THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES

UK, 1959, 84 minutes, Black and White.
Peter Sellers, Constance Cummings, Robert Morley, Donald Pleasance. Narrated by Sam Wanamaker.
Directed by Charles Crichton.

The Battle of the Sexes is a very enjoyable comedy. It was made in England and starred Peter Sellers at the height of his fame. Sellers has an enormous repertoire encompassing various nationalities. Here he gives his rendition of a Scotsman. The story is an interesting comedy about big business, about the clash of the new world and the old world, Scotland and America. However it is based on stories by James Thurber, and therefore shows humorously the clash between men and women. The film is an enjoyable comedy of its kind. It shows Sellers at his best. It is also an interesting version of Thurber and can be compared with the American film "The War Between Men and Women" with Jack Lemmon which tried to do something of the same thing.

1. Was this just another clever Peter Sellers' comedy?

2. The film was a satire: on America, Britain (especially Scotland), on progress and change, on industry, on men versus women, on the emerging woman, on human nature; Which sequences best illustrated each of these satirical thrusts? What points were being made? How valid and of universal application were they?

3. What kind of woman was Angela Barrows? Why did men fear her (apart from her caricatured personality)? How typically American was she, especially in her ambitions to change Europe?

4. What kind of man was Mr Martin? Did you like him? How clever was Peter Sellers' portraying of him? What did he stand for? what values did he represent? Why was it inevitable that he clash with Angela Barrow?

5. What kind of man was Robert McPherson? Was Robert Morley's performance too much of a caricature? What values did he represent, in relation to Angela Barrow and Mr Martin? What was being ridiculed in him?

6. Comment on the best comedy sequences, eg, the presentation of the Edinburgh office, the visit to the Islands, Martin's attempt to murder Angela Barrow, the presentation of McPherson?.

7. What was the point of the conclusion of the film? What had it communicated to the audience?