Clockwise (film)

Last updated

Clockwise
Clockwise poster.jpg
theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by Christopher Morahan
Written by Michael Frayn
Produced by Michael Codron
Starring
Cinematography John Coquillon
Edited by Peter Boyle
Music by George Fenton
Production
company
Moment Films
Distributed by Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment
Release date
  • 14 March 1986 (1986-03-14)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£4 million [1]
Box office£4,823,000 [2]

Clockwise is an absurdist 1986 British comedy road film starring John Cleese, directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film's music was composed by George Fenton.

Contents

For his performance Cleese won the 1987 Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Most urban scenes were shot in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, while rural scenes were largely shot in Shropshire. [3] Menzies High School in West Bromwich was used to portray the fictional school within the film.

Plot

Brian Stimpson, headmaster of Thomas Tompion Comprehensive School, has been elected to chair the annual Headmasters' Conference meeting in Norwich. Openly careless as a young man, Stimpson is now compulsively organised and punctual and his school runs "like clockwork". Stimpson is the first headmaster of a comprehensive school to chair the Headmasters' Conference, that honour usually being reserved for heads of the more prestigious private schools.

Despite constant rehearsal of his speech and preparations for the journey to the conference, Stimpson's ordered world unwinds as a series of unfortunate circumstances delay him en route. He mistakenly boards the wrong train, missing his connection for Norwich, owing to a lingering habit of saying "right" as emphasis in situations where it would be mistaken for a direction; then, in his desperation to board the departing correct train, he leaves the text of his speech behind on the wrong one, and is finally left at the railway station by his wife, who thinks he departed on the train.

Determined to get to Norwich on time, Stimpson searches for his wife at home and then at the hospital where she volunteers looking after dementia patients, but narrowly misses her. Attempting to hail a taxi, Stimpson stumbles across Laura Wisely, one of his sixth form students, who is driving and playing truant during a study break; he commandeers her and her car in a bid to drive to Norwich.

Stimpson's wife sees the two at a petrol station, assuming that her husband is carrying on with the student and taking her down to attend the conference. Mrs. Stimpson, who is still looking after three senile old women, drives after Stimpson and both parties forget to pay for their petrol. The police are called and, responding to a call from Laura's parents reporting the car as stolen and their daughter as missing, attempt to find Stimpson and arrest him for kidnapping. Stimpson's wife, Laura's parents, the police and Mr. Jolly, a music teacher at Thomas Tompion who has secretly been dating Laura, all pursue Stimpson and Laura to the conference.

Taking a break, Stimpson and Laura try to call the conference from a telephone box. A local mistakes them for vandals after Stimpson vents his frustrations at the malfunctioning phones, and calls the police. The local sends her daughter Pat to Stimpson, but she turns out to be a childhood friend and former girlfriend of Stimpson. Stimpson coerces her into driving them to the conference.

After a series of wrong turns, the group desperately turn into a farmer's field in order to escape cows and a lorry, and shortly after get stuck in deep mud. Brian leaves the stuck car to seek help, and ends up at a monastery where he is persuaded to take a bath and collect himself. While he's gone, a local farmer tugs the car out of the mud; Pat finally drives away in the car but is soon arrested for assaulting a police officer. All the while, Stimpson's wife and the others arrive at the conference uninvited, much to the horror of the headmasters; they attempt to sequester the growing group of concerned parents, wives, senile ladies and police officers as the conference continues.

Stranded without transport, Laura and Stimpson (who is dressed in monks' robes, leaving his muddy suit with the monks) attempt to hitchhike. They are picked up by a wealthy car salesman, whom they persuade to come for a walk in the woods. They trick the traveller into swapping clothes with Stimpson under the guise of foreplay, but Stimpson and Laura run away and steal his car.

Stimpson finally arrives at the conference in the torn suit of the car salesman and delivers an improvised recount of his lost speech, which becomes increasingly mocking and oppressive in tone to the disappointed headmasters. During his speech various characters including the old women, Mr. Jolly and Laura's parents walk into the hall, and Stimpson addresses them like he would late pupils, ordering and humiliating the entire collected group with the same authoritarian demeanour with which he runs his own school. Finally, he directs all of the headmasters to stand and sing the hymn "To Be a Pilgrim", as he walks out of the building to face the police. The headmasters watch on as Stimpson and the rest of the party are all led away by policemen, with Stimpson still giving headmasterly orders to all the officers in the car.

Cast

Production

The film was an original script by Michael Frayn, then better known as a novelist and playwright. Frayn wrote it on "spec". He said, "I had always wanted to write something about a man who is late because I have considerable problems in relation to that myself, and only get places early by enormous expenditure of psychic energy." [4]

He showed it to theatrical producer Michael Codron, who had produced five Frayn works on stage including the hugely successful Benefactors and Noises Off, and asked if Codron would like to produce it. "I said, 'Why not?'" said the producer. "I've always been interested in movies." [4]

Codron showed the script to Nat Cohen at EMI Films who gave it to the company's head of production Verity Lambert and she agreed to finance. The title was originally Man of the Moment but this was changed when it was realised that had been used for a Norman Wisdom film. [4]

John Cleese was signed to star. "No one will believe it but I didn't have an idea for casting," said Frayn. [4]

Cleese later said the script was "the best I've ever seen. The same day it landed on my front door, I rang my agent and said, 'I have to do this.' " [5]

"Stimpson is a victim of circumstance," Cleese said. "As the pressures increase, his behaviour becomes more and more erratic. Comedy is about things always going wrong, and that's just what happens to him. When you first see him, he's in charge. But as events take over and he can't cope-that's when he falls apart." [6]

Codron, Cleese and Lambert had a meeting to decide the director. They selected Chris Morahan, who had directed Frayn's Chekov adaptation Wild Honey on stage and had recently directed Jewel in the Crown for TV. [4]

Filming took eight weeks in June and July 1985 in Hull, Shropshire and Birmingham. [4]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 5 reviews. [7]

Halliwell's Film Guide awarded it one star from a possible four, stating "what was intended as an escalating climax of comic chaos falls away as the script runs out of steam, but the nation's need for comedy ensured box-office success". [8] Radio Times reviewer John Ferguson awarded it three stars out of five, stating "Cleese finds it difficult to be unfunny and he unravels here much like Basil Fawlty, from a simmering starting point to a climax of epic proportions. Perhaps because of Cleese's background in TV comedy, the picture is less a narrative than a series of sketches, plus some rather awkwardly placed propaganda about public and private education in that far-off land called Mrs Thatcher's Britain." He concluded that it was "entertaining fare" but "doesn't stand comparison" with Cleese's next comedy film, A Fish Called Wanda (1988). [9]

Film writer David Harkin stated that "on its original release, some of the more quaint and colloquial English humour failed to find an international audience, which Cleese would remedy in his next film by importing American stars and adding a much brasher style of comedy into A Fish Called Wanda". [10]

Although popular in Britain, the film only played art houses in the US. This prompted Cleese to make A Fish Called Wanda to be accessible to American audiences, to "get out of the art houses" there. [5] Cleese later recalled "there was a scene where I had to make a call from a public phone booth. None of the phones worked and I had to go from booth to booth with increasing fury before I found one that did. In England, that scene got a big laugh because no one here expects the phones to work. But it played to total silence in America, where they all expect to get through on a phone the first time." [11]

A line spoken by Stimpson has become famous, "It's not the despair, Laura. I can stand the despair. It's the hope!" [12] and has been quoted (and misquoted, often as "It's the hope I can't stand!") many times in newspapers and books. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fawlty Towers</i> British TV sitcom (1975–1979)

Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and, in 2019, it was named the greatest ever British TV sitcom by a panel of comedy experts compiled by the Radio Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Chapman</span> English actor, comedian and writer (1941–1989)

Graham Chapman was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cleese</span> English comedian and actor (born 1939)

John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead Parrot sketch</span> Monty Python sketch

The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus about a non-existent species of parrot, called a "Norwegian Blue". A satire on poor customer service, it was written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman and initially performed in the show's first series, in the eighth episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Booth</span> American writer and actress (born 1940)

Connie Booth is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese. In 1995 she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement.

<i>Fierce Creatures</i> 1997 film by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi

Fierce Creatures is a 1997 farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, Fierce Creatures is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. Fierce Creatures was written by John Cleese and directed by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi.

<i>A Fish Called Wanda</i> 1988 film by Charles Crichton

A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double-cross one another to recover stolen diamonds hidden by their jailed leader. His barrister becomes a central figure – and jealousies rage – as femme fatale Wanda seduces him to locate the loot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Merchant</span> English comedian, actor, director and writer (born 1974)

Stephen James Merchant is an English comedian, actor, director, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Crichton</span> English film director, film editor, screenwriter and film producer (1910–1999)

Charles Ainslie Crichton was an English film director and editor.

<i>Noises Off</i> (film) 1992 film by Peter Bogdanovich

Noises Off is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, with a screenplay by Marty Kaplan based on the 1982 play of the same name by Michael Frayn. Its ensemble cast includes Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Nicollette Sheridan, Julie Hagerty and Mark Linn-Baker, as well as featuring the last performance of Denholm Elliott, who died in October that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Tompion</span> English clockmaker (1639–1713)

Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world, and can command very high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction. A plaque commemorates the house he shared on Fleet Street in London with his equally famous pupil and successor George Graham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Fawlty</span> Character in the British comedy series Fawlty Towers

Basil Fawlty is the main character of the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. The proprietor of the hotel Fawlty Towers, he is a cynical and misanthropic snob, desperate to belong to a higher social class. His attempts to run the hotel often end in farce. Possessing a dry, sarcastic wit, Basil has become an iconic British comedy character who remains widely known to the public despite only 12 half-hour episodes ever having been made. Cleese would receive the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4, Basil was ranked second on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

<i>Its Great to Be Young</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Cyril Frankel

It's Great to Be Young is a 1956 British Technicolor musical comedy film about a school music teacher, starring Cecil Parker and John Mills.

<i>Seven Days to Noon</i> 1950 film

Seven Days to Noon is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting and starring Barry Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Morahan</span> British director (1929–2017)

Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE was a British stage and television director and production executive.

<i>Once a Sinner</i> (1950 film) 1950 film

Once a Sinner is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Pat Kirkwood, Jack Watling and Joy Shelton.

Sir Michael Victor Codron is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. He has been honoured with a Laurence Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement, and is a stakeholder and director of the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, London.

<i>The Depraved</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film

The Depraved is a 1957 British crime film directed by Paul Dickson and starring Anne Haywood and Robert Arden.

<i>Bell-Bottom George</i> 1943 film by Marcel Varnel

Bell-Bottom George is a 1943 black and white British comedy musical film, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring George Formby and Anne Firth. A wartime morale booster, it features the songs, "Swim Little Fish", "It Serves You Right", "If I Had A Girl Like You" and "Bell Bottom George." Future Carry On star Charles Hawtrey appears in a small role.

References

  1. Hullabaloo: They are calling Hull's first film festival the Cannes of the North The Guardian 13 June 1985: 11
  2. "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 19.
  3. Clockwise Locations' at Gloucestershire on Screen
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Three of the best: David Newpart on three big theatrical names going into films Newport, David. The Guardian 1 August 1985: 11.
  5. 1 2 Honeycutt, Kirk (1 November 1986). "John Cleese wants out of the art houses". Philadelphia Daily News . Los Angeles. p. 21.
  6. ENTER STIMPSON Hall, William. Los Angeles Times 23 February 1986: 21.
  7. "Clockwise (1986)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  8. Halliwell, Leslie (1997). Halliwell's Film and Video Guide (paperback) (13 ed.). HarperCollins. p. 155. ISBN   978-0-00-638868-5.
  9. Ferguson, John. "Clockwise". Radio Times . Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  10. "10 Great British Cult Films You May Not Have Seen".
  11. PYTHON'S CLEESE STARS AS A SALESMAN FOR 'WANDA'Lewin, David. Los Angeles Times 25 October 1987: 27.
  12. Baggini, J. (n.d.). How to Think Like a Philosopher: Essential Principles for Clearer Thinking. United Kingdom: Granta Publications.
  13. "I can take the despair, it's the hope I can't stand". Independent.ie. 9 October 2011.
  14. "It is the hope that kills you". 7 June 2017.
  15. Kelner, Simon (8 December 2022). "Don't jinx it, but this year England could actually win the World Cup". inews.co.uk.
  16. McElvoy, Anne (19 March 2019). "The current state of Brexit reminds me of John Cleese minus the laughs". Evening Standard.
  17. "'It's the hope I can't stand': experts warn enduring trauma for MH370 family members". South China Morning Post. 28 March 2014.