Search - Peter Sellers Collection on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 2/12/2024...

The Smallest Show on Earth - Good plotline but the video quality could have been better.

Caveats

11/11/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Peter Sellers, often written off as a talented mimic, was actually a superb actor, if he found his character's "voice". He's been unfortunately typecast (I have a friend who thought he was French!) as Clouseau, and he may actually be the finest slapstick comedian after the end of the silent era. This collection is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to see him in early or obscure work, but the movies are ineven in quality and tone. Also of interest in that all these movies he plays a single character (even in the early, unincluded, "Only Two Can Play" he lapsed into multiple accents. CARLTON-BROWNE OF THE F.O. is really a Terry-Thomas vehicle with Sellers in support. Like all Cold War comedies its plot (such as it is, about the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. all trying to discover the secrets of a small island under British protection) is quaint and hardly funny, but there are enough bright spots to recommend the movie as a whole (the scenes between Terry-Thomas and Thorley Walters are invariably delightful). THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH has a young Sellers, again in a supporting role, playing the aged projectionist in a run-down theatre; again, the bright spots are scattered but for anyone who likes old movies and quiet humor will find enough not to have wasted his time with it. HEAVENS ABOVE, a satire on Communism, using the Church as a vehicle for its representation, has Sellers in the lead as a mis-appointed Anglican clergyman who turns his parish on its head; but the movie eventually plays against itself with its serious undertones. TWO-WAY STRETCH is an out-and-out farce with Peter Sellers as a prisoner who plots a crime that will give him a perfect alibi -- he's in jail; but a martinet new guard (Lionel Jeffries, the grandfather "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") may ruin his plans. "I'M ALL RIGHT, JACK" has Sellers in support again, in a star-studded farce about labor vs management, with Selelrs as Hitleresque shop steward and labor leader Fred Kite (a breakthrough role for Sellers). HOFFMAN is the odd man out in this box, as it comes later in Sellers' career, and the character he plays isn't comic, just unpleasant. Why "Hoffman" was included -- why it's even on DVD -- I can't even pretend to speculate. A more fitting addition to the collection would have been "The Wrong Arm of the Law", another crime caper. The poignant comedy-drama "The Dock Brief", with Richard Attenborough as the confessed wife murderer and Sellers as the barrister determined to get him off despite his own protests, would have rounded the box off nicely. The perfect addition would have been the hilarious "The Naked Truth", where Sellers and Terry-Thomas (again) plot to do away with a scandal-sheet publisher (Dennis Price) who threatens to expose their secrets (Sellers' jolly television host character is actually a slumlord). Even the much less funny "Only Two Can Play" would've been an improvement. Why they stuck on "Hoffman" -- unless it was simply dirt cheap to add -- boggles the mind. If you don't mind paying the freight for five comedies that range from middling to pretty-good-for-its-time, just to see early Sellers in some forgotten roles, this is the set for you. Just bring along a shovel to bury "Hoffman" and you'll be fine."

List of the films in this collection

K | 02/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here's what's in the collection. It's sad that a customer has to put this up instead of the publisher or Amazon. From Lionsgate...

I'M ALL RIGHT JACK: When naive Oxford graduate Stanley (Ian Carmichael) is hired as a lowly employee in his uncle's missile factory, the factory's socialist shop steward Fred (Sellers) sees a great political opportunity. Soon, Stanley finds himself stuck between Fred's union and the family business, leading to an epic comedic tug-of-war! THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH: When their great-uncle dies, newlyweds Matt and Jean Spencer (Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna) inherit a dilapidated small-town cinema that comes with an eccentric staff including a drunken projectionist (Sellers), a dotty cashier (Margaret Rutherford) and an ancient usher/janitor (Bernard Miles). CARLTON-BROWN OF THE F.O.: When valuable mineral deposits are discovered on the forgotten British colony of Gaillardia, the Foreign Office sends bumbling envoy Cadogen de Vere Carlton-Browne (Terry-Thomas) to investigate. But while negotiating with the corrupt Prime Minister Amphibulos (Sellers), Carlton-Browne is convinced to split the tiny island in half, sparking a revolution that builds to an international nuclear showdown. TWO-WAY STRETCH: Criminal mastermind Dodger Lane (Sellers) is a model inmate at Huntleigh Prison until he and his cellmates hatch a plan to break out of jail, steal a sultan's diamonds from a military convoy and then break back into jail before morning. HEAVENS ABOVE! Sellers stars as Reverend John Smallwood, an idealistic prison chaplain who is accidentally assigned to a wealthy parish known for its popular sedative/laxative. When Smallwood insists on ministering to both rich and poor, he manages to somehow infuriate both groups - along with the entire town government!"

Peter Sellers

rover | usa | 04/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge, huge Peter Sellers fan, and I just adore just about anything this guy has done, so....it's just another few movies to add to the collection! I have bought from this seller before and again, no problems, packaging great, and great service!"