One Way Pendulum – 1964 | 90 mins | Comedy| B&W

Plot Synopsis

A madcap study of illogicality in the suburban bubble of the Groomkirby family home. Adapted from the surreal stage play by N.F. Simpson, this Goon-inspired comedy was a box-office flop on release and still an acquired taste today as its veiled mockery of human nature and prejudice fails to transfer to the screen.

The Groomkirby family home looks just like any other in a suburban London terrace, but behind the net curtains, Mr Groomkirby (Eric Sykes) is reconstructing the Old Bailey in his living room, even to knocking a hole in the ceiling to get the statue of Lady Justice in. In the loft is his son, Kirkby (Jonathan Miller), who is the conductor of a choir of I-Speak-Your-Weight of speak-your-weight machines to. Aunt Mildred (Mona Washbourne) imagines that twenty-five years ago she boarded the wrong train at St Pancras and is now bound for the Outer Hebrides. Mrs. Groomkirby (Alison Leggatt) is a compulsive cook and pays a neighbour Mrs. Gantry (Peggy Mount) to eat up the leftovers. Daughter Sylvia (Julia Foster) has paid so many visits to the apes at the zoo she believes her arms are too short.

The only semblance of normality in the house is Sylvia’s boyfriend, Stan (Kenneth Farrington), who looks on bemused as he assists Mr Groomkirby in assembling the replica of the Old Bailey. Consequently, a mock trial is held in the living room with son Kirby the defendant in a murder trial and his wife playing the main witness.