Peter Sellers's 100th Birthday

Peter Sellers remains one of the best known comic actors of the late 20th Century. Indeed, he appeared in some of the best known movies of the late 20th Century as well, including The Ladykillerx (1955), Lolita(1962), The Pink Panther (1963), and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Sadly, his life would be cut short when he died at age 54 from a heart attack. Since then Peter Sellers has remained both well-known and beloved. It was 100 years ago today that Peter Sellers was born in Southsea, Portsmouth.

I was born just as Peter Sellers's career was at its peak in the Sixties. For that reason, I cannot remember a time when I was not aware of who Peter Sellers was. What is more, I can't even remember what was the first Peter Sellers movie I ever watched. I am thinking it was either The Pink Panther (1963) or Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), but it could just as easily been The Mouse That Roared (1959). Regardless, by the time I was 18 I had already seen many Peter Sellers movies not counting the "Pink Panther" series. Below are some of my favourites of the movies he made.

The Ladykillers (1955):  The Ladykillers remains not only one of my favourite caper movies, but one of my favourite movies, period. The movie centres on the elderly Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson), who runs a boardinghouse and unknowingly rents rooms to four men posing as a string quartet, but who are actually criminals plotting a security van robbery. Peter Sellers played Harry Robinson, a young, somewhat nervous, Cockney Teddy Boy. Although is role is not as large as that of some of his later movies, he still made an impression.

The Mouse That Roared (1959):  Released a few years before Dr. Strangelove, Peter Sellers also played multiple roles in The Mouse That Roared. The film centred on the Grand Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a small state if there ever was one. When the country goes bankrupt, they hit upon a scheme to refill their coffers. Namely, they will declare war on the United States, a war they will naturally lose. The United States would then give aid to Grand Fenwick in order to rebuild its economy. Peter Sellers played three parts in the movie: Grand Fenwick's leader, Duchess Gloriana XII; the Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy,; and the military leader Tully Bascomb.

The Pink Panther (1963):Today when people think of The Pink Panther, it is Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau that comes to mind. In truth, David Niven, as Sir Charles Lytton, the jewel thief plotting to steal the legendary gem the Pink Panther, who is the star. As it turned out, Peter Sellers made such an impression as the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau that not only did he steal the show, but he launched a whole series of Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseau movies.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): Dr. Strangelove is not only my favourite Peter Sellers movie, but one of my favourite movies of all time. In fact, I wrote a detailed post on the movie on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. In the movie Peter Sellers played multiple roles, including the President of the United States, Merkin Muffley; Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, an RAF exchange officer assigned to Burpelson Air Force Base; and the title character and expert on nuclear war Dr. Strangelove.

A Shot in the Dark (1964): The second Inspector Clouseau movie and the first in which there can be no doubt that he is the star. As originally conceived the movie would have had nothing to do with Inspector Clouseau. It was an adaptation of a stage play by Harry Kurnitz, which in turn was an adaptation of Michael Archard's  L'Idiote. Peter Sellers was attached to the project, which was to have been directed by  Anatole Litvak, but did not care for the script. Blake Edwards then replaced Anatole Litvak as director, and Inspector Clouseau replaced the original main character. I have to say that the result was one of Peter Sellers's best movies. In fact, I prefer A Shot in the Dark to The Pink Panther. 

The Wrong Box (1966): Peter Sellers did not play the lead in The Wrong Box, which actually starred John Mills and Ralph Richardson, but his role was important nonetheless. He plays Dr. Pratt, a none too honest physician from whom Morris Finsbury (Peter Cook) goes to buy a blank death certificate. The film is "Who's Who" of British comedic actors. In addition to John Mills, Ralph Richardson, and Peter Sellers, it also features Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and Tony Hancock, among others.

After the Fox (1966): In After the Fox Peter Sellers plays Aldo Vanucci, a master of disguise known as The Fox. In order to smuggle stolen gold into Italy, The Fox strikes upon the idea of impersonating an Italian neo-realist director, Federico Fabrizi, with the theft of the gold merely being part of a movie he is making. As fun as Peter Sellers is as The Fox, the reason I love After the Fox is actually Victor Mature as American actor Tony Powell. the very stereotype of an ageing matinee idol. Victor Mature gives the role everything he's got and is easiest the runniest person in the film.