Hello, nobody (who is going to read this).
I was extremely surprised to see that this film has only 130 votes (thus far) and no posts. It features one of Sellers's best performances, and the comedy doesn't rely on slapstick. Great lines, absurd humor, colourful characters - I thought there would be a cult following.
By the way, a very good and informative comment over there from the long-named Welsh person.
Hey Brev. I guess I'm a nobody, hah hah, hah hah!
I fully agree with you about OTCP. So hilarious, constantly. Maybe it'd be that even more if I were Welsh meself. So sad what happened to Virginia Maskell, isn't it? Beauty... Anyway, why is this so unknown? What a shame.
Is that... that's a... that's a reply. Well, I'll be...
Heh heh, heh heh!
Good point about the being Welsh thing; I think I missed something too. Say, I wonder if there's ever gonna be a dvd release. I doubt it, considering the amount of votes here and all. Shouldnt've taped something over it.
Heh, good thing you're having fun, talking to yourself!
I just saw The Lady Vanishes and noticed it was co-written by Mr Gilliat, the director of OTCP! I wasn't aware of his success. I wonder if his other films are as good as these two.
It was a fine movie, with original characters and an interesting approach to the married couple theme. I think it could have been better though, as a comedy, it didn't particularly shines, and I don't really see what would motivate a cult, except the fresh and seductive lead actress.
On the other hand, two movies you wrote a comment about, The Moon is Blue and The Smallest Show on Earth, which you did not seem to find particularly outstanding, are, in my opinion, true gems which would deserve not only much more in term of ratings here but of appreciation in general. The Moon is Blue is an absolutely brilliant comedy, with superb actors and vivid dialogues, while The Smallest Show on Earth has this heart-warming and nostalgic feeling which is so dear to longtime movie-goers. Actually, among the movies you commented that I have seen (a few only), I pretty much disagree with all your opinions, haha. :)
Yah, the cult mention was going slightly overboard. However, as far as Sellers's career goes, this is indeed mentioned too seldom. Perfect it isn't. I'll perhaps "review" it here if I see it again.
What, you mean you actually detected an opinion from those comments? I mean, the one on TMIB is the vaguest (most vague?) thing ever! They may seem a bit harsh (e.g. the opening on TSSOE) and forced; the latter is often the case with my comments. I regard, however, both films as good (the most descriptive adjective ever). As far as my ratings so, they may fool one. I try to be anti-generous when giving them. My "6", then, is the equivalent of someone else's "8" and so on and so forth. I should hide the votes, actually. Sadly, I'm easily influenced by other critics' opinions - no, wait, critics' opinions. With TMIB that was the case: I read a few overly harsh reviews beforehand and thus watched it through negative eyeglasses. I try not to read anything beforehand.
I agree, in fact, that those two should be more appreciated. Outstanding I don't indeed find them but I prefer them over many current films, though as I say there, TSSOE is slightly obvious (if very pleasant) and TMIB has its moments of non-working. Sheesh, non-working. I'm looking forward to seeing them again. TSSOE I have on tape, even.
(My comment on Garden State shouldn't be thought my current opinion of it.)
Thank you disagreeing civilisedly. Rare thing nowadays.
Lastly, thanks for reading them! Few do.
Totally agree with you Brev. This is is one of my favourite Sellers performances & the movie never fails to make me laugh. Lots of witty observations on small town life (where a job at the local library is considered a big deal!) & the pretensions of the social/cultural pecking order (the scene where Sellers & Richard Attenborough's trendy playwright cross verbal swords at a party is hilarious) And wasn't Virginia Maskell as Sellers's wife a lovely woman. Such beautiful eyes. It deeply saddened me to learn that she killed herself some years later.
shareYou again! Yes, I recall from my one viewing the party scene as the movie's high point.
Things have improved since my OP, it seems. We've broken the big 2-0-0 in the vote department, and apparently it's even on dvd now! http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/1111848/The-Peter-Sellers-Collection-Box-Set/Product.html
I'm also considering blind-buying Green for Danger. Should I, "people", based solely on OTCP and The Lady Vanishes... and Trevor Howard?
Also, a decent R4 disc of OTCP has been available for some time now. reviews here:
http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Search/ReviewSearch.asp?title=only+two+can+play
I have Green for Danger & it's a terrific comedy thriller. Alistair Sim is absolutely splendid as the Scotland Yard Inspector. In fact the whole cast are good value. I'm a fan of many of Launder & Gilliat's films, especially I See A Dark Stranger (1946) starring Deborah Kerr. I'd love to get that one but it's still unavailable in the UK although there is an R1 DVD. Hmm ...
i'll chime in and say that i also like the party scene in this film the most. sellers was good at party scenes, obviously.
this film is from a book, or i'd question whether the filmmakers didn't have lewis and liz consummate their affair out of deference to morality of the time. i mean, there was a brief nude scene in the film (unusual for the time period), a couple of curse words, and the general adult themes...but, the contrivances they send out to keep things in check seem to be a bit much. maybe that's amis' fault (i haven't read the book). and, in the end, lewis is supposed to discover that the relationship isn't all it's cracked up to be. so, maybe that was the point to the "coitus interruptus."
gregory 072408
I saw this movie at an obscure theater in Syracuse, NY. In truth, about all I remember about it was Sellers playing the part of a librarian, and that the movie was in black and white.
share272 votes, as of today, but that should increase, now that Turner Classic is showing it now & then. Another couple generations, and no-one will know what a library was.... the internet is doing away with the libraries and the bars...
I only learned of this film a few days ago, and just watched it this morning. I was surprised to see a British Board of Film Censors certification that OTCP "has been passed for Exhibition when no child under 16 is present" and giving it an "X" rating. When I was finished watching it, I was even more surprised that I did not see or hear anything in it that would warrant this rating.
I thoroughly enjoyed OTCP, especially the party scene already mentioned by others here. Brevity, are you both in agreement? FYI, I believe my vote was number 323 if I recall correctly.
Bob
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GREAT MOVIE,I gave it a 9.
shareHello Newsgroupie (if you're still reading this thread after more than six years).
The reason for the X certificate was the VERY brief glimpse of Ms Zetterling's posterior - and it wasn't even hers, I believe. Sounds incredible nowadays but that was back in the early sixties, long before nudity in ordinary feature films become acceptable if not actually compulsory. Of course the general tenor of the film was sexual and, if I remember correctly not having seen it for many years, Mrs Lewis' comment to her husband that he could "take her away and do her for all I care" was extremely strong for its time. To quote from another film, "The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there".
That Sellers could do anything.
share