Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers

by Ed Sikov

  Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1973). Peter Sellers (General Latour, Major Robinson, Herr Schroeder, Hitler, H.R.H. General the Prince Kyoto, M. le Président des Forces Spéciales, narrator), Lila Kedrova (Madame Grenier), Curt Jurgens (General von Grotjahn), Beatrice Romand (Marie-Claude), Rex Stallings (Alan Cassidy), Patricia Burke (Mother Superior), and Rula Lenska (Louise). Director: Roy Boulting; screenwriters: Roy Boulting and Leo Marks; director of photography: Gilbert Taylor; producer: John Boulting. Charter Film Productions/United Artists, 94 minutes.

  The Optimists (1973). Peter Sellers (Sam), Donna Mulane (Liz), John Chaffey (Mark), Marjorie Yates (Chrissie Ellis), David Daker (Bob Ellis), and Pat Ashton (Mrs. Bonini). Director: Anthony Simmons; screenwriter: Tudor Gates and Anthony Simmons, based on the novel The Optimists of Nine Elms by Anthony Simmons; director of photography: Larry Pizer; producers: Adrian Gaye and Victor Lyndon. Cheetah/Sagittarius/Paramount Pictures, 110 minutes.

  Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973). Peter Sellers (Dick Scratcher), Anthony Franciosa (Pierre), Spike Milligan (Billy Bombay), Peter Boyle (Ras Mohammed), Clive Revill (Bay of Algiers), Richard Willis (Jeremiah), James Villiers (Parsley-Frack), Thomas Baptiste (Abdullah), Griffith Davies (Omar), and David Lodge (Zante). Director: Peter Medak; screenwriter: Evan Jones, with additional dialogue by Spike Milligan, based on the novel by Sid Fleischman; directors of photography: Michael Reed and Larry Pizer (uncredited); producer: Gareth Wigan. World Film Servers/Cavalcade Films, Heron Service Company Production, 90 minutes.

  The Great McGonagall (1974). Spike Milligan (William McGonagall), Peter Sellers (Queen Victoria), Julia Foster (Mrs. McGonagall), John Bluthal (Mr. Giles, MacDuff, Herclues Paint, McLain, British soldier, policeman, sheriff, judge), Victor Spinetti (Mr. Stewart, Second-Lieutenant Rotlo, gentleman, revolutionary, cardinal, policeman), and Valentine Dyall (Lord Tennyson, sergeant, doctor, native messenger, policeman, fop). Director: Joseph McGrath; screenwriters: Spike Milligan and Joseph McGrath; director of photography: John Mackey; producer: David Grant. Darlton, 95 minutes.

  The Return of the Pink Panther (1974). Peter Sellers (Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Christopher Plummer (Sir Charles Litton), Catherine Schell (Claudine), Herbert Lom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus), Peter Arne (Colonel Sharki), Peter Jeffrey (General Wadafy), Gregoire Aslan (chief of Lugash Police), Burt Kwouk (Cato), David Lodge (Mac), and Graham Stark (Pepi). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Frank Waldman and Blake Edwards; director of photography: Geoffrey Unsworth; producer: Blake Edwards. Mirisch Corp./United Artists, 113 minutes.

  Murder by Death (1976). Peter Sellers (Sidney Wang), Alec Guinness (Jamesir Bensonmum), Maggie Smith (Dora Charleston), David Niven (Dick Charleston), Eileen Brennan (Tess Skeffington), Truman Capote (Lionel Twain), James Coco (Milo Perrier), Peter Falk (Sam Diamond), Elsa Lanchester (Jessica Marbles), Nancy Walker (Yetta the maid), Estelle Winwood (Miss Withers), James Cromwell (Marcel), and Richard Narita (Willie Wang). Director: Robert Moore; screenwriter: Neil Simon; director of photography: David M. Walsh; producer: Ray Stark. Rastar/Columbia Pictures, 94 minutes.

  The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976). Peter Sellers (Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Herbert Lom (former Chief Inspector Dreyfus), Burt Kwouk (Cato), Leonard Rossiter (Quinlan), Colin Blakely (Drummond), Lesley-Anne Down (Olga), Howard K. Smith (himself), Graham Stark (two hotel clerks), Dick Crockett (the president), Byron Kane (secretary of state), Richard Vernon (Professor Fassbender), and Briony McRoberts (Margo Fassbender). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Frank Waldman and Blake Edwards; director of photography: Harry Waxman; producer: Blake Edwards. Amjo/United Artists, 103 minutes.

  Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). Peter Sellers (Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Herbert Lom (former Chief Inspector Dreyfus), Burt Kwouk (Cato), Dyan Cannon (Simone Legree), Robert Webber (Philippe Douvier), Robert Loggia (Marchione), Tony Beckley (Algo), and Graham Stark (Dr. Augus Balls). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Blake Edwards, Frank Waldman, and Ron Clark; director of photography: Ernest Day; producer: Blake Edwards. Jewel/United Artists, 104 minutes.

  The Prisoner of Zenda (1979). Peter Sellers (Rudolph IV, Rudolph V, Syd Frewin), Lynne Frederick (Princess Flavia), Lionel Jeffries (General Sapt), Elke Sommer (the countess), Gregory Sierra (the count), Jeremy Kemp (Duke Michael), Catherine Schell (Antoinette), and Graham Stark (Eric). Director: Richard Quine; screenwriters: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, based on the novel by Anthony Hope; director of photography: Arthur Ibbetson; producer: Walter Mirisch. Universal Pictures, 108 minutes.

  Being There (1979). Peter Sellers (Chance), Shirley MacLaine (Eve Rand), Melvyn Douglas (Benjamin Rand), Richard Dysart (Dr. Allenby), Jack Warden (the president), Richard Basehart (Vladimir Skrapinov), Ruth Attaway (Louise), Dave Clennon (Thomas Franklin), and Fran Brill (Sally). Director: Hal Ashby; screenwriters: Jerzy Kosinski and Robert C. Jones (uncredited), based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski; director of photography: Caleb Deschanel; producer: Andrew Braunsberg. Lorimar/United Artists, 130 minutes.

  The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980). Peter Sellers (Fu Manchu, Nayland Smith), Helen Mirren (Alice Rage), David Tomlinson (Sir Roger Avery), Sid Caesar (Joe Capone), Simon Williams (Robert Townsend), Steve Franken (Pete Williams), Stratford Johns (Ismail), John Le Mesurier (Perkins), and Burt Kwouk (servant). Directors: Piers Haggard and Peter Sellers (uncredited); screenwriters: Jim Moloney and Rudy Dochtermann, based on the Sax Rohmer novels; director of photography: Jean Tournier; producers: Zev Braun and Leland Nolan. Playboy Productions/Orion, 100 minutes.

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