selling Sellers

I've been on a mini Peter Sellers binge.  I never connected with the The Pink Panther series, but I loved Dr. Strangelove.  I've also been particularly into films from the 60s lately, so his work comes up a lot.  I decided to give more detailed study to his work.  Though he's considered to be a dark comedian, I have been discovering and rediscovering  his exceptional range and steady and often unassuming brilliance. It's like watching a fearlessly inventive and uninhibited child sometimes. Trite as it sounds, the man was ahead of his time.

One fun tidbit discovery I made is the BBC radio show, Crazy People (aka The Goon Show), where he established himself as a master impressionist doing a variety of goofy characters, and is credited as a precursor to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

In the past I have posted about his films and said that I believe he is under -recognized.  That might not be true or at least be changing. When we were traveling recently, I was watching television (which we don't have at home) and I learned that TCM is running blocks of his films.  Go TCM.  If you have cable, keep an eye out for them. If you are interested in more about the improvisational genius (and I don't toss that word around lightly), see the Official Peter Sellers site and follow links to even more Sellers tribute sites.  

See below a lengthy, relaxed Michael Parkinson interview with Peter Sellers in 1974 from BBC where Parkinson really let's Sellers cut loose and give a show.  (If only talk show hosts could do more of this today.) It starts with a slightly scary impersonation then shifts to a sweet one, but the interview is loaded with them. and with diversity.  Each part of the interview is about 10 minutes.  Be sure to watch all the way through part 2 at least, for his story of breaking into show business plus a variety of voices he did with The Goons. And part 3 for a behind-the-scenes reenactment of O'Toole and Guinness in Lawrence of Arabia. And part 4 because he speaks to creative collaboration and professional fulfillment.  Then he ends the whole bit playing his uke and singing a song.

Enjoy.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

After The Fox

Watch Peter Sellers in Vittorio de Sica's comedy, After the Fox (1966).  

It's Neil Simon's first screenplay which satirically combines a caper plot with a humorous movie-inside-a-movie commentary on the pursuit of money and fame, with great pokes at neo-realism (which means de Sica, the director himself), Fellini, Antonioni, Godard, and others.  If you are a filmie, you'll catch them and they are delightful touches to an already fun movie.  


Sellers is outstanding, plus Victor Mature came out of retirement to play his supporting role which parodies an actor's vanity. Bravo! Seller's wife does alright as his sister, too. Oh, and Burt Bacharach scored the film. 


On a side note, thinking simply about how things 'get done' in the world, the production is an interesting and successful American/Italian collaboration in that the people working on it depended on translators while making it.  Reportedly Simon and de Sica and other players had their different views about how the film would be better, but in the end, it works.

The Millionairess

My latest movie recommendation is Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren in The Millionairess from 1960.  


There is no denying Loren's commanding beauty.  Wow.  But Sellers is the one most under-recognized in his career, I think.  I love him most in Dr. Strangelove rather than The Pink Panther works for which he is most recognized, but in The Millionairess he shows his range with another subtle comedic worldly performance.  It's a classic love story - the kind your mom would probably like.  (One I could comfortably watch with Mabel.)  Loren's character eventually redeems herself and Sellers is adorable. 

Even if you don't see the movie sometime soon, at least listen to a wacky song that went with it, "Goodness Gracious Me," performed by the co-stars.  Now I want the album/cd.

P.S. I guess this is a double-rec. If you haven't seen Dr. Strangelove yet, that movie is a requirement for anyone living in this century.  (I assume too often and incorrectly that everyone has seen what I consider the movie 'basics'.)  And if it's been awhile since you saw it and maybe thought you didn't like it, consider revisiting it. Pronto!