Peter Sellers directs and stars in this bittersweet character comedy, based on a Marcel Pagnol play and chosen by the British public in an online vote in 2016 to be digitised by the BFI National Archive. Described by Sellers' biographer Roger Lewis as a 'lost classic', Mr Topaze will be released in a Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray/DVD) on 15 April 2019. Extras include The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960) directed by Richard Lester, a variety of interviews and more.
Mr Topaze marked Peter Sellers' directorial 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.
