Distributor:
Roadshow Home Entertainment Certificate: PG | 134
minutes | Region 4 |
Available to buy Extras: Yes
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Peter
Sellers, Britt Ekland, Stanley Kubrick, Sophia Loren, Robert Wagner,
Princess Margaret,
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
To
call Peter Sellers a mystery
inside a conundrum wrapped up in
an enigma is still to
underestimate the man, Sellers
always claimed to have no real
identity of his own, (his real
name was Richard but his mother
always called him Peter, she had
lost a child named Peter before
Sellers was born) he was so busy
being other people that Sellers
forgot to be himself.
One
of the most brilliant comedic actors of our times (his work for the
Boulting Brothers in the late 1950's and Kubrick in the 1960's is the
stuff of legend) Sellers was also gadget crazy and from around 1948
onwards he spent much of his time shooting home movies (on continually
upgraded equipment of course), this continued right up until his death
in 1980 from a huge attack (Sellers had been close to death many times
since his first heart attack in the early sixties). Of course Sellers
being an international film star who was married several times and harboured
an obsession bordering on stalker level for Sophia Loren his home movies
are a little different from yours or mine.
This
absolutely fantastic new release from Roadshow is a compilation of
material drawn from Sellers home movie archive giving us a
rare
insight into the world of man whose private face was very private. It's
superb seeing Sellers being just a normal bloke, playing with his kids
and so on, although this is counter balanced somewhat by the big array
of stars passing through, it's easy to subscribe to the Peter Sellers
bonkers myth (thousands of stories abound about the man and his
megalomaniacal tendencies such as being found on his hands and knees
measuring his trailer on the set of Murder by Death to make sure he had
the biggest dressing room) but on the evidence of the footage on display
here surely much of this was part of the public act that he must surely
have put on. This is a brilliant release and an unexpected look into
Sellers world. Simply essential.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
Some
great extras too including a 10 minute short called I Say I Say I Say
made in the mid 60's (after Sellers was married to Britt as she is in
it), wonderfully surreal it also features a certain Princess Margaret
acting up a storm; next is a quite relaxed half hour interview for Irish
television from what looks to be the late seventies; The disc also
includes Advertisements Sellers made for TWA and PG Tips (he was the
voice of the chimps for a long time); Finally there is a photo gallery
with accompaniment from Dusty Springfield.
