MovieChat Forums > The Party (1968) Discussion > Falling off the roof

Falling off the roof

posted 13 years ago by alexbunardzic
3 replies | jump to latest

The scene that made me laugh the hardest is when Sellers was up on the roof, and the way he was scrambling, slipping and sliding and trying his best not to fall off the roof. That type of physical slapstick is by far the best I've ever seen (Charlie Chaplin notwithstanding). His dexterity in portraying a clumsy guy is nothing short of phenomenal. (I mean, to say that he surpasses Chaplin at his brilliant game says it all:)

Then, when he finally falls off and splashes into the swimming pool, he utters some mumbling unintelligible word that resembles baby talk, which makes this man even more endearing to watch. Does anyone know what was it that he exclaimed when he fell into the pool?

[–] denham 11 years ago

Was that Sellers? He didn't tend to do stunts like that, partly because of his heart condition. I wonder if it wasn't instead a stunt double. Usually that would be Joe Dunne, but in this film possibly Dick Crockett?

"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken."

[–] holbrookp 9 years ago

When I saw that fall off the roof I thought it was the most brilliantly timed sequence I'd ever seen in a modern movie. Whoever it was, and I believe it's Sellers, the skill to do that was real talent.

"All necessary truth is its own evidence." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[–] tsrts 8 years ago

I don't think Sellers performed that stunt.