Customer Reviews

Peter Sellers Collection

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

 

 

Here's what's in the collection. It's sad that a customer has to put this up instead of the publisher or Amazon. From Lionsgate...

I'M ALL RIGHT JACK: When naive Oxford graduate Stanley (Ian Carmichael) is hired as a lowly employee in his uncle's missile factory, the factory's socialist shop steward Fred (Sellers) sees a great political opportunity. Soon, Stanley finds himself stuck between Fred's union and the family business, leading to an epic comedic tug-of-war! THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH: When their great-uncle dies, newlyweds Matt and Jean Spencer (Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna) inherit a dilapidated small-town cinema that comes with an eccentric staff including a drunken projectionist (Sellers), a dotty cashier (Margaret Rutherford) and an ancient usher/janitor (Bernard Miles). CARLTON-BROWN OF THE F.O.: When valuable mineral deposits are discovered on the forgotten British colony of Gaillardia, the Foreign Office sends bumbling envoy Cadogen de Vere Carlton-Browne (Terry-Thomas) to investigate. But while negotiating with the corrupt Prime Minister Amphibulos (Sellers), Carlton-Browne is convinced to split the tiny island in half, sparking a revolution that builds to an international nuclear showdown. TWO-WAY STRETCH: Criminal mastermind Dodger Lane (Sellers) is a model inmate at Huntleigh Prison until he and his cellmates hatch a plan to break out of jail, steal a sultan's diamonds from a military convoy and then break back into jail before morning. HEAVENS ABOVE! Sellers stars as Reverend John Smallwood, an idealistic prison chaplain who is accidentally assigned to a wealthy parish known for its popular sedative/laxative. When Smallwood insists on ministering to both rich and poor, he manages to somehow infuriate both groups - along with the entire town government!

Peter Sellers, often written off as a talented mimic, was actually a superb actor, if he found his character's "voice". He's been unfortunately typecast (I have a friend who thought he was French!) as Clouseau, and he may actually be the finest slapstick comedian after the end of the silent era. This collection is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to see him in early or obscure work, but the movies are ineven in quality and tone. Also of interest in that all these movies he plays a single character (even in the early, unincluded, "Only Two Can Play" he lapsed into multiple accents. CARLTON-BROWNE OF THE F.O. is really a Terry-Thomas vehicle with Sellers in support. Like all Cold War comedies its plot (such as it is, about the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. all trying to discover the secrets of a small island under British protection) is quaint and hardly funny, but there are enough bright spots to recommend the movie as a whole (the scenes between Terry-Thomas and Thorley Walters are invariably delightful). THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH has a young Sellers, again in a supporting role, playing the aged projectionist in a run-down theatre; again, the bright spots are scattered but for anyone who likes old movies and quiet humor will find enough not to have wasted his time with it. HEAVENS ABOVE, a satire on Communism, using the Church as a vehicle for its representation, has Sellers in the lead as a mis-appointed Anglican clergyman who turns his parish on its head; but the movie eventually plays against itself with its serious undertones. TWO-WAY STRETCH is an out-and-out farce with Peter Sellers as a prisoner who plots a crime that will give him a perfect alibi -- he's in jail; but a martinet new guard (Lionel Jeffries, the grandfather "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") may ruin his plans. "I'M ALL RIGHT, JACK" has Sellers in support again, in a star-studded farce about labor vs management, with Selelrs as Hitleresque shop steward and labor leader Fred Kite (a breakthrough role for Sellers). HOFFMAN is the odd man out in this box, as it comes later in Sellers' career, and the character he plays isn't comic, just unpleasant. Why "Hoffman" was included -- why it's even on DVD -- I can't even pretend to speculate. A more fitting addition to the collection would have been "The Wrong Arm of the Law", another crime caper. The poignant comedy-drama "The Dock Brief", with Richard Attenborough as the confessed wife murderer and Sellers as the barrister determined to get him off despite his own protests, would have rounded the box off nicely. The perfect addition would have been the hilarious "The Naked Truth", where Sellers and Terry-Thomas (again) plot to do away with a scandal-sheet publisher (Dennis Price) who threatens to expose their secrets (Sellers' jolly television host character is actually a slumlord). Even the much less funny "Only Two Can Play" would've been an improvement. Why they stuck on "Hoffman" -- unless it was simply dirt cheap to add -- boggles the mind. If you don't mind paying the freight for five comedies that range from middling to pretty-good-for-its-time, just to see early Sellers in some forgotten roles, this is the set for you. Just bring along a shovel to bury "Hoffman" and you'll be fine.

The half-dozen British-made films featured in THE PETER SELLERS COLLECTION are nicely dubbed. There's no "extras" with this set.

Best IMO is HOFFMAN. In what is essentially a two-character psychological study, Sellers portrays a lonely middle-aged businessman who blackmails a young girl from the office pool into spending a week with him. At first she's totally creeped out, but in time gets to better understand the importunate Mr. H.

I'M ALL RIGHT JACK! has some great sight gags and adult humor. It's the story of a young man at loose ends after returning from WWII who's trying to decide on a career path.

HEAVENS ABOVE is a good satire on both religion and commercialism, but it's spoiled by a silly "minister in space" finale.

THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH is an early success for Sellers, who plays an elderly projectionist in a rundown movie theater.

CARLETON-BROWNE is a mediocre Terry-Thomas political farce where Sellers is wasted as the corrupt prime minister of an island nation long affiliated wth Britain. Not very funny or entertaining.

TWO WAY STRETCH is a neatly done prison comedy that has Sellers pulling a heist with an ironclad alibi for protection: supposedly he's incarcerated when this crime occurs.

Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll ratings.

(6.9) The Smallest Show On Earth (Big Time Operators) (UK-1957) - Virginia McKenna/Bill Travers/Margaret Rutherford/Peter Sellers/Bernard Miles

(6.1) Carleton-Browne of the F.O. (Man in a Cócked Hat) (UK-1959) - Terry-Thomas/Peter Sellers/Luciana Paluzzi/Ian Bannen

(7.0) Two Way Stretch (UK-1960) - Peter Sellers/David Lodge/Bernard Cribbins/Wilfrid Hyde-White/Lionel Jeffries

(7.3) I'm All Right, Jack! (UK-1960) - Ian Carmichael/Terry-Thomas/Peter Sellers/Richard Attenborough/Margaret Rutherford

(6.8) Heavens Above! (UK-1963) - Peter Sellers/Cecil Parker/Isabel Jeans/Ian Carmichael/Bernard Miles/Brock Peters/Eric Sykes

(6.9) Hoffman (UK-1970) - Peter Sellers/Sinéad Cusack/Ruth Dunning/Jeremy Bulloch

The sound and picture quality of the film prints and the digital transfers are excellent. The films, though not major works and often find Mr. Sellers in supporting roles, are quite enjoyable for fans of late 1950's British comedy. (Terry Thomas is often more fun to watch than Peter Sellers.)

All the DVDs are excellent transfers of the original films, both vision and audio doing justice to the original productions. In particular I was pleased with the copy of "The Smallest Show on Earth", because a copy I'd previously purchased from other offerings on Amazon was practically unwatchable. The films themselves are not Seller's best, but they do demonstrate the range of his talents. All were produced between 1957 and 1963 and none match the standard of "The Mouse That Roared" or "Dr Strangelove" (made in the same period). The Bolting Brother comedies are usually grounded in social comment (e.g. "I'm All Right Jack") so these films (not "Two Way Stretch") are satires rather than simple comedies; the layers of social comment underlay the not always successful farcical activities. "Two Way Stretch" is, I think, the least successful of the vehicles for Seller's talents, the tough guy prisoner giving him little scope. The other four films are quite enjoyable ("The Smallest Show" is a great favourite of film societies) and the viewer needs to be aware that the best of British humour is quietly commenting on the foibles of society. Amusing rather than hilarious is how I would classify these films, and there is the added interest of seeing the performances of other major talents of the British studios. We enjoyed the films and are pleased to add this collection to our library.

I am a huge, huge Peter Sellers fan, and I just adore just about anything this guy has done, so....it's just another few movies to add to the collection! I have bought from this seller before and again, no problems, packaging great, and great service!

If your a Sellers fan you should give this a try,this stuff is not as well known as the Pink Panther stuff,or of his Kubrick work,but still these are smallhard to find British gems nonetheless,a great companion piece to Anchor Bay's Alec Guinness Collection!!! This was a quite the bargain at just $13.99 new when amazon ran a sale(I just hate paying full retail price for stuff),considering a few years ago this same collection had a price yag well over $50.00!!! Like I said befor a great Sellers collection from the folks at Anchor Bay,get it before it goes out of print(Anhor Bay DVD's seem to do just that) and the price skyrockets!!!

Most of these movies are old banal movies whose only notable feature is that the young peter Sellers was in them. I am glad I bought them, but I am addicted to his work. If you are not please don't waste your money. If you are, you'll be glad you did.

This old, very funny movie, is on TCM this weekend at 7am (Pacific) on Sunday Nov. 1st. 2009.