"Only Two Can Play" may be the closest Peter Sellers came to playing a normal human being in good movies. A genius of voices, building his characters from the vocal chords out, Sellers was usually at his tip-tip playing off-kilter characters.
Here, working with little more than a soft Welsh dialect (which he maintains fairly well, with only a few strange excursions into other vocal realms), Sellers builds a believable character who is unhappy with his inconsequential job and in his marriage (to the tragic Virginia Maskell). Suddenly his life is enlivened by the exotic wife of an influential figure who (rather inexplicably) gets the hots for Sellers' character, and who can also put in a word for him to get a better job in return for certain favors Sellers is more than willing to pay.
The film gets considerable mileage over what goes wrong every time the two try to consummate their affair. Overall, though, the tone is low-key and the film never really takes off. "Only Two Can Play" is a must for Sellers' fans, but don't expect any of his wackier creations.
Nevertheless, it shows that Sellers may not have given himself enough credit, and he may have been woefully used in more normal parts that required just a slight accent.
Here, working with little more than a soft Welsh dialect (which he maintains fairly well, with only a few strange excursions into other vocal realms), Sellers builds a believable character who is unhappy with his inconsequential job and in his marriage (to the tragic Virginia Maskell). Suddenly his life is enlivened by the exotic wife of an influential figure who (rather inexplicably) gets the hots for Sellers' character, and who can also put in a word for him to get a better job in return for certain favors Sellers is more than willing to pay.
The film gets considerable mileage over what goes wrong every time the two try to consummate their affair. Overall, though, the tone is low-key and the film never really takes off. "Only Two Can Play" is a must for Sellers' fans, but don't expect any of his wackier creations.
Nevertheless, it shows that Sellers may not have given himself enough credit, and he may have been woefully used in more normal parts that required just a slight accent.