Mr. Topaze | |
---|---|
Directed by | Peter Sellers |
Written by | Pierre Rouve Johnny Speight (script associate) |
Based on | the play Topaze by Marcel Pagnol |
Produced by | Pierre Rouve |
Starring | Peter Sellers Nadia Gray Herbert Lom Leo McKern |
Cinematography | John Wilcox |
Edited by | Geoffrey Foot |
Music by | George Martin Georges Van Parys |
Production company | Dimitri De Grunwald Production |
Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Mr. Topaze (released in U.S. as I Like Money) is Peter Sellers' directorial debut in 1961. [1] Starring Sellers, Nadia Gray, Leo McKern, and Herbert Lom. [2] His son Michael Sellers plays in the film in the role of Gaston. The film is based on the eponymous play by Marcel Pagnol. [3]
Out of distribution for many years, a print exists in the British Film Institute National Archive, which makes it available for viewing on their website. [4] The film was shown during the 2003 Cardiff Independent Film Festival. [5] It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 15 April 2019 by the BFI.
Mr. Topaze (Peter Sellers) is an unassuming school teacher in an unassuming small French town who is honest to a fault. He is sacked when he refuses to give a passing grade to a bad student, the grandson of a wealthy Baroness (Martita Hunt). Castel Benac (Herbert Lom), a government official who runs a crooked financial business on the side, is persuaded by his mistress, Suzy (Nadia Gray), a musical comedy actress, to hire Mr. Topaze as the front man for his business. Gradually, Topaze becomes a rapacious financier who sacrifices his honesty for success and, in a final stroke of business bravado, fires Benac and acquires Suzy in the deal. An old friend and colleague, Tamise (Michael Gough) questions him and tells Topaze that what he now says and practices indicates there are no more honest men.
In The New York Times , Bosley Crowther wrote, "for the most part, Mr. Sellers keeps himself too rigidly in hand—and the blame is his, because he is also the fellow who directed the film. He avoids the comic opportunities, takes the role too seriously," concluding that, "As a consequence, he's just a little boring—and that's death for a Sellers character." [6]
Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote 'This new version of Pagnol's Topaze has a diluted script by Pierre Rouve that runs about an hour before the plotwheels begin to turn. [7]
Peter Sellers was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. Sellers featured on a number of hit comic songs, and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in Help! (1965), Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter (1970), Harry Bundage in Candleshoe (1977), Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon (1980), Dr. Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second instalments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner.
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Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he also proved a skilled comic actor in The Pink Panther franchise, playing the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in seven films.
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Topaze is a 1928 play in four acts by the French writer Marcel Pagnol. It tells the story of a modest school teacher who is fired for being too honest and decides to become a dishonest businessman. The play premiered on 9 October 1928 at the Théâtre des Variétés. It was performed on Broadway in 1930 with Frank Morgan in the title role.
Michael Peter Anthony Sellers was a British builder, car restorer, author and the son of actor Peter Sellers. He also had small parts in a couple of his father's films. He was often interviewed by the media about his relationship with his father. Despite a tenuous and troubled relationship with his father, he frequently defended him and his legacy.
Topaze may refer to:
Nadia Gray was a Romanian film actress.
I Accuse! is a British 1958 CinemaScope biographical drama film directed by and starring José Ferrer. The film is based on the true story of the Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish captain in the French Army was falsely accused of treason.
Topaze is a 1951 French comedy film directed by Marcel Pagnol and starring Fernandel, Hélène Perdrière and Marcel Vallée. It is based on Pagnol's own 1928 play of the same name, which has been adapted for the screen a number of times including a 1936 film directed by Pagnol.
Waltz of the Toreadors is a 1962 film directed by John Guillermin and starring Peter Sellers and Dany Robin. It was based on the play of the same name by Jean Anouilh with the location changed from France to England. It was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay, in 1963.
Topaze is a 1936 French comedy film directed by Marcel Pagnol and starring Alexandre Arnaudy, Sylvia Bataille and Pierre Asso. It is based on the Pagnol's own 1928 play Topaze. A separate adaptation Topaze had been directed by Louis J. Gasnier three years earlier.
"Topaze" is a 1966 Australian TV play based on the 1928 play by the French writer Marcel Pagnol. It aired on 6 April 1966 in Sydney, on 30 March 1966 in Melbourne, and on 27 April 1966 in Brisbane.