peter sellers the man of many masks october 18 - 19, 1996 Featuring two of his best films, after-film talks, and a book-signing by Roger Lewis, author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Chameleon like, he could slip in and out of multiple roles, faces, voices within the same film. On stage from the age of 12, Peter Sellers got his first taste of fame on the legendarily nutso radio program The Goon Show. This internationally acclaimed comic was at his best in The Mouse That Roared (1959), playing three characters; in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962) as silly, sinister Quilty; in the "Pink Panther" series (1964-1982), as beloved, chaos-breeding Inspector Clouseau; and in the role that summed up his whole performing life, the gardener in Being There (1979). The Film Society celebrates Sellers' genius and Applause Books' publication of the American edition of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, the best-selling biography by Roger Lewis. Following each of our screenings of A SHOT IN THE DARK and DR. STRANGELOVE, Mr. Lewis will be present to speak on Peter Sellers, and to sign copies of his book, which will be available for sale at each screening. Film Review called Mr. Lewis' book "an absolute revelation...the definitive biography...brilliant"; and the New Statesman ranked it as "the most searching life of a non-classical actor ever written." Mr. Lewis has been chief book critic for Punch; his commentary and features are seen regularly in the Sunday Times, the Spectator and the Financial Times. An Oxford don of Wolfson College, his writing has been compared to that of his mentor, Richard Ellmann. program notes and times A SHOT IN THE DARK Blake Edwards, 1964; 101 minutes An awful lot of talent came together to make this the funniest of all the Pink Panther movies! Henry Mancini contributed the perfect score for insanity, and director Edwards and William Peter (Exorcist) Blatty co-wrote the madness. Sellers is flanked by sexily hilarious Elke Sommer, a femme fatale whom everyone (except Clouseau, of course) believes to be a murderess; by George Sanders, at his suavest; by eternally civilized Herbert Lom, the chief inspector slowly but surely driven to the loony bin by Clouseau; and last but not least, by Burt Kwouk as Cato, the maniacal houseboy who can never quite out-karate Clouseau. Nonstop silliness of the very best kind! Fri, Oct 18: 6 pm Sat, Oct 19: 4 pm (Author Roger Lewis speaks on Genius and Madness after each screening.) DR. STRANGELOVE, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB Stanley Kubrick, 1962; 103 minutes Kubrick's inspired, razor-sharp satire stars Sellers as American president, British officer, and totally bonkers ex-Nazi scientist whose prosthetic arm persists in whipping upward to "Heil Hitler"! The end of the world--by nuclear conflagration--is more or less brought on by idiocy and accident, and it's signaled not by a bang or a whimper but by Slim Pickens' rebel yell as he rides death down to earth. This blackest and most sublime of antiwar comedies holds up--indeed becomes timelier--year after year. With a cast of inspired crazies: George C. Scott, Peter Bull, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, James Earl Jones, et al. (Oscar nominations for best picture, script, director, and Peter Sellers.) Fri, Oct 18: 4 and 8:15 pm Sat, Oct 19: 6 pm (Author Roger Lewis speaks on The Crack-Up after each screening.)