The Unknown Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers was certainly one of the most gifted comedians to ever work in film, but, to its credit, this documentary explores Sellers' initial career in radio, as well as his obscure early film work, before plunging into an examination of the movies that made him one of the most popular actors of the 20th century. We're provided a look at the young Sellers' struggles to break into radio, culminating in his participation, with Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe, in the groundbreaking BBC Radio comedy program The Goon Show. Sellers' uncanny vocal agility made him a huge radio star, but he had his sights set on the movies. The success of The Goon Show and the television series Fred opened the door to roles in The Ladykillers and The Mouse That Roared, and later his most brilliant work in Stanley Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove, the Inspector Clouseau films and what many observers consider to be his crowning achievement: the role of Chauncey Gardener in Hal Ashby's Being There. The narrative points out, quite correctly, that Sellers' increasing experimentation with physical comedy was critical to the development of his work, while commentary from friends and colleagues firm up this wide-ranging portrait of one of the true comic geniuses of modern film. Recommended. Aud: P. (P. Van Vleck)