Pendulum

A bit preachy in the Jack Webb style but plot wise it's a good movie to spend 100 minutes watching. Peppard leads the cast. Seberg is hardly present in the movie yet she receives 2nd billing. The supporting cast is good with a few tv familiar faces including Dana Elcar and Isabelle Sanford. The exterior shots are interesting to see as a time capsule of Washington DC in 1968. The Columbia back lot used for many tv shows is used but with an obvious matte painting to hide some of the wide shots that would have shown to much of the studio. The content is mature but it is not a film to be given as many ads say an R rating by the mpaa. It would most likely be rated PG today no more no less. No nudity, no severe language, violent but not terribly unwatchable. It could be on tv today completely uncut. It's definitely not R! Enjoy.

I readily admit that I know very little about Director George Schaefer, who appears to have done more TV film than cinema.

The title PENDULUM comes from the words of a circuit judge reluctant to release on technical grounds proven rapist cum murderer Sanderson (coyly played by Rpbert Lyons, with typical connection to Mom Madeleine Sherwood).

The movie opens with an interesting relationship between police captain Matthews (Peppard) and cheating wife Jean Seberg, looking somewhat plumper than nine years earlier in Jean-Luc Godard's A BOUT DE SOUFFLE but still extremely gorgeous in her 1960s attire, and in her translucent gowns. You know instinctively that her deception will not last and that Sanderson, who Peppard put behind bars, will seek revenge.

That part of the movie is engrossing. The part of Peppard being immediately found guilty by his own copper colleagues, escaping, and using the street phone booth to gain access to Sanderson at his mother's place beggars an excessive amount of suspension of disbelief.

In any event, PENDULUM remains quite watchable. Seberg comes across as a charming cheat, Richard Kiley does well as lawyer Woodrow Wilson King (familiar names, ain't it?), interesting to see Charles McGraw as deputy police chief (up from police detective in the great B picture, NARROW MARGIN, of 1952) and cinematography by Lionel Lindon is quite professionally done. 7/10.

I had never heard of "Pendulum" before and as shocked how good the movie was. It's definitely among the best films of the 1960s even though it's a rather obscure movie.

George Peppard stars as Captain Matthews...a decorated cop who recently arrested a murderous psychopath. However, two things happen that will become important. First, Matthews' wife is cheating on him and he is beginning to suspect the truth. Second, due to a technicality, the psychopath has been released even though everyone knows he is guilty. How do these two things work together to REALLY impact on the Captain? See the film.

George Peppard is really good here. The other actor who was a major standout is Robert Lyons as the psychotic murderer and rapist. He's quite smug and chilling! Now one part of the film MIGHT seem like a cliche that isn't is when the Captain escapes from custody after he's arrested (yes, he ends up being arrested for a double murder). Normally, this is a bad plot element...the notion of an innocent man escaping in order to prove he's not guilty. Here it's handled well...as it's obvious that for political reasons the Captain is assumed to be guilty and the cops aren't even considering other options. In a case like this, you can understand Matthews' actions.

Overall, a very exciting, taut and suspenseful film...well worth seeing because it is so intelligently made from start to finish. So good, I nearly gave this one a 10....and I almost never do that!

The film Pendulum came out when use of the Miranda decision was fairly new and police departments all over the nation were still grumbling about it as convictions were being overturned. Such a conviction overturned was that of rapist Robert F. Lyons and that really bothers the arresting officer George Peppard.

Still Peppard is ready for a career change. He's been appointed to the staff of the crime committee of US Senator Paul McGrath. By the way McGrath is one smooth politician and definitely not one to be in a foxhole with.

Peppard is going to need all the friends he can get because he is accused of murdering his wife Jean Seberg and her boyfriend Harry Lewis while catching them in the act. I've always found it amazing that some of the biggest law and order types when they get in a jackpot always want to make sure those rights are available.

Still of all the lawyers he could have picked Peppard chooses civil libertarian Richard Kiley, the same man who got Lyons's conviction reversed. That has all his cop buddies raising their eyebrows like Charles McGraw, Frank Marth, and Dana Elcar.

Pendulum concentrates on its ironical message to the extent that it really forgets to put in a good mystery. No doubt who is the doer of this deed from the gitgo.

A lot of familiar faces are in Pendulum, but possibly the best performance in the film is from Madeline Sherwood. As Lyons's much put upon mother she has an aura of quiet desperation in her role and her scenes with Lyons and Peppard really count.

Nice picture with a message that is still relevant today.

Just saw this movie again after 39 years. Well-acted period piece. Out-dated by today's standards, but still a decent night at the movies. What really caught my attention was how George Peppard chained smoked throughout this film. The guy burned one in every scene. Aside from that, he did give a creditable performance, but nothing to write home about.

Jean Seberg looked beautiful. She was a rare beauty and very talented as well. She is wasted here, but her brief time on scene does capture your attention.

The supporting cast of veteran actors do a professional job. The only real problem is that the film drags at times and lacks any real action. The ending was typical, but this was 1969, so don't expect too many surprises.