Clockwise (1986)

An obsessively punctual comprehensive school headmaster sets out to give an important speech at the annual Headmasters' Conference.

Director:

Christopher Morahan

Writer:

Michael Frayn (original screenplay)

Stars:

John Cleese, Penny Leatherbarrow, Howard Lloyd-Lewis

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cleese	...	Brian Stimpson
Penny Leatherbarrow	...	Woman Teacher
Howard Lloyd-Lewis	...	Ted
Jonathan Bowater	...	Clint
Stephen Moore	...	Mr. Jolly
Alison Steadman	...	Gwenda Stimpson
Mark Bunting	...	Studious Boy
Robert Wilkinson	...	Streaker
John Bardon	...	Ticket Collector
Mark Burdis	...	Glen Scully
Nadia Sawalha	...	Mandy Kostakis (as Nadia Carina)
Dickie Arnold	...	Man at Station
Angus MacKay	...	First Class Passenger (as Angus Mackay)
Peter Needham	...	Porter
Peter Lorenzelli	...	Taxi Driver

Storyline

Brian Stimpson is the headmaster of a comprehensive (high) school in England. He sets himself, his staff and pupils very high standards. On the way to a conference at which he is to talk, all manner of disasters strike.

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Plot Keywords:

headmaster | train | school | road movie | clock | 

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Taglines:

If you've ever been late... you'll know what this film is all about!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clockwise - Recht so, Mr. Stimpson

Filming Locations:

Cottingham Road, Kingston-upon-Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,476,356

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Moment Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several actors who appeared as guest stars in Fawlty Towers (1975) crop up throughout the movie. They all converge at the conference at the end. Cleese's character even looks and dresses like Basil Fawlty.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 23 mins) By the end of the movie when Stimpson is delivering his speech and the left arm coat sleeve falls down we can see clearly that is John Cleese himself that pulls something with his right hand making the sleeve fall.

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Quotes

Brian Stimpson: [ringing bell at the monastery] Oh come on please! Turn the bloody record player down for God's sake!
Brian Stimpson: [the window opens] Now, hello, would you have a tractor would you?
Monk: One moment.
[opens door]
Brian Stimpson: Now, er...
[looks around the place]
Brian Stimpson: Ooh dear, a monastery. I might have guessed!

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Connections

Featured in Clockwatching with Mr. Cleese (2001)

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Soundtracks

He Who Would Valiant Be
(uncredited)
Written by John Bunyan, modified by Percy Dearmer

User Reviews

See this Ealing comedy for the '80s if you ever get the chance

The secret of this comedy is its pacing. It shows the events of one working day in the lives of a range of people from schoolchildren to pensioners, whose course is hilariously skewed for them all by the obsession of the film's central character. It uses a traditional "obsessive tunnel vision" strategy of comedy - a character's failure to see the chaos he is causing in the lives of those who are unlucky enough to lie in the path between him and his goal.

Alison Steadman plays the sassy schoolgirl who does everything she can to help her headteacher achieve this obsession, tearing him between his drive for the peak of respectability orthodoxy and her less than respectable means to achieve this goal. The comic tension between the unlikely pair seems a hilarious pastiche of the sexual tension in most hero + heroine situations.

Americans may not immediately recognise the small-town England setting, which gives it a tone of Ealing comedy, but the film should greatly amuse viewers from any background.