Slipping towards Spin: The Film-Making Experiment

Abstract

The film opens with an alarm clock running backwards. Richard Massingham, the endearing clown of government information films, climbs out of bed, shaves, dresses and then heads downstairs for breakfast. His wife is already standing by the table and spends the meal complaining to him about rationing and the parlous state of the country. Indeed everyone Massingham meets that day complains about the economic situation. By the evening Massingham is so depressed that he and a friend try to drown themselves. But when they leap from their rowing boat with weights round their necks they find they’re standing in only three feet of water. Bursting out laughing they decide life is not that bad after all and head to the pub in time for last orders.