The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

Roger Lewis (book)
Christopher Markus (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

26 August 2004 (Australia)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Never judge a man by his cover.

Plot:

The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Bumbling | Clouseau | Fame | Peter Sellers

Awards:

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 17 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Geoffrey Rush	...	Peter Sellers
Charlize Theron	...	Britt Ekland
Emily Watson	...	Anne Sellers
John Lithgow	...	Blake Edwards
Miriam Margolyes	...	Peg Sellers
Peter Vaughan	...	Bill Sellers
Sonia Aquino	...	Sophia Loren
Stanley Tucci	...	Stanley Kubrick
Stephen Fry	...	Maurice Woodruff
Henry Goodman	...	Dennis Selinger
Alison Steadman	...	Casting Agent
Peter Gevisser	...	Ted Levy
David Robb	...	Dr. Lyle Wexler
Edward Tudor-Pole	...	Spike Milligan (as Edward Tudor Pole)
Steve Pemberton	...	Harry Secombe

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Estate - 1 Approach Road, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

HD Vision Studios

Trivia:

Although the scenes featuring Emilia Fox's performance as Sellers' fourth wife Lynn Frederick were left out of the final cut, Fox is still visible in the background of the scene showing the filming of a scene from Being There. She is the blonde woman standing behind the cameraman, when we see the crew behind Peter Sellers/Geoffrey Rush. In a deleted scene on the DVD we see a continuation of this scene, after the take is over Lynn tries to talk to Sellers but he remains in character of the simpleton Chance.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Sellers, along with some ladies, is seen riding in a stretch limousine version of a late-1980s Mercury Grand Marquis. This scene is supposed to be set sometime between Sellers' divorce from Britt Ekland in 1968 and the filming of The Pink Panther Strikes Again in 1976, and Sellers died in 1980, years before this car was was in production.

Quotes:

Peter Sellers: Your father is a useless, talentless, empty man. Did you know that?
Sarah Sellers: Yes, Daddy.

Movie Connections:

Features Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959)

Soundtrack:

It's Not Unusual

The Eyes Had It

For anyone interested in Peter Sellers life and work, this film is certainly worth watching, if for nothing more than the incredible re-creations of scenes from Sellers' films. Geoffrey Rush is transformed into a nearly dead-ringer for Sellers, through the magic of make up and prosthetics. But as talented as he may be, no one can recreate the subtleties of the master, especially the use of his eyes…Sellers' eyes were by far the funniest aspect of his physicality: narrowing, widening, always moving, punctuating his actions and illuminating the emotions within, even as part of the most farcical of performances.

Such a rich and varied life would lend itself to a miniseries but of course it would be a copout to suggest that at least a glimmer into the life of a man couldn't be done successfully within two hours. What this movie drove home for me was how terribly short the human lifespan really is, and how little time we have to truly discover ourselves and come to terms with our own frailties. I felt that the basis of Sellers unhappiness, which manifested itself in inexcusable cruelty to his family, friends and co-workers, was a direct result of his childhood, which was never really addressed in this film. It was, in his own words to Michael Parkinson, not a very happy time in his life. Growing up in the theater circuit, being in the company of boozy and abusive 'theatricals', and being raised by a domineering mother and what I gather was a rather passive and emotionally unavailable father set the stage for a man who obviously felt deprived of the things that give us self-esteem and confidence. No one in his adult life could give him the things he should've received from his parents as a child, and he took out that frustration on those closest to him.

Also interesting were the glimpses of his fellow Goons (Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe) at various chapters in his life-in the church at his mother's funeral, in the crowd at the premiere of 'The Pink Panther'. They represented what he considered the happiest time of his life and they were a constant presence, flitting in an out of his life at key moments in the film, like the ghosts of Christmas Past.

Interesting also in how one decision, in this case his delusional infatuation with Sophia Loren, set in motion a series of dovetailing mistakes in his life, which took him further and further away from a relatively healthy existence. He had twenty years more to live and it turned out to be not enough time to turn things around.