''One Way Pendulum'' is a 1965 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Peter Yates Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. Biography Early life Yates was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from ...

and starring

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

and George Cole. It is an adaptation of the play by N. F. Simpson.

Plot

Study of absurdity in a suburban family: father rebuilds the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

in the living room, and the son teaches weighing machines to sing in the attic.

Cast

as Mr. Groomkirby * George Cole as Defence counsel / friend *

Julia Foster Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress. Life and career Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. Her first husband was Lionel Morton, once the lead singer with the 1960s pop band The Four Pennies. She is ...

as Sylvia *

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

as Kirby *

Peggy Mount Margaret Rose Mount OBE (2 May 1915 – 13 November 2001) was an English actress. As a child, she found acting an escape from an unhappy home life. After playing in amateur productions, she was taken on by a repertory company and spent nine yea ...

as Mrs. Mara Gantry *

Alison Leggatt Alison Joy Leggatt (7 February 1904 – 15 July 1990) was an English character actress. Career Born in the Kensington district of London, Leggatt trained under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based in the Royal Alber ...

as Mrs. Groomkirby *

Mona Washbourne Mona Lee Washbourne (27 November 1903 – 15 November 1988) was an English actress of stage, film, and television. Her most critically acclaimed role was in the film '' Stevie'' (1978), late in her career, for which she was nominated for a Gold ...

as Aunt Mildred *

Douglas Wilmer Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''. Early life Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at King' ...

as Judge / Maintenance Man *

Glyn Houston Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston. Early life Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorgan ...

as Detective Inspector Barnes *

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Ea ...

as Prosecuting Counsel / Caretaker *

Ken Farrington Kenneth William Farrington (born 18 April 1936) is a retired English actor. He first came to fame playing the role of Billy Walker, wayward son of publican Annie, in ITV's long-running soap opera, ''Coronation Street''. Following a brief period ...

as Stan * Walter Horsbrugh as Clerk of the Court / Drycleaner's Assistant *

Frederick Piper Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the ...

as Usher / Office Clerk * Vincent Harding as Policeman / Bus Conductor *

Trevor Bannister Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...

as Groomkirby's colleague (uncredited) *

Tommy Bruce Tommy Bruce (16 July 1937 – 10 July 2006) was an English rock and roll singer who had most of his success in the early 1960s. His cover version of " Ain't Misbehavin'" was a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1960. Life and career H ...

as Gormless (the voice of the 'Speak your Weight' machine).

Production

Producer

Michael Deeley Michael Deeley (born 6 August 1932) is an Academy Award-winning British film producer known for such motion pictures as ''The Italian Job'' (1969), ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), and ''Blade Runner'' (1982). He is also a founding member and Honora ...

and director

wanted to work on a project together and saw the play at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

. Yates was excited at the prospect of the material being so different from his first feature, '' Summer Holiday'' (1963), and Deeley managed to set up the film at

Woodfall Film Productions Woodfall Film Productions was a British film production company established in the late 1950s. It was established by Tony Richardson, John Osborne and Harry Saltzman to make a screen adaptation of Osborne's best known play. The film version of ''L ...

, then flush with money in the wake of the success of '' Tom Jones'' (1963). Writer

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...

helped introduce Yates and Simpson to United Artists. Simpson said he had received a number of offers to film the play but turned them down because he did not feel it was a movie. He changed his mind after a meeting with Yates where the director said the words were key to visual concepts. "He was the first film man I met I felt I could work with," said Simpson who wrote the script and was on set every day.BRITISH FILM SCENE: 'NEW' LION By STEPHEN WATTS LONDON. New York Times 12 Apr 1964: X6. The film was the first from Woodfall to be shot in a studio and commenced filming at

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

in March 1964. A collection of location stills and corresponding contemporary photographs is hosted at reelstreets.com.

Reception

The film was poorly received by the public and did not recoup its money. However Woodfall Films was impressed by Michael Deeley and hired him to work for the company. The film received a poor review in the ''New York Times'' from critic Howard Thompson, who wrote that it was "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'."

References

External links

* {{Peter Yates 1965 films 1965 comedy films 1960s satirical films British black-and-white films British comedy films British films based on plays British satirical films Films about dysfunctional families Films directed by Peter Yates Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett United Artists films Films set in London 1960s English-language films 1960s British films