The Battle of the Sexes

Filmmaker Charles Crichton's droll 1960 British film is often classified as a black comedy of murder, but the overall sense is hardly as dark and sardonic as the era's The Ladykillers, which also costarred Peter Sellers. An expansion of the James Thurber short story “The Catbird Seat” (Thurber is praised in the opening narration by Sam Wanamaker), the plot is set in Scotland, where Sellers, convincing in subtle older age makeup and body language, plays confirmed bachelor Martin, longtime employee in a venerable woolens-textile firm, whose mild demeanor conceals a firm grip over the office routines. When a brash, divorced American businesswoman (Constance Cummings) shows up with drastic modernization plans—from file cabinets and intercoms to full automation—Martin meets the threat to his authority with small acts of sabotage and rebellion that ultimately snowball into a homicide plot. Donald Pleasance briefly appears in an attention-seizing but rather off-key hyperactive role as an American. A classic of civilized U.K. comedy, this is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)