Film Movement Classics has announced that they will be releasing Peter Sellers’ long lost 1961 directorial debut Mr. Topaze on Blu-Ray, DVD & Digital on October 27, 2020. The classic comedy stars Sellers alongside Herbert Lom, Leo McKern and Nadia Gray. This will release will mark the first time the release has been available to own in North America.
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.
- 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
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.