The Battle of the Sexes (1959)

The Battle of the Sexes (1959) (DVD) (*)

~~$22.99~~ $16.97

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
80 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1959 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Charles Crichton

Written By:
Charles Crichton
James Thurber
Monja Danischewsky

Actors:
Peter Sellers ..... Mr. Martin
Robert Morley ..... Robert MacPherson
Constance Cummings ..... Angela Barrows
Jameson Clark ..... Andrew Darling
Ernest Thesiger ..... Old MacPherson
Donald Pleasence ..... Irwin Hoffman (as Donald Pleasance)
Moultrie Kelsall ..... Graham
Alex Mackenzie ..... Robertson
Roddy McMillan ..... MacLeod
Michael Goodliffe ..... Detective
James Gibson ..... Night watchman
Noel Howlett ..... Mr. White
Abe Barker ..... Mr. Meekie
Gordon Phillott ..... Mr. Munson
William Mervyn ..... Detective's friend

Synopsis:

Man-eating businesswoman, Angela Barrows is sent by her US company to Edinburgh to investigate export opportunities. She meets businessman Robert MacPherson en route and he persuades her to help bring his company into the 20th century. The staff, lead by Mr. Martin, have other ideas and a battle between the old and new business methods breaks out.

In this 1959 comedy, Robert MacPherson (Robert Morley) inherits his family's textile business in Edinburgh, Scotland, then hires American efficiency expert Angela Barrows (Constance Cummings) to bring the business into the modern age. The House of MacPherson has long been known as a manufacturer of fine Scottish tweed, and the company's mild-mannered head clerk, Mr. Martin (Peter Sellers), worries that the no-nonsense Barrows will ruin everything with her new-fangled ideas and eventually replace him and his co-workers with automatons. So after she installs the latest labor-saving devices, including intercoms and noisy adding machines, he sabotages them in a gradually unfolding scheme to persuade MacPherson that the old Scottish ways are still the best, that true craftsmanship requires a human touch. By this time, however, MacPherson has taken a fancy to Barrows romantically, and she can do no wrong. Then, horror of horrors, Barrows proposes that the company make synthetic tweed -- mass-produced synthetic tweed -- in an all-out effort to Americanize the Scottish firm. That's the last straw for Martin, and he thinks there is only one option left for him: to murder Barrows. Of course, meek Mr. Martin isn't exactly a natural-born killer, and he botches one attempt after another in a sequence of scenes that keep the action moving briskly along. But Martin has pluck and plenty of persistence, and he eventually hatches another plot to undo the meddlesome Barrows. The film, loosely based on a James Thurber story entitled The Catbird Seat, was directed by Charles Crichton, the same man who directed the highly successful Lavender Hill Mob.

Peter Sellers early comedy classic! Peter Sellers in one of his best early roles, plays the wry, mild-mannered Mr Martin, the lifetime employee of a Scottish tweed company who is moved to murder when the firm is taken over by brash Americanwoman. Stars Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape, You Only Live Twice), and Robert Morley (The African Queen). Extras include Film Background Biographies and Umbrella trailers.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 30 August, 2016.