Ghost in the Noonday Sun

I have been a Sellers fan for most of my life. Growing up in the late 60's and 70's his name was a household word because his comedic power brought laughter to millions. His diversity is simply astounding compared to, say, Jim Carrey or Jeniffer Aniston. Maybe this is a movie for the true Peter Sellers fan. A bit off the beaten path. The plot is secondary. Watching Sellers in character is a pure joy. You will never see a more cowardly pathetic weasel on film anywhere. Sellers performance in Ghost in the Noonday Sun is much more entertaining than Magic Christian or Casino Royale. Lighten up and enjoy the simple buffoonery and hilarious character brilliantly played by the great Peter Sellers. Skelingtons and canyon balls to you.

I just saw the Ghost of Peter Sellers, a documentary about this ill fated film. Its the best documentary I've seen about a movie going wrong. As a filmmaker, I think every director should watch it. Its even better than Lost in la Mancha, because it was directed by the same director who shot the dreadful movie, Peter Medak.

This is one of Peter Sellers' lesser-known movies. And I wouldn't say it's one of his best. It's not the same quality as classics like "The Pink Panther" or "Dr. Strangelove." This movie is just a silly pirate farce. Not bad, but could have been better.

Peter Sellers plays Dick Scratcher (ha,ha), a cook for a pirate ship who takes over as captain after he murders the previous one. Although he's witnessed a treasure being buried, he begins losing his memory and the treasure map he obtains becomes blank. Thus, Dick is forced to find someone who can see and communicate with ghosts (do you place an ad for that?) and help lead a path to the treasure. It's mind boggling how anyone could have bankrolled this pointless film. Former Goon Spike Milligan replaced Medak as director, and given Medak's talents in the film The Ruling Class, you can probably guess which of the grainy, poorly lit scenes had Milligan in the director's chair. Peter Boyle makes a brief appearance in the film's first 10 minutes as the doomed pirate captain. He's probably quite thankful that Young Frankenstein was released the same year this was filmed and canned, so that he can keep this off his resume. Franciosa looks dashing as the handsome power-behind-Scratcher but he and Seller both look pretty desperate, with even Sellers' makeup and hair looking quite terrible. They had to know this movie was bombing even as they were filming it. With lines like these, I can understand any possible unease:

PIERRE: (about to be hanged) You'll pay for this.

SCRATCHER: No, I won't. I'll do it for free.

And that's one of the GOOD jokes. It's amazing to me that much of Sellers prolific material is still in the vaults, but this was made available on VHS more than 15 years ago! How about someone stepping up to the plate and releasing in the US the well-received British TV program "A Show Called Fred" starring Sellers, Milligan, and directed by the great Richard Lester?

You might be tempted to rent this film because Peter Sellers appears in it. That would be a mistake. This is one of the most pointless films ever made. I kept waiting for something funny to happen, but nothing funny appears in this movie. Even the film industry recognized this was a very weak film and didn't even try to promote it. Its a wonder that it was ever put on video.

I wonder what sort of contract caused Sellers to be in this film. I also wonder why the people responsible for this film were allowed to go on to make other bad films. Surely this film is a waste of the money used to create it, and a waste of anyone's time watching it. Surely there are high school students who would be able to write/produce a film which as a plot.