Customer Reviews

Only Two Can Play [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I quite enjoyed this variation on the seven year itch....very entertaining, Yayaon!

Peter Sellers stars in this humorous 1960s Black and White comedy about temptation, and the seven year itch, in marriage. He almost commits adultery in this light hearted film, but all kinds of quirky and ironic situations combine against his success in this effort and endeavor. He finally realizes that his one true love is his wife, and that she is the woman of his desires.

4 stars!

"Only Two Can Play" is an underrated and overlooked slice of early Peter Sellers, before success in America thinned his body and inflated his comic style. Its plot is simple enough: Sellers is a theater critic and librarian with a wife (Virginia Maskell) and two kids, but this doesn't keep his eye from wandering, especially to a married but still entirely willing socialite (Mai Zetterling). From this straightforward triangular premise, the film works into the kind of subtle and intelligent sex comedy that England was so proficient at producing in the 50's and 60's. The comic effect is aided in no small part by Richard Attenborough's priceless portrayal of a foppish, pretentious poet (pardon the alliteration). Pick up a copy if you can track one down. For fans of Sellers and/or classic British comedies, it's an undiscovered gem.

The review by J. Merritt is spot on (as the Brits would say). This movie was on TCM today, and I missed the start of it -- now I can't wait to see the whole thing. The dialogue is sharp and clever, and when the characters are behaving badly, the story is at its best. Wonderful acting by all. While the ending is a bit disappointing, overall, it was a lot of fun. I just wish they'd release it on DVD!

I saw half of this comedy on TCM tonight and couldn't believe how Blake Edwards stole the whole thing for "Pink Panther!"

From the bumbling would-be lover Sellers plays, who falls off the mistress's rowing machine, to pulling on the men's bathroom hanging towell upon which it rapidly unravels on the floor, to Seller's trying to make love, but can't get his clothes off, to the fake (but very funny!) voices as he tries to fool the husband of his mistress he's someone else when caught en flagrante delicto. And then the mistress's dangerous driving which causes cars to go off the road as in the end chase scene of Panther. I want to see the whole movie and see what else Edwards stole.

This was a very smart, clever, adult comedy, well-acted and cast. However, the woman who plays Seller's wife is much too pretty for any man to cheat on. I guess it was her dark hair which put him off? He needed a fat, sloppy shrew to play his wife, you know, the Rosanne Barr type! I also wish it could have been made in color.

Smart movie, apparently made a ton of money and Sellers, who had had no faith in it, sold off his shares before it came out. He would have made a windfall. Catch it if you can!

Just caught this movie on TCM and ended up watching it from beginning to end. Showed some serious Peter Sellers as well as a couple of situations that would remind me of the bungling Inspector Clouseau. Unexpectedley good for the era; if you are a Sellers fan it is a must see.