I'm not particularly interested in slapstick comedy, but this is a grand tour de force that I can watch over and over. It is one of the few movies that took full advantage of Sellers' unusual gift. It is so wonderfully timed, and so complex in its staging, that I have watched it many times over the past two decades -- and it never gets stale. The scene with the dinner party is a classic ensemble piece.
I am not sure how this movie could have been done without Sellers. He is the star and the script at the same time. Every time I watch it, I wonder how it actually got produced -- it seems so flawless, but it also seems like one long ad lib. I can't imagine pitching the idea to a studio, and I'm not sure I would have rented it the first time if I'd known the plot: "Peter Sellers plays an awkwardly polite man from India who accidentally crashes a Hollywood dinner party and creates havoc. It's a gas."
I am not sure how this movie could have been done without Sellers. He is the star and the script at the same time. Every time I watch it, I wonder how it actually got produced -- it seems so flawless, but it also seems like one long ad lib. I can't imagine pitching the idea to a studio, and I'm not sure I would have rented it the first time if I'd known the plot: "Peter Sellers plays an awkwardly polite man from India who accidentally crashes a Hollywood dinner party and creates havoc. It's a gas."