The Battle of the Sexes (1959)

Director:

Charles Crichton

Writers:

James Thurber (short story "The Catbird Seat")
Monja Danischewsky (written by)

Release Date:

22 August 1960 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Man-eating businesswoman, Angela Barrows is sent by her US company to Edinburgh to investigate export opportunities...

Plot Keywords:

Gender Clash | Efficiency Expert | Scotland | Battle Of The Sexes | Rivalry

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Mr. Martin
Robert Morley	...	Robert Macpherson
Constance Cummings	...	Angela Barrows
Jameson Clark	...	Andrew Darling
Ernest Thesiger	...	Old Macpherson
Donald Pleasence	...	Irwin Hoffman (as Donald Pleasance)
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Graham
Alex Mackenzie	...	Robertson
Roddy McMillan	...	Macleod
Michael Goodliffe	...	Detective
James Gibson	...	Nightwatchman
Noel Howlett	...	Mr. White
Abe Barker	...	Mr. Meekie
Gordon Phillott	...	Mr. Munson
William Mervyn	...	Detective's friend

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Prometheus Film Productions Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Unknown Peter Sellers (2000) (TV)

Good film, bad transfer

Contrary to what IMDb shows at the upper-right corner of its page for this movie, there IS a DVD of this film available, in the UK. I recently purchased it from Amazon, there, for 6 pounds. With high hopes, I inserted it into my DVD player and found that the quality of the film-to- digital transfer is nothing short of abysmal. Most of the film's scenes appear almost entirely black on the TV screen, with only a few details, like well-lit faces, shining through. This is a sorry re-release of this movie, which I had read such good things about here and there. From all I can tell, it is a delightful movie, full of wit and good acting and clever dialog.

The story centers on a female business consultant from the US trying to whip an old-line tweed making company in Scotland into shape - another post-war British film concerned with the onslaught of American values and speedy lifestyle. (Another example that comes to mind is Ealing Studio's The Maggie, which is happily out on DVD in an optically splendid rendition.) The star, here, is a somewhat mousy Peter Sellers who is, of course, worth watching in almost any movie - especially when you can actually see him! Robert Morley, too, is worth the price of admission - one of my favorite British actors.