Your Favorite Peter Sellers Films

I had a boss in the eighties that thought that sequence was the funniest thing, ever. He could do a passable imitation of the clerk. He'd just howl every time it came to his mind. he'd say the trick is that pause after the word "that". You know what's coming but the delivery is just flawless.

 

"What kind of bomb was it?"

 

After reading The Life and Death of Peter Sellers by Roger Lewis, I see Dr Strangelove and A Shot in the Dark as Sellers at a crossroads: to become an actor of depth or go for broad comedy? Subsequently, except for Being There, he chose the latter, but it made him a star. Though I haven't seen them all, I'm fond of his late 50s/early 60s British films because they show him trying interesting things and really engaging with the material. In spite of its low critical reputation, I'd really like to see Mr Topaze (1961), which he also directed.

I think he's brilliant in a character role in I'm All Right, Jack, and he practically steals Lolita. The Millionairess (1960) is an odd film, but the pairing with Sophia Loren bumped his career to the next level, and resulted in "Goodness Gracious Me," a hit novelty record with the two stars produced by George Martin. The Pink Panther films start out funny but as the series wore on I found them less and less amusing, save for individual bits here and there. One of my favorites is the one alluded to above, from The Pink Panther Strikes Again:

 

Ahhhh.....baumb!

 

"Don't look back " made around 1960 co-starring Richard Todd and a very young Adam Faith . I thought he gave an epic performance against type as a vicious garage owner about as far removed as anything I'd ever seen before or since.

 

Being There

 

"Being There". And my favorite movie of all time.

 

Are you thinking Never Let Go? I see there's a weird compressed four minute version up on youtube.

 

I'm just seeing the 1974 Parksinson interview, which is great:

 

Lolita
Dr. Strangelove

 

Being There-brilliant performance.
Dr. Strange love
Lolita
A Shot in the Dark
The Ladykillers
Pink Panther
Murder By Death

 

I had never viewed this clip before of Peter Sellers, further into the interview Peter plays the Ukulele on a song. Perhaps George Harrison picked up the Ukulele from Peter while on Tour with Ravinia Shankar in '74?

 

I have enjoyed all of these films!

 

I stand corrected , that's the one...

 

Pretty much loved all his movies.

 

The Party!
"Birdie Num Nums"

 

Being There
The Smallest Show on Earth