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PETER SELLERS  Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers, recreating a scene from "Dr. Strangelove..." |
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Today, Dec. 6: 4:55 a.m., 10 p.m. (HBO2), 12 p.m. HBO-High Def. Wednesday, Dec. 8: 8 p.m., 8 p.m. (HBO-HD). Saturday, Dec. 11: 2 p.m., 2 p.m. (HBO-HD), 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12: 12 a.m., 12 a.m. (HBO-HD). ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. CHECK YOUR LOCAL TV GUIDE. |
HBO's Sellers biography
is 'must see' television
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
The actor Peter Sellers could take on the persona of
seemingly any character in any film he made. Unfortunately this
brilliant actor could not find a personality of his own.
HBO’s new film "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"
is based on a book about the late actor by Roger Lewis. With
a star-laden cast--Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush and Charlize Theron,
Emmy winners John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci; Oscar nominee Emily
Watson--the film picks up Sellers (Rush) life in the 1950s when
he is a star performer on BBC radio. He has a loving wife (Watson)
and two children. He seemingly has it all, but all that he has
is not enough for his manipulative mother (Miriam Margolyes)
who pushes him to move ahead with his career.
He winds up in films, and takes home a top British film award.
He hits the big time when he lands a role in a film with Sophia
Loren (Sonia Aquino) with whom he falls in love. His affections
are not returned, his marriage is damaged, and Sellers falls
into depression. A consultation with a psychic (Stephen Fry)
eventually leads him to team
with director Blake Edwards (Lithgow) in what will become, arguably,
his most famous role--that of the bumbling French police Inspector
Clouseau in a series of "Pink Panther" comedies.
Fame and fortune follow, but nothing solves Sellers’ inability
to believe in himself and the greatness of his performances.
Everyone, it seems, loves Peter Sellers' work except Peter Sellers.
Even a teaming with director Stanley Kubrick (Tucci) in "Dr.
Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb" for which Sellers receives an Oscar nomination for
his portrayal of multiple characters, fails to build his self-esteem
and he again falls into depression.. He reteams with Edwards
in another "Pink Panther" film--another success--and
winds up marrying one of his co-stars, the blonde bombshell actress
Britt Ekland (Theron).
A heart attack makes him determined to take on only serious film
roles. It turns out to be a bad move. He winds up walking off
the set of "Casino Royale," which, in turn, is a less
than successful--and not very serious--film.
More roles in a string of poor-performing films eventually leads
him back to Edwards and yet another "Panther" film
that is a success. But not in Sellers’ mind.
Two more marriages follow and Sellers makes one of his final
films "Being There," which garners him another Oscar
nomination. And another Oscar loss. He would make two more films
before his death from a heart attack in 1980 at age 57.
This wonderful film should really be looked at as the rise and
fall, rise and fall, and rise and fall yet again of a brilliant
but emotionally tortured man. A man who, in real life, was often
cruel and spiteful to those who loved him, including wives and
children. Their love was something he was seemingly incapable
of reciprocating.
The heart of this film is Rush’s performance and his physical
transformation into Sellers. Rush literally gets into Sellers'
skin and becomes Sellers. This is an Emmy-caliber performance.
Kudos also to Watson as the long-suffering Anne Sellers, wife
No. 1, and Theron as Ekland, wife No. 2, both of whom were unable
to help Sellers tame his inner demons.
"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" is must-see television.
It’s just a wonderful film. And it, and its stellar cast,
should help HBO clean up--once again--at next year’s
Emmy Awards.
©2004 by Donna J. Plesh. The photo is courtesy of HBO.
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