Film Movement Press Release: Mr. Topaze (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

"Essential viewing for all Sellers fans."
-- British Film Institute

"Mr. Sellers is in fine form here, and in the first half he displays some of the physical comedic traits that defined his Inspector Jacques Couseau in the 'Pink Panther' series a couple of years later."
-David Ferguson, Red Carpet Crash

"Its abiding bittersweetness [is] what has become this 'lost' curio's chief preservative. What stands out, unsurprisingly, is Sellers himself..."
-Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times​

FILM MOVEMENT CLASSICS UNVEILS PETER SELLERS'
LONG LOST 1961 DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, NEWLY-RESTORED
IN 2K FROM THE LONE SURVIVING 35MM PRINT

MR. TOPAZE

Street Date: October 27, 2020
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital: $29.95/$19.95

Available for the First Time Ever in North America,
the Classic Comedy, Co-Starring Herbert Lom, Leo McKern and Nadia Gray,
Arrives with the Madcap Seller Short Film "Let's Go Crazy", a Video Essay on Auteur Marcel Pagnol, the Topaze Playwright, a 24-page Booklet with a New Essay by Roger Lewis, Author of "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and More!

​

Mr. Topaze (I Like Money) (1961) Trailer

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.

Sellers' lone directorial effort, MR. TOPAZE displays the British comic genius at the peak of his powers alongside his future Pink Panthernemesis Herbert Lom and a stellar supporting cast that includes Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw and Michael Gough. Long considered a "lost" classic, MR. TOPAZE was digitally restored in 2K from the last surviving 35mm prints held in the BFI National Archive.

In his newly-written MR. TOPAZE essay included in the Film Movement Classics release, Roger Lewis, author of "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" writes "In my opinion we are only now beginning to wake up to Sellers' unique qualities as a performer, and the rediscovery of Mr. Topaze will aid this reassessment. It is a film of which Jacques Tati might be proud. It is as good as any of the later Chaplin efforts, Limelight or A Countess from Hong Kong. It is a scandal that it was lost for so long."

CAST

• Peter Sellers (Being There, The Pink Panther series, Dr. Strangelove)
• Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther series, The Dead Zone, Spartacus)
• Nadia Gray (La Dolce Vita)
• Leo McKern ("Rumpole of the Bailey", Ryan's Daugher, The Mouse That Roared)
• Billie Whitelaw (The Krays, Hot Fuzz, The Omen)
• Michael Gough (Batman, Sleepy Hollow, The Age of Innocence)

BONUS FEATURES

• 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

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Type: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital (New 2K Digital Restoration)
Running Time: 97 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Audio: Mono

About Film Movement

Founded in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide including the Oscar-nominated films Theeb (2016) and Corpus Christi (2020). Film Movement's theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci, Ettore Scola and Luchino Visconti. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com. Visit www.filmmovementplus.com for more information about Film Movement Plus, the new subscription streaming service from Film Movement.

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[Robert Harris]

Interesting. The BFI appears to be holding 3 elements. A 16mm and 2 35mm prints. Not certain that they had lost them. Rights issue?

 

[Angelo Colombus]

A big fan of Peter Sellers so i will check this out. I hope The Mouse That Roared will come out on Blu-ray too.

 

[Robin9]

Interesting. The BFI appears to be holding 3 elements. A 16mm and 2 35mm prints. Not certain that they had lost them. Rights issue?

The film is not so very old. What happened to the OCN?

 

[JoeDoakes]

How do people think this holds up next to the John Barrymore version?

 

[Robert Harris]

How do people think this holds up next to the John Barrymore version?

Or the original French Pagnol film.