Read Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers Online
Authors: Ed Sikov
Tags: #Entertainment & Performing Arts, #Biography & Autobiography, #Actors
I’m All Right, Jack
(1959). Ian Carmichael (Stanley Windrush), Terry-Thomas
(Major Hitchcock), Peter Sellers (Fred Kite, Sir John Kennaway), Richard Attenborough (Sidney De Vere Cox), Margaret Rutherford (Aunt Dolly), Dennis
Price (Bertram Tracepurcel), Irene Handl (Mrs. Kite), Miles Malleson
(Windrush, Sr.), Liz Fraser (Cynthia Kite), Marne Maitland (Mr. Mohammed),
John Le Mesurier (Waters), Raymond Huntley (Magistrate), Victor Maddern
(Knowles), Kenneth Griffith (Dai), David Lodge (card player), and Malcolm
Muggeridge (himself). Director: John Boulting; screenwriters: John Boulting,
Frank Harvey, and Alan Hackney, based on a novel by Alan Hackney; director
of photography: Mutz Greenbaum; producer: Roy Boulting. British Lion, 101
minutes.
The Battle of the Sexes
(1959). Peter Sellers (Mr. Martin), Robert Morley (Robert
MacPherson), Constance Cummings (Angela Barrows), Jameson Clark (Andrew
Darling), Ernest Thesiger (Old MacPherson), Donald Pleasence (Irwin Hoffman), and Moultrie Kelsall (Graham). Director: Charles Chrichton; screenwriter: Monja Danischewsky, based on “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber;
director of photography: Freddie Francis; producer: Monja Danischewsky.
Bryanston / Continental / British Lion, 84 minutes.
Never Let Go
(1960). Richard Todd (John Cummings), Peter Sellers (Lionel
Meadows), Elizabeth Sellars (Ann Cummings), Adam Faith (Tommy Towers), Carol White (Jackie), Noel Willman (Inspector Thomas), and David
Lodge (Cliff). Director: John Guillermin; screenwriter: Alun Falconer, from
a story by John Guillermin and Peter de Sarigny; director of photography:
Christopher Challis; producer: Peter de Sarigny. Independent Artists/Rank,
90 minutes.
Two-Way Stretch
(1960). Peter Sellers (Dodger Lane), David Lodge (Jelly
Knight), Bernard Cribbins (Lennie Price), Wilfrid Hyde-White (Soapy Stevens), Maurice Denham (the governor), Lionel Jeffries (Crout), Irene Handl
(Mrs. Price), Liz Fraser (Ethel), Beryl Reid (Miss Pringle), Mario Fabrizi
(Jones). Director: Robert Day; screenwriters: John Warren and Len Heath, with
additional dialogue by Alan Hackney; director of photography: Geoffrey Faithfull; producer: M. Smedley Aston. British Lion, 84 minutes.
The Millionairess
(1960). Sophia Loren (Epifania), Peter Sellers (Dr. Kabir), Alastair Sim (Sagamore), Vittorio De Sica (Joe), Dennis Price (Adrian), Gary Raymond (Alastair), Alfie Bass (fish curer), Miriam Karlin (Mrs. Joe), and Graham
Stark (butler). Director: Anthony Asquith; screenwriter: Wolf Mankowitz,
based on Riccardo Aragno’s adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s play; director
of photography: Jack Hildyard; producers: Dimitri de Grunwald and Pierre
Rouve. Twentieth Century-Fox, 90 minutes.
Mr. Topaze
(1961). Peter Sellers (Auguste Topaze), Herbert Lom (Castel Benac),
Nadia Gray (Suzy), Leo McKern (Muche), Marita Hunt (baroness), John Neville (Roger), Billie Whitelaw (Ernestine), and Michael Sellers (Gaston). Director: Peter Sellers; screenwriter: Pierre Rouve, based on the play
Topaze
by Marcel
Pagnol; director of photography: John Wilcox; producers: Dimitri de Grunwald
and Pierre Rouve. Twentieth Century-Fox, 97 minutes. Released in the U.S. as
I Like Money
.
Only Two Can Play
(1962). Peter Sellers (John Lewis), Mai Zetterling
(Elizabeth Gruffydd Williams), Virginia Maskell (Jean), Kenneth Griffith
(Jenkins), Richard Attenborough (Probert), Raymond Huntley (Vernon Gruffydd
Williams), Maudie Edwards (Mrs. Davies), John Le Mesurier (Salter), and
Graham Stark (Hyman). Director: Sidney Gilliat; screenwriter: Bryan Forbes,
based on Kingsley Amis’s novel
That Uncertain Feeling
; director of photography: John Wilcox; producer: Leslie Gilliat. British Lion/Vale/Kingsley/Columbia, 106 minutes.
The Road to Hong Kong
(1962). Bing Crosby (Harry Turner), Bob Hope
(Chester Babcock), Joan Collins (Diane), Robert Morley (spy leader), Dorothy Lamour (herself), and Peter Sellers (Indian neurologist, uncredited). Director:
Norman Panama; screenwriters: Norman Panama and Melvin Frank; director
of photography: Jack Hildyard; producer: Melvin Frank. Melnor Films/United
Artists, 92 minutes.
Lolita
(1962). James Mason (Humbert Humbert), Shelley Winters (Charlotte
Haze), Peter Sellers (Claire Quilty), Sue Lyon (Lolita), Gary Cockrell (Richard
Schiller), Jerry Stovin (John Farlow), Diana Decker (Jean Farlow), and Marianne Stone (Vivian Darkbloom). Director: Stanley Kubrick; screenwriters: Vladimir Nabokov, based on his novel, and James B. Harris (uncredited); director
of photography: Oswald Morris; producer: James B. Harris. Seven Arts/MGM,
152 minutes.
Waltz of the Toreadors
(1962). Peter Sellers (Gen. Leo Fitzjohn), Dany Robin
(Ghislaine), Margaret Leighton (Emily Fitzjohn), John Fraser (Lt. Robert
Finch), Cyril Cusack (Dr. Grogan), Prunella Scales (Estella Fitzjohn), Denise
Coffey (Sidonia), Raymond Huntley (Ackroyd), John Le Mesurier (Rev.
Grimsley). Director: John Guillermin; screenwriter: Wolf Mankowitz, based on the
play by Jean Anouilh; director of photography: John Wilcox; producer: Peter
de Sarigny. Rank Organization, 104 minutes. Released in the U.K. as
The Amorous General
.
The Wrong Arm of the Law
(1962). Peter Sellers (Pearly Gates), Lionel Jeffries
(Inspector Parker), Bernard Cribbins (Nervous O’Toole), Davy Kaye (Trainer
King), Nanette Newman (Valerie), Bill Kerr (Jack Coombes), Ed Devereaux
(Bluey May), Reg Lye (Reg Denton), John Le Mesurier (assistant commissioner), Graham Stark (Sid Cooper), Michael Caine (uncredited), and Mario
Fabrizi (uncredited). Director: Cliff Owen; screenwriters: Len Heath and John
Warren, with additional dialogue by John Antrobus, Ray Galton, and Alan
Simpson, from a story by Ivor Jay and William Whistance Smith; director of
photography: Ernest Steward; producers: Aubrey Baring, Cecil F. Ford, E. M.
Smedley-Aston, and Robert Velaise. Romulus/British Lion/Continental, 94
minutes.
The Dock Brief
(1962). Peter Sellers (Wilfred Morgenhall), Richard Attenborough
(Herbert Fowle), Beryl Reid (Doris Fowle), David Lodge (Frank Bateson),
Frank Pettingell (Tuppy Morgan), Audrey Nicholson (young Morgenhall’s girlfriend), Tristram Jellinek (Mr. Perkins), Eric Woodburn (Judge Banter). Director: James Hill; screenwriter: Pierre Rouve, based on the play by John
Mortimer; cinematography: Edward Scaife; producer: Dimitri De Grunwald.
MGM, 78 minutes. Released in the U.S. as
Trial and Error
.
Heavens Above!
(1963). Peter Sellers (The Rev. John Smallwood), Cecil Parker
(Archdeacon Aspinall), Isabel Jeans (Lady Despard), Ian Carmichael (the other
Smallwood), Bernard Miles (Simpson), Brock Peters (Matthew Robinson), Eric
Sykes (Harry Smith), Irene Handl (Rene Smith), Kenneth Griffith (Rev. Owen
Smith), and Geoffrey Hibbert (council official). Directors: John Boulting and
Roy Boulting; screenwriters: John Boulting and Frank Harvey; cinematography:
Mutz Greenbaum; producers: John Boulting and Roy Boulting. Charter Films,
105 minutes.
The Pink Panther
(1964). David Niven (Sir Charles Litton), Peter Sellers
(Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Robert Wagner (George Litton), Capucine (Simone
Clouseau), Brenda De Banzie (Angela Dunning), Colin Gordon (Tucker), John
Le Mesurier (defense attorney), James Lanphier (Saloud), Guy Thomajan
(Artoff), Michael Trubshawe (novelist), Riccardo Billi (Greek shipowner), Meri
Wells (Hollywood starlet), Martin Miller (photographer), Fran Jeffries (Greek
“cousin”), and Claudia Cardinale (Princess Darla). Director: Blake Edwards;
screenwriters: Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards; director of photography:
Philip Lathrop; producer: Martin Jurow. Mirisch Company/United Artists, 113
minutes.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964). Peter Sellers (Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley,
Dr. Strangelove), George C. Scott (Gen. “Buck” Turgidson), Sterling Hayden
(Gen. Jack D. Ripper), Keenan Wynn (Col. “Bat” Guano), Slim Pickens (Maj.
T. J. “King” Kong), Peter Bull (Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky), Tracy Reed
(Miss Scott), James Earl Jones (Lt. Lothar Zogg), Jack Creley (Mr. Staines),
Frank Berry (Lt. H. R. Dietrich). Director: Stanley Kubrick; screenwriters: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George, based on the novel
Red Alert
by Peter George; director of photography: Gilbert Taylor; producer: Stanley
Kubrick. Hawk Films/Columbia, 90 minutes.
A Shot in the Dark
(1964). Peter Sellers (Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Elke Sommer (Maria Gambrelli), George Sanders (Benjamin Ballon), Herbert Lom
(Charles Dreyfus), Tracy Reed (Dominique Ballon), Graham Stark (Hercule
Lajoy), Moira Redmond (Simone), Vanda Godsell (Madame LaFarge), Maurice
Kaufmann (Pierre), Ann Lynn (Dudu), David Lodge (Georges), André Maranne
(Franois), Martin Benson (Maurice), Burt Kwouk (Kato), Reginald Beckwith
(camp receptionist), Douglas Wilmer (Henri LaFarge), and Bryan Forbes
(Turk). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Blake Edwards and William
Peter Blatty, based on the stage play by Harry Kurnitz from the play by Marcel
Achard; director of photography: Christopher Challis; producer: Blake Edwards.
Mirisch Company/United Artists, 102 minutes.
The World of Henry Orient
(1964). Peter Sellers (Henry Orient), Paula Prentiss
(Stella), Angela Lansbury (Isabel Boyd), Tom Bosley (Frank Boyd), Phyllis
Thaxter (Mrs. Avis Gilbert), Bibi Osterwald (Boothy Booth), Merrie Spaeth
(Gil Gilbert), Tippy Walker (Val Boyd), John Fiedler (Sidney), Al Lewis (store
owner), Peter Duchin (Joe Byrd). Director: George Roy Hill; screenwriter:
Nora Johnson and Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by Nora Johnson;
directors of photography: Boris Kaufman and Arthur J. Ornitz; producer: Jerome Hellman. Pan Arts/United Artists, 106 minutes.
Carol for Another Christmas
(1964). Sterling Hayden (Grudge), Peter Fonda
(Morley), Ben Gazzara (Fred), Richard Harris (ghost of Christmas present),
Steve Lawrence (ghost of Christmas past), Eva Marie Saint (Wave), and Peter
Sellers (King of the Individualists), with Britt Ekland and Robert Shaw. Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; screenplay, Rod Serling, based on the novel
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens; director of photography: Arthur Ornitz;
producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Xerox Corporation/Telsun Foundation, Inc.,
for the United Nations/American Broadcasting Co. Aired on December 28,
1964.
What’s New, Pussycat?
(1965) Peter Sellers (Dr. Fritz Fassbender), Peter O’Toole
(Michael James), Romy Schneider (Carole), Capucine (Renée), Paula Prentiss
(Liz), Woody Allen (Victor), Ursula Andress (Rita), and Edra Gale (Anna Fassbender). Director: Clive Donner; screenwriter: Woody Allen; director of photography: Jean Badal; producer: Charles K. Feldman. Famous Artists/United
Artists, 108 minutes.
After the Fox
(1966). Peter Sellers (Aldo Vanucci), Britt Ekland (Gina), Lidia
Brazzi (Teresa Vanucci), Paolo Stoppa (Pollo), Tino Buazzelli (Siepe), Mac
Ronay (Carlo), Victor Mature (Tony Powell), Martin Balsam (Harry), and
Akim Tamiroff (Okra). Director: Vittorio De Sica; screenwriter: Neil Simon;
director of photography: Leonida Barboni; producer: John Bryan. Delegate Productions/Nancy Enterprises/Compagnia Cinematografica Montoro/United Artists, 102 minutes.
The Wrong Box
(1966). John Mills (Masterman Finsbury), Ralph Richardson
(Joseph Finsbury), Michael Caine (Michael Finsbury), Peter Cook (Morris
Finsbury), Dudley Moore (John Finsbury), Nanette Newman (Julia Finsbury),
and Peter Sellers (Dr. Pratt). Director: Bryan Forbes; screenwriters: Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and
Lloyd Osbourne; director of photography: Gerry Turpin; producer: Bryan
Forbes. Columbia Pictures, 105 minutes.
Casino Royale
(1967). Peter Sellers (Evelyn Tremble), Ursula Andress (Vesper),
David Niven (James Bond), Orson Welles (Le Chiffre), Joanna Pettet (Mata
Bond), Daliah Lavi (the Detainer), Woody Allen (Jimmy Bond), Deborah Kerr
(Mimi), William Holden (Ransome), Charles Boyer (Legrand), John Huston
(McTarry), Jean-Paul Belmondo (Legionnaire), Jacqueline Bisset (Miss Goodthighs), and George Raft (himself). Directors: John Huston, Kenneth Hughes,
Val Guest, Robert Parrish, and Joseph McGrath; screenwriters: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers; directors of photography: Jack Hildyard,
John Wilcox, and Nicholas Roeg; producers: Charles K. Feldman and Jerry
Bresler. Famous Artists/Columbia Pictures, 131 minutes.
Alice in Wonderland
(1967). Anne-Marie Mallik (Alice), Wilfrid Brambell
(White Rabbit), Alan Bennett (Mouse), Michael Redgrave (Caterpillar), Leo
McKern (Duchess), Peter Cook (Mad Hatter), Peter Sellers (King of Hearts),
Alison Leggett (Queen of Hearts), Peter Eyre (Knave of Hearts), John Gielgud (Mock Turtle), and Malcolm Muggeridge (Gryphon). Director: Jonathan
Miller; screenwriter: Jonathan Miller, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll; director of photography: Dick Bush; producer: Jonathan Miller. BBC-TV, 80
minutes.
Woman Times Seven
(1967). Shirley MacLaine (Paulette, Maria Teresa, Linda,
Edith, Eve Minou, Marie, Jeanne), Peter Sellers (Jean), Alan Arkin (Fred), Lex
Barker (Rik), Rossano Brazzi (Giorgio), Michael Caine (handsome stranger),
Vittorio Gassman (Cenci), and Robert Morley (Dr. Xavier). Director: Vittorio
De Sica; screenwriters: Peter Baldwin and Cesare Zavattini; director of photography: Christian Matras; producer: Arthur Cohn. Embassy Pictures, 100
minutes.