Customer Reviews

The Battle of the Sexes (1960) [VHS]

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Lesser known British Comedy film from the earlier days of comedic great Peter Sellers.
Here Peter Sellers re-teams with "The Lavender Hill Mob" director Charles Crichton to deliver another biting comedy and examination of culture clashes. Peter Sellers plays a meek accountant in a firm that produces Scottish Kilts. When the ole time owner kicks the bucket, his son inherits control. However, the son comes with his new partner, an American woman! Mrs. Barrows played by Constance Cummings. She has some very different ideas about how to run a business. The old stogie accounting department will never be the same. Sellers, the head of the accounting department has been given the task to acquaint her with the firm. She is rather taken aback by its many arcane ways of doing business and insists on immediate changes. Changes, that the accountant views as a grave threat to his existence.

This classic British comedy is based on the short story "The Catbird Seat" by author James Thurber. Interestingly enough the British horror director and cinematographer Freddie Francis was the director of photography on this 1959 film. Freddie Francis went on to direct some infamous 60's and 70's horror films like Torture Garden, Hysteria, and Girly. He won the OSCAR for his cinematography on the film GLORY (1990) and achieved wide acclaim and nominations for his work on the 1993 CAPE FEAR remake.

Gentle, hilarious, cultural satire of high order, brilliantly handled, one of my all-time favorite films, and to my mind Peter Sellers' shining hour -- and I can't buy it in America!

Please, make a DVD of this film that accommodates U.S. players.