Wednesday 4 February 2015

The Battle of the Sexes
Dir: Charles Crichton
1959
***
1959's The Battle of the Sexes directed by comedy legend Charles Crichton is a reworking of James Thurber's short story The Catbird Seat. It is a story of advantage, envy and having the upper hand. Typically of it's day, the story (but more so the title) was sexed up a bit to appeal more given the current political climate regarding Women's lib. It's really not much of a Battle between the Sexes, rather a battle between Capitalism and tradition. Peter Sellers leads an old fashioned workforce against his new employer (the son of his recently deceased employer - played brilliantly by Robert Morley) and his new efficiency expert, a zealous American Business Women (a rather over the top Constance Cummings) with revolutionary ideas for modernising the old fashioned company. The laughs are subtle but good, the script is clever and well delivered. It's a gentle comedy that only gets a little too silly towards the end. You can't beat a good Charles Crichton film or a good Peter Sellers film and this film is both.

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