PENDULUM

US, 1969, 109 minutes, Colour.
George Peppard, Richard Kiley, Jean Seberg, Robert F. Lyons, Charles Mc Graw, Madeline Sherwood.
Directed by George Schaeffer.

Pendulum looks like another tough George Peppard film (P.J., House of Cards, The Executioner), but is better than this. A competent police-murder-thriller, it also opens up questions of law and order, permissiveness, capital punishment, guilt and innocence. The dialogue is meaty (almost preaching at times) and gives food for thought.

Peppard is tough as usual. Stage star Richard Kiley is good in a lawyer's role. Robert F. Lyons is a psychotic killer - variations on this theme by him can also be seen in the western Shootout; The Todd Killings.

1. What did the title mean?

2. What kind of policeman was Frank Matthews? What values did he have? What stance did he take on the law and order issues? Was he too strict, tough?

3. What kind of relationship did he have with his wife? How was this illustrated? What kind of woman was she? Whose fault was it that she was having an affair? Why was he so suspicious and hard?

4. Why was he on the Senate Committee on law and order? Why did he oppose Woodrow Wilson King?

5. What did the trial of Paul illustrate? Did the law have enough strength to control him? Why did Frank Matthews loathe him?

6. What did King think of Paul? What effect did it have on his ideas of law and order?

7. Did Paul's mother reveal what kind of boy he was?

8. Was the film's structure effective in its set-up for the murder of Adele and her lover, Paul's absence and Frank's return?

9. Who did you think committed the murder, Frank or Paul? Why?

10. Did Frank act suspiciously or normally after Adele's death? What should he have done? Why did he hire King? What were his fellow policemen's attitudes? Did they suspect him, give him the benefit of the doubt?

11. Did King conduct his investigations well?

12. Did Matthews do the right thing in escaping and confronting Paul? What did this confrontation reveal about them and about Paul's mother?

13. Once you had found out the truth and that Frank Matthews was innocent, how did your attitude change towards him, towards King, towards the police?

14. What comment did this film make on law, the letter of the law, strict justice, civil rights' attitudes, leniency? Was the film in favour of more power for the police or not? What was the meaning of the final dialogue?

15. Did the film offer answers or did it leave questions with the audience? What answers would you offer?