Les femmes du général

John Guillermin's previous film featuring Peter Sellers, Never Let Go, in which he was cast as Meadows, a smooth but viciously evil criminal, enabled Sellers to prove that his talent went beyond depicting "comic" petty crooks. His role as the bibulous, womanising General Fitzjohn in this film, built upon the character of lovable rogue Major Denis Bloodnok, who Sellers played in the Goon Show, enabled him to expand his range further. Fitzjohn's interaction with his invalid wife is movingly realised. The moment when he exclaims "My God, I hate you!" is chilling. There is a moment of cinematic genius when Guillermin dissolves from a close-up of the General's (then) young and beautiful wife watching unhappily as her husband flirts with another woman to her present day ruined face filled with unhappiness. I recall that when the film was released Guillermin complained bitterly that the producers had spoilt his film by cutting in extra comic sequences, but I can't find reports of this interview on line. Can anyone help?

Based quite loosely upon a play of the same name by Jean Anouilh, this film has been designed not merely as a showcase for the oversize comedic talent of Peter Sellers, but also, due to excessive producer interference, as a sex farce where character predominates over language, after the manner of a well-wrought and linear work of theatre. A droll script by Wolf Mankowitz transposes the action from post World War II France to early 20th century Sussex, arranging the characters in the story-propelled manner of the playwright, whose intensive exploration of the spirit becomes increasingly prominent as the work runs its course, greatly assisted by sensitive performances from Sellers, as the libidinous General Leo Fitzjohn, and by Margaret Leighton as Emily, his suffering wife. The plot spirals about the freshly retired General Fitzjohn and his longwhile Gallic inamorata, Ghislaine (Dany Robin) who have, as seen in a series of flashbacks, never been able to complete their love, but who are apparently finally going to be able to do so; that is, if a series of latter-day obstacles might be overcome. The picture is directed smoothly by John Guillermin, and there are excellent performances from Cyril Cusack as Dr. Grogan, the General's best friend, and John Fraser as a naive subaltern assigned to Fitzjohn, while a magnificent score is contributed by Richard Addinsell, one of his best for the screen, notable for its unreserved use of a minor key to accompany romantic and comic events. Unlike his Absurdist contemporaries, Anouilh never abandoned a sense of existential despair throughout his dramas, and this production succeeds in creating tension between Fitzjohn's sense of loss of place and his ability to forge forward after his natural urges, as evidenced by the delicious ending.

This is one of the most arguable comedies ever made, because of its very difficult character. Is it really funny at all? Isn't it just terribly silly? The main character of it is pathetic, as Peter Sellers and Margaret Leighton as his wife both are extremely pathetic, but one thing cannot be denied here: the acting is exceptionally outstanding. Peter Sellers as the pathetic old general married to a terrible dinosaur of a morbidly sick woman, having nothing but his memories and his fascination of young pretty girls to live for, makes one of his most remarkable performances. Even Dany Robin makes a pathetic character, as she has waited 17 years for Peter and doesn't get him anyway, although he now retires and wants to leave his wife. There are of course some hilarious scenes, but the general pathetic character drowns them in melancholy and makes them indifferent and constructed. Another great asset of the film is Richard Addinsell's music. The waltz adds a romantic touch to all the misery, which will remain as a lasting impression. I never liked Jean Anouilh's plays, there was always some dark bitterness about them, and his adaptation of "Anna Karenina" for the screen kills Tolstoy. I saw this film now for the third time and for the first time all through, since I never could bear with it earlier. Now I found it passable, especially for the direction, the actors and the music, while the fun of it felt more artificially strained than ever.

Forgive me again for being very uninformative and nitpicky. I'm unfamiliar with the play ("disastrously translated into English setting and characters" - Halliwell's) and I sure as hell can't discuss the author's oeuvre.

• The photography is beautiful, if not entirely consistently so. I especially liked it during one of the heavier scenes involving Sellers and "wife".

• There are some ugly flashback transitions.

• "Fawlty"-heads will see a pre-Sybil Scales, if paying enough attention...

• ... which can be relatively hard at times.

• One notices how the actor who plays the innkeeper (John Glyn-Jones, further investigation shows) carries an enormous resemblance to the fine actor Richard Jenkins of "Six Feet Under" fame (or of "The Man Who Wasn't There" fame). Then, in his second and final scene, what is called out through some galloping if not "Mr. Jenkins!" Bizarre.

• John Le Mesurier seems to have been always reliable (by which I mean the few of his I've seen).

• Sellers's "old man" voice arouses in me questions as to why he was constantly cast in these senior roles (here, flashbacks, yes). Don't get me wrong, though. His performance is as great as you can expect from him.

• "I'm old enough to be your aunt." Well, you don't look like it.

• The titular sequence is actually memorable.

• The ending I liked, which seems to be a common thing with viewers.

• I have trouble understanding what this eventually is. One minute, there's some silly umbrella fencing, and the next, grave discussion about things marital in nature. I can't really grasp the whole film. That's right, blame my age. But it is all over the place.

• At any rate, the film is worth a go. I didn't get these "masterpiece" vibes that others have gotten out of it, but if not for anything else, it's worth seeing for Sellers doing his thing.

I saw this on cable recently, out of curiosity more than anything else, and I wasn't sure I was really going to watch it. However, it turned out to be quite a little gem that I would recommend for those of us who have a few years on them. Peter Sellers, who was only in his 30s at the time, puts on aging makeup and plays a retired general around the turn of the 19th century who is still chasing skirts (Sellers appears in flashbacks looking his real age). It is a bittersweet look at marriage, sexual desire, maturity, the advantage men have over women with respect to aging, etc. And, to its credit, it doesn't have the stock Hollywood ending one might expect.