One Way Pendulum | |
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Campaign book cover
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Directed by | Peter Yates |
Produced by |
Michael Deeley Oscar Lewenstein |
Written by | N. F. Simpson |
Based on |
One Way Pendulum by N. F. Simpson |
Starring |
Eric Sykes George Cole |
Music by | Richard Rodney Bennett |
Cinematography | Denys N. Coop |
Edited by | Peter Taylor |
Production
company |
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Release date
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August 1964 |
Running time
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90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £40,000 |
One Way Pendulum is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Yates and starring Eric Sykes and George Cole. It is an adaptation of the play by N. F. Simpson.
Study of absurdity in a suburban family: father rebuilds the Old Bailey in the living room, and the son teaches weighing machines to sing in the bathroom.
Producer Michael Deeley and director Peter Yates wanted to work on a project together and saw the play at the Royal Court. 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, then flush with money in the wake of the success of Tom Jones (1963).
The film was the first from Woodfall to be shot in a studio and commenced filming at Twickenham Studios in March 1964.
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 from 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'.".