Clockwise (1986)

‘It’s not the despair. I can stand the despair, Laura. It’s the hope.’
Director: Christopher Morahan
Cast: John Cleese, Sharon Maiden, Penelope Wilton
Defining moment: John Cleese’s epic, rambling climactic speech proves he’s a great verbal as well as physical comic.
From a script by Michael Frayn, this classic farce starring John Cleese as a punctilious headmaster on a calamitous journey to a conference is something of a dry run for the actor’s turn in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’. The plot moves along at a fair old lick, with Cleese’s Mr Stimpson roping in disaffected sixth-former Laura (Sharon Maiden) to get him to his destination. There’s plenty of spark to the dialogue and a very English sense of panic at the failure to meet conventional expectations. The real treat of it is Cleese’s performance, its elements of priggishness ultimately overcome by sympathy at his ordeal. Ben Walters