The British Film Institute will release on Blu-ray Peter Sellers's film Mr Topaze a.k.a. I Like Money (1961), starring Peter Sellers, Nadia Gray, Herbert Lom, Leo McKern, Michael Gough, Joan Sims, John Neville, and John Le Mesurier. The release will be available for purchase on April 15.
Synopsis: Peter Sellers directs and stars in this bittersweet comedy, based on a Marcel Pagnol play and chosen by the British public in 2016 to be digitised by the BFI. Described by Sellers biographer Roger Lewis as a lost classic, Mr Topaze marked the actor's directional feature debut and teamed him with his The Ladykillers cohort and future Pink Panther comic foil Herbert Lom, in a stellar cast that also features Nadia Gray, Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw and John Le Mesurier.
Playing the eponymous Mr Topaze, a poor, provincial French schoolteacher slowly corrupted by big business, Sellers is at the peak of his powers. This melancholy character comedy , rarely seen since its release and available here for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD, is essential viewing for fans of Sellers' unique genius.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Let's Go Crazy (1951, 33 mins): a nightclub-set madcap variety show featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960, 11 mins): Richard Lester and Peter Sellers' Goonish comic short, featuring Sellers, Spike Milligan and Leo McKern
Film Star: Peter Sellers (1967,37 mins): a profile of the actor and comedian
Maurice Woodruff Interview (1967, 19 mins): Peter Sellers' favourite clairvoyant interviewed by Bernard Braden for a TV series, Now and Then that was never made
John Boulting Interview (1967, 21 mins): the director discusses his relationship with Sellers in an unbroadcast Now and Then interview with Bernard Braden
Peter Sellers at the NFT (1960, 97 mins, audio only): the actor addresses an enthusiastic throng of fans
Abigail McKern Interview (2019, 20 mins): the daughter of Leo McKern discusses the great actor's life and career
The Poetry of Realism (2019, 13 mins): journalist Kast Ellinger's video essay on Marcel Pagnol, the writer of the film's theatrical source, Topaze
First pressing only: Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by BFI's Vic Pratt and full film credits
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature