i.e., Reykjavík, (Iceland).
There are other characters – Aunt Mildred, Detective Barnes, Mrs. Gantry, and more, who contribute to the irrationality of this script. Indeed, it seems more like a handful of separate skits pieced together. There is some dark stuff in the film, and some stuff that's not PC, but it's so overall wacko that it just seems part of the insanity.
People who enjoy far out comedy (or, perhaps flights of fancy themselves?) should enjoy this film. It will be confusing, even to most of we strange ones; but it's also very funny. Those not of this ilk had best not watch this film – you'll just turn it off or walk away soon after it starts anyway. Then, there's always the danger of a person who tends toward violence throwing a shoe at his TV or computer screen. No sense in destroying an expensive piece of equipment for such insanity.
Here are some of the more sophisticated lines – that make no sense at all, and are so funny because of it.
The Judge (Douglas Wilmer), "In deciding upon the sentence I shall impose in this case, I have been influenced by one consideration. It is this – that in sentencing a man to death for one crime, we may well be putting him beyond the reach of the law in respect of those crimes which he has not yet had an opportunity to commit. The law however is not to be cheated in this way. I shall therefore discharge you."
The Judge, "When did you cease your masochism?" Arthur Groomkirby, "It was taking up too much of my time."
Judge, "I see. The facts are beginning to emerge. You took up masochism when you began to realize that unless you did so, the end you were at might come away and you with it; and you remained loyal to your masochism just so long as it suited you. The moment it was no longer useful to you, you abandoned it without the slightest compunction. I can find no possible strain of excuse for behavior of this kind."
