Peter Sellers

Murder by Death

Neil Simon wrote this 1976 spoof in which virtually every famous fictional detective of the 1930s and 1940s congregate at the home of a mysterious fellow (Truman Capote) to try and solve the mystery of who's trying to kill them all. Simon's jokes are mostly obvious, and the film's real appeal is the clever concept matched with fine--sometimes legendary--actors. Peter Falk plays a very Bogart-like Sam Spade equivalent, James Coco is a Hercule Poirot wannabe, Peter Sellers does a Charlie Chan bit, David Niven and Maggie Smith are reflections of Nick and Nora.... You get the picture. Lighthearted and silly, this is cotton-candy comedy for the cast as well as viewers. --Tom Keogh

Being There

Thanks to an extraordinary, delicately balanced performance by Peter Sellers, Being There received mixed reviews during its theatrical release in 1979, but has since become a celebrated comedy with a loyal following. It's one of the most unusual black comedies ever made, simply because it stretches a simple premise over 130 minutes of straight-faced, strangely compelling commentary on politics, media, and celebrity in media-savvy America. Adapted by Jerzy Kozinsky from his own novel, the movie's about a simple-minded, middle-aged gardener who, after a lifetime of seclusion and safety in a Washington, D.C. townhouse, gets his first exposure to reality beyond the walls of his sheltered existence. His only reference to the world is through his childlike addiction to television, and when a chance encounter brings him into the inner fold of a dying billionaire (Melvyn Douglas), he suddenly finds himself the toast of Washington's political elite. His simple phrases about gardening are misinterpreted as anything from economic predictions to sage political advice, and under the sharp direction of Hal Ashby, Sellers has the audacity to take this comedic conceit to its logical extreme. Being There is not for all tastes--especially not for those who don't appreciate comedic subtlety. But as a showcase for the daring genius of Peter Sellers, this is a classic movie in a category all its own. --Jeff Shannon

Peter Sellers triumphs in his Award-winning role as an illiterate gardener hilariously catapulted into the fast lane of political power. Shirley McLaine and Academy Award(R) winner Melvyn Douglas co-star. A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run in with a limousine he ends up a guest of a woman (Eve) and her husband Ben an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben and an unlikely political insider.Running Time: 130 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 012569093829

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Psychotic Air Force General unleashes ingenious foolproof and irrevocable scheme sending bombers to attack Russia. U.S. President works with Soviet premier in a desperate effort to save the world.System Requirements:Running Time: 94 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 043396026162 Manufacturer No: 02616

Arguably the greatest black comedy ever made, Stanley Kubrick's cold-war classic is the ultimate satire of the nuclear age. Dr. Strangelove is a perfect spoof of political and military insanity, beginning when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a maniacal warrior obsessed with "the purity of precious bodily fluids," mounts his singular campaign against Communism by ordering a squadron of B-52 bombers to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets counter the threat with a so- called "Doomsday Device," and the world hangs in the balance while the U.S. president (Peter Sellers) engages in hilarious hot-line negotiations with his Soviet counterpart. Sellers also plays a British military attaché and the mad bomb-maker Dr. Strangelove; George C. Scott is outrageously frantic as General Buck Turgidson, whose presidential advice consists mainly of panic and statistics about "acceptable losses." With dialogue ("You can't fight here! This is the war room!") and images (Slim Pickens's character riding the bomb to oblivion) that have become a part of our cultural vocabulary, Kubrick's film regularly appears on critics' lists of the all-time best. --Jeff Shannon

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition)

Stanley Kubrick s celebrated black comedy classic about an "accidental" nuclear attack was nominated for four 1964 Academy Awards. Created during a time when the paranoia of the Cold War was at its peak the film still seems surprisingly relevant today.Convinced the Commies are polluting America s "precious bodily fluids" a crazed General (Sterling Hayden) orders a surprise nuclear air strike on the U.S.S.R. His aide Captain Mandrake furiously attempts to figure out a recall code to stop the bombing. Meanwhile the U.S. President (Sellers again) gets on the hot line to convince the drunken Soviet premier that the impending attack is a silly mistake while the President s advisor (and ex-Nazi scientist) Dr. Strangelove (Sellers once more) confirms the existence of the dreaded Doomsday Machine a new secret Soviet retaliatory device guaranteed to end the human race once and for all!System Requirements:Starring: Keenan Wynn Sterling Hayden Tracy Reed George C. Scott Slim Pickens and Peter Sellers. Directed By: Stanley Kubrick. Running Time: 90 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating:  UPC: 043396061873 Manufacturer No: 06187

Arguably the greatest black comedy ever made, Stanley Kubrick's cold-war classic is the ultimate satire of the nuclear age. Dr. Strangelove is a perfect spoof of political and military insanity, beginning when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a maniacal warrior obsessed with "the purity of precious bodily fluids," mounts his singular campaign against Communism by ordering a squadron of B-52 bombers to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets counter the threat with a so- called "Doomsday Device," and the world hangs in the balance while the U.S. president (Peter Sellers) engages in hilarious hot-line negotiations with his Soviet counterpart. Sellers also plays a British military attaché and the mad bomb-maker Dr. Strangelove; George C. Scott is outrageously frantic as General Buck Turgidson, whose presidential advice consists mainly of panic and statistics about "acceptable losses." With dialogue ("You can't fight here! This is the war room!") and images (Slim Pickens's character riding the bomb to oblivion) that have become a part of our cultural vocabulary, Kubrick's film regularly appears on critics' lists of the all-time best. --Jeff Shannon

The Pink Panther Film Collection (The Pink Panther / A Shot in the Dark / Strikes Again / Revenge of / Trail of)

Peter Sellers strikes again in five classic comedy films plus a bonus DVD! Includes: DISK 1 The Pink Panther DISK 2 A Shot In The Dark DISK 3 The Pink Panther Strikes Again DISK 4 Revenge Of The Pink Panther DISK 5 Trail Of The Pink PantherBonus DiscBehind the Scenes Documentary - "The Pink Panther Story"Pink Panther Cartoon Theatre: - Includes New Documentary and Six Original Cartoons"Behind the Feline: The Cartoon Phenomenon" Documentary"The Pink Phink" - "Pink Plunk Plink""Psychedelic Pink" - "Pinkfinger""The Ant and the Aardvark""The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation"System Requirements: Running Time 520 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 027616902887 Manufacturer No: 1006065

Cue the Henry Mancini music and watch out for Cato--the gist of the Pink Panther series has been gathered in a six-disc boxed set. At the center of it is Peter Sellers's incarnation of inspector Jacques Clouseau, a hopelessly bumbling detective with a genius for resting his hands in the wrong place (on the surface of a spinning globe, for instance) and mangling the English language.

Writer-director Blake Edwards cast Peter Ustinov as Clouseau in The Pink Panther, but Ustinov dropped out just before shooting began. Edwards (who recounts this story in a spotty commentary track included here) and Sellers bonded over their affection for Laurel and Hardy, and immediately transformed the character of Clouseau into a walking sight gag. The first film has a delicious swinging sixties vibe, while jewel thief David Niven, Claudia Cardinale, and Capucine occupy as much screen time as Sellers. Sellers really hits his stride in A Shot in the Dark, an elegantly funny tale of Clouseau sleuthing out a murder investigation. This one introduced Herbert Lom, as the increasingly frazzled Inspector Dreyfus, and Burt Kwouk, as Clouseau's houseboy-nemesis Cato. Sellers and Edwards, whose relationship was stormy, put Clouseau aside for over 10 years, until a trilogy of mid-1970s comedies restored the character to commercial (and dare we say cultural) primacy.

Unfortunately, the very funny comeback picture, Return of the Pink Panther, is absent from this set due to rights issues with the studios involved. The Pink Panther Strikes Again has Dreyfus going bananas and targeting Clouseau; Revenge of the Pink Panther puts Clouseau in a hilarious series of disguises, climaxing in a wonderfully mounted sequence in Hong Kong. (Throughout the series, the calm, classical staging of gags by Blake Edwards reminds you of what a lost art this has become.) Trail of the Pink Panther looks better now than it did when originally released in 1982, shortly after Sellers's death; it's a batch of unused Sellers routines from previous pictures, strung together with a loose plot. In other words, it's a "deleted scenes" extra, and quite funny at times.

Subsequent efforts Curse of the Pink Panther and Son of the Pink Panther are neither included nor mentioned. A half-hour documentary gives pleasant memories from Edwards, but feels incomplete. The cartoon Panther gets his own 11-minute mini-doc, plus six cartoon shorts including the Oscar-winning "The Pink Phink." --Robert Horton

Return of the Pink Panther

Inspector Clouseau is once again chasing the Phantom believing he has stolen the Pink Panther diamond.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: SELLERS,PETER
Title: RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER
Street Release Date: 01/10/2006
Domestic
Genre: COMEDY VIDEO

Peter Sellers's third go-around as the prideful but bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau is funny enough, but this 1975 Blake Edwards revival of the Sellers-Clouseau connection is a little weak in comparison to predecessors The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark (both made in 1964). Costar Christopher Plummer actually gets some of the most interesting screen time as a retired cat burglar whom Clouseau accuses of getting back into the business. (If it sounds like there might be a To Catch a Thief vibe mixed in here, you're right.) Herbert Lom is hilarious as Clouseau's psychologically eroding boss, and Clouseau's ritualistic collisions with valet Cato (Burt Kwouk) are great examples of Edwards's delicious comic timing. --Tom Keogh

The Party

Though this film is a relatively minor one in the massive canon of Peter Sellers, it has moments of absolute hilarity. Written and directed by Blake Edwards, one of Sellers's most fertile collaborators, the film stars Sellers as a would-be actor from India (let them try to get away with that today) who is a walking disaster area. After ruining a day's shooting as an extra on a film, he finds himself unintentionally invited to a big Hollywood party. That's pretty much it as far as plot goes, but Edwards and Sellers know how to milk a simple idea for an unending string of slapstick gags. The result is a film that is episodic and sketchy, but also frequently loony in an inspired way. --Marshall Fine

A Shot in the Dark

Accident prone Inspector Clouseau attempts to prove the innocence of a maid suspected of killing her lover.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 31-JAN-2006
Media Type: DVD

Blake Edwards's Inspector Clouseau films really took their complete shape with this second movie in the series, which features star Peter Sellers really tweaking that French accent and key supporting players Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, and André Maranne (all getting on board for the first time). The story finds Sellers refusing to believe in the guilt of a beautiful woman (Elke Sommer) accused of murder, and there are a number of hilarious sequences, including one in which Clouseau goes "undercover" at a nudist colony. Arguably the best of the films, A Shot in the Dark definitely finds Edwards honing a seamless blend of slapstick, brilliant timing, verbal wit, a great cast, and Sellers's brilliance into a unique experience. --Tom Keogh

The Pink Panther

Inspector Clouseau of the Paris police, attempts to catch a jewel thief, unaware that his wife is having an affair with the thief.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: NR
Release Date: 31-JAN-2006
Media Type: DVD

The history of film comedy would have been much altered if Peter Ustinov had stayed in the role of Jacques Clouseau, the bumbling French police inspector in The Pink Panther. But Ustinov dropped out, the role went to Peter Sellers, and a classic character was born: suspicious, blundering, with a pompous little mustache and a sometimes impenetrable accent, Clouseau was always one step behind everybody else in the room. The Pink Panther introduced Clouseau hot on the trail of a famous jewel thief (David Niven), who may be planning to make off with an expensive gem known as the Pink Panther. Set in a European ski resort, this bubbly comedy is a wonderful dose of '60s style, from the famous Henry Mancini theme music to the presence of two of Europe's top sex symbols of the era, Claudia Cardinale and Capucine. The film also introduced the popular cartoon Pink Panther, slinking around to Mancini's music in an animated credits sequence. The film's success brought a follow-up, A Shot in the Dark, also released in 1964; after 11 years, Sellers and top comedy director Blake Edwards (10) returned with three more sequels. --Robert Horton

The Mouse That Roared

The Mouse That Roared (1959) is mostly remembered as a tour-de-force by a peerless comic actor, Peter Sellers, playing all three of the principal roles. It's worth seeing for that reason alone, but the film is also one of the most memorable satires of nuclear geopolitics produced during the cold war and, along with another Sellers vehicle, Dr. Strangelove, provides an unbeatable illustration of the paranoia and helplessness engendered by that period.

The Mouse That Roared tells the story of the fictional European principality of Grand Fenwick. Finding itself on the wrong end of a trade dispute with the United States, and noting America's generosity in rebuilding the countries it had fought in World War II, Grand Fenwick's rulers hit upon the idea of declaring war on the U.S., losing, and then reaping a Marshall Plan-style handout. The plan, proposed by Grand Fenwick's prime minister (played by Peter Sellers), is approved by the monarch (also played by Peter Sellers), who dispatches an invasion force under the command of Grand Fenwick's hapless Field Marshal (also played by Peter Sellers). Due to a series of happenstances and misunderstandings, however, Grand Fenwick's plan goes terribly wrong... --Andrew Mueller