MR TOPAZE [DUAL FORMAT] (FLIPSIDE) - BLU-RAY

Mr Topaze (DVD + Blu-ray)
Directed by Peter Sellers

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:

• 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

UK | 1961 | colour | 97 minutes |English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles | original aspect ratio 2.35:1 | cert PG (Mild sex references) | BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit), region B | DVD: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit), region 2