Perpetual Motion Machine (1973) User Reviews

Believing the impossible.

[ksund-120-87098 · 8/10 · 17 November 2014]

A young girl befriends a circus exhibitionist who purports to have a perpetual motion machine; a collection of perfectly balanced cog and rod mounted items that, set in motion, supposedly run continuously on their own. After discovering that the machine is actually run by a hidden motor, the girl becomes disenchanted, but then comes to the realization that maybe a small deception isn't a such bad thing if it gives a little hope and joy. In the end, she removes a decorative four- pointed star from the machine and gives to the man as a peace offering, and the re-balanced machine, closer to perfect than either of them likely imagined, begins to operate on its own. "Hour after hour...."

This film seems to be unavailable in any format, and very little information is available about it. I included the spoiler only so those who may read will correctly identify this touching film and know they aren't alone in trying to track it down.

Print located.

[kyle_sund · 10/10 · 9 May 2015]

A 16mm print of this film has been located (May, 2015) and an effort is being made to make it available, whether that be on DVD or as a download or streaming, such as on YouTube. See the message board discussion on the film's page and feel free to add any comments or update the page if you worked on or have viewed this forgotten gem.

This was a student film by Mark Griffiths and is archived at UCLA. It may be the lone, or lone surviving print as it was never picked up for distribution in the USA. There may have been distribution in the UK as there is a UK page for the film with a stated release date of 1981. An attempt is being made to contact Mr. Griffiths to collect his thoughts on resurrecting this film for possible inclusion as a bonus feature on another of his works, or as part of a compilation of similar films through UCLA.

A very well made student film!

[erichoward-22245 · 5/10 · 29 November 2020]

Director Mark Griffiths (who would years later direct the comedy "Hard Bodies") directed "Perpetual Motion Machine" with a fun 1930's vibe. When you view this film, it hasn't got that student film vibe about it at all. This picture was directed with a very mature eye that understood the look and feel of classic movie comedies. A great deal of historical research was done on Perpetual Motion Machine. I only viewed Perpetual Motion Machine one time and that was when Mark Griffiths and his Co-Produced David Lee Fein ran the rushs of the first cut at Melnitz Hall in UCLA for the cast and crew. In Perpetual Motion Machine I was cast in the role of "Delbert" The film was shot in the town of Julian California, and there is a lot of the old part of Julian that you will see in this film, such as the Soda Fountain, and main street. There were about one hundred extras in Perpetual Motion Machine. One of the Actors that plays a bad guy (he is in a card game scene) was Bill Bordy, the editor of a fairly new theatrical casting news paper for Actors in L.A. called "The Drama-Logue" Mr. Bordy was telling all the Actors: "You should read that new casting news sheet, it's called The Drama-Logue and it's only 25 cents!" Although Mark Griffiths put a great deal of time and money into this film, it never seemed to pop up in the days of VHS cassettes. "Perpetual Motion Machine" is a sweet family style film. The last time that I spoke with Mark Griffiths was in 1984 when he got me an appointment with his casting Director Geno Havens to read for a role in I think it must have been "Hardbodies" or what ever film was right before Hardbodies. Many decades later I became "Doctor Scuba" in the You Tube web series titled: "F---ed in Space" on the You Tube channel of Harmony Joyride.