La battaglia dei sessi

This well-cast adaptation of a classic James Thurber story relocates the action to Edinburgh and offers Peter Sellers one of his best roles as a timid bureaucrat who turns into a man of action when the crusty family firm he works for is threatened by an "efficiency expert" (and a female one at that!). His bumbling attempts to resolve the situation at the climax are a delight whilst co-star Robert Morley is perfect in the sort of role that he was born to play.

There's some fine location work, beautifully shot in black-and-white by Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Francis and a late screen appearance by "Doctor Praetorius" himself, the sepulchral Ernest Thesiger.

British comedy where mild-mannered character played by Sellers is moved to murder when the company he's given his life to is taken over by brash American woman. Due to make-up, Sellers looks the same age as when he played all those Pink Panther movies in the 70's. Cute ending, too.

In order to get her out of their hair, her US employers send powerful businesswoman out to Scotland on some vague mission to investigate export potential. On the way she meets businessman Robert MacPherson who asks for her help to improve the efficiency of his late father's company. The mere suggestion that a woman would be brought into the male dominated company causes panic within the stuffy departments of the company – especially since the sole woman employee only makes tea for the men. Things only get worse when she starts updating the company, suggesting centralised tweed production in a factory, changing filing systems and carrying out time & motion studies. Happily employee Mr Martin is on hand to try and outwit her modernising ways.

In this comedy the plot could easily just involve a man coming into a company because the battle is less one of male versus female and more a matter of old school versus new school where, much I'm Alright Jack, Sellers leads the defence against such action. Looking at it this way the film is much more interesting because it keeps it relevant (nobody likes change) whereas the idea of working for a female boss is no longer the crazy modern idea that it may have once been. The film uses this story reasonably well and produced a few chuckles from me while managing to maintain a consistent amusing tone. The lack of really sharp jokes or big laughs is a bit of a problem though, and it would have been better if the commentary had been sharper and some of the comic sequences had had more laughs but the overall tone is quite nice.

The main reason it is quite funny is the subtle playing of Sellers who is gently amusing and sets the tone well for the material; perhaps not one of his most famous creations but he is enjoyable nonetheless. He is well supported by Morley, who plays the blundering boss with enthusiasm and adds to the comedy. Cummings is quite good and brings out well the manipulative nature of some women – turning on femininity and tears when it suits them; she does this well without being cruel to her sex I thought. The support is mainly good and includes a brief appearance from Donald Pleasence but really the film belongs to Sellers in his quiet role along with Morley and Cummings.

Overall this is not a great film mainly because it lacks a sharp intelligent edge that it could have had and not replacing that with enough broad laughs to do the job. The cast really help and the material is good enough to be roundly amusing and it is worth a look because it is a pleasing little film even if it isn't anything that special or memorable.

Mr. Martin is a clerk at a Scottish Tweed weaving company.Then one day a creature called woman starts talking about all these changes they should make in the company.He has a little problem with that.The Battle of the Sexes (1959) is directed by Charles Crichton.It's based on the short story The Catbird Seat by the great humorist James Thurber from 1942.Peter Sellers is quite excellent as Mr. Martin.He obviously wasn't an old man when he did this film, but he certainly seems that way.He's nailed the gestures and all perfectly.Robert Morley is terrific as Robert Macpherson.Constance Cummings does brilliant work as Angela Barrows.Donald Pleasence is great as Irwin Hoffman.This is a pretty funny comedy, although it's not the best Peter Sellers starred in.The funniest sequence must be when he goes out to kill the lady.For Peter Sellers fans this is one not to be missed.

Peter Sellers could do just about anything and this film helped to prove that fact. With some white hair, a moustache, and spectacles, you thoroughly believe his transformation into Mr. Martin, a character at least twenty-five years older than the actor was at the time.

Although the title sounds like a sex romp, that's not the right description of this clever comedy with a somewhat dark theme. But BATTLE OF THE SEXES is about a power struggle between a man and woman. Martin is the faithful manager at the House of MacPherson, a Scottish firm that's been turning out tweed the same way for decades. When the new heir (Robert Morley) takes over, he brings in a domineering efficiency expert (Constance Cummings), an American no less, whose ideas threaten to ruin the company.

Martin is forced to act. While he seems like a quiet and unassuming sort, he actually has a lot of guile and cunning beneath his mild-mannered exterior. First he tries to get her fired, but when that doesn't work he decides that more drastic measures are called for - like murder. Martin comes up with what he believes is the perfect plan, and all he has to do is carry it out.

Do yourself a favor and watch it all unfold. Entertaining from start to finish, hilarious in several places, with a good supporting cast, and a plot that has a couple of surprises in store. Sellers proves yet again that he's a true comic genius. Three cheers for that, and four stars out of five for the film.