Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
"Essential
viewing for all Sellers fans."
--
British Film Institute
"Mr.
Sellers is in fine form here, and in the first half he displays some of the
physical comedic traits that defined his Inspector Jacques Couseau in the 'Pink
Panther' series a couple of years later."
-David Ferguson, Red Carpet Crash
"Its
abiding bittersweetness [is] what has become this 'lost' curio's chief
preservative. What stands out, unsurprisingly, is Sellers himself..."
-Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
FILM MOVEMENT CLASSICS UNVEILS PETER SELLERS'
LONG LOST 1961 DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, NEWLY-RESTORED
IN 2K FROM THE LONE SURVIVING 35MM PRINT
MR. TOPAZE
Street
Date: October 27, 2020
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital
Available
for the First Time Ever in North America,
the Classic Comedy, Co-Starring Herbert Lom, Leo McKern and
Nadia Gray,
Arrives with the Madcap Seller Short Film "Let's Go
Crazy", a Video Essay on Auteur Marcel Pagnol, the Topaze
Playwright, a 24-page Booklet with a New Essay by Roger Lewis, Author of
"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and More!
SYNOPSIS
Albert
Topaze (Peter Sellers), a poor but proud French schoolmaster, loses his job
after he refuses to alter the failing grades of one of his students. Seizing
the opportunity to exploit his honesty, actress Suzy Courtois (Nadia Gray)
convinces her lover, the corrupt city council member Castel Benac (Herbert
Lom), to hire Topaze as a managing director for one of his shady businesses.
Sellers'
lone directorial effort, MR. TOPAZE displays the British comic genius at the
peak of his powers alongside his future Pink Panther nemesis Herbert Lom
and a stellar supporting cast that includes Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw and
Michael Gough. Long considered a "lost" classic, MR. TOPAZE was
digitally restored in 2K from the last surviving 35mm prints held in the BFI
National Archive.
In
his newly-written MR. TOPAZE essay included in the Film Movement Classics
release, Roger Lewis, author of "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"
writes "In my opinion we are only now beginning to wake up to Sellers'
unique qualities as a performer, and the rediscovery of Mr. Topaze will
aid this reassessment. It is a film of which Jacques Tati might be proud. It is
as good as any of the later Chaplin efforts, Limelight or A Countess
from Hong Kong. It is a scandal that it was lost for so long."
CAST
Peter Sellers (Being There, The Pink Panther series,
Dr. Strangelove)
Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther series, The Dead
Zone, Spartacus)
Nadia Gray (La Dolce Vita)
Leo McKern ("Rumpole of the Bailey", Ryan's
Daugher, The Mouse That Roared)
Billie Whitelaw (The Krays, Hot Fuzz, The Omen)
Michael Gough (Batman, Sleepy Hollow, The Age of Innocence)
BONUS
FEATURES
Let's Go Crazy (1951) - a madcap short film starring Peter
Sellers and his Goon Show co-star Spike Milligan
The Poetry of Realism (2019) - Kat Ellinger video essay on
auteur Marcel Pagnol, the playwright of Topaze
Abigail McKern Interview (2019) - Leo McKern's daughter
discusses her father's life and career
24-page booklet with notes on the film's rediscovery by BFI
curator Vic Pratt and a new essay by Roger Lewis, author of The Life and
Death of Peter Sellers
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type:
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital
(New 2K Digital Restoration)