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Mr. Topaze

1961

Mr. Topaze (Peter Sellers) is an unassuming school teacher in an unassuming small French town, who is honest to a fault. He is fired when he refuses to give a passing grade to a bad student, the grandson of a wealthy baroness. Castel Benac (Herbert Lom), a government official who runs a crooked financial business on the side, is persuaded by his mistress, Suzy (Nadia Gray), a musical comedy actress, to hire Mr. Topaze as the front man for his business. Gradually, Topaze becomes a rapacious financier who sacrifices his honesty for success and, in a final stroke of business bravado, fires Benac and acquires Suzy in the deal. An old friend and colleague, Tamise (Michael Gough) questions him and tells Topaze that what he now says and practices indicates there are no more honest men.

Peter Sellers Herbert Lom Leo McKern Michael Gough John Neville Martita Hunt Nadia Gray Anne Leon Billie Whitelaw Joan Sims John Le Mesurier Pauline Shepherd Thomas Gallagher

Country

Language

English

Alternative Titles

Il piacere della disonestà, Topáz úr, Topaze lär sig leva, Topaze oppii elämään, Topaze, o kobinadoros, I Like Money, A Solidão da Riqueza, 杜巴先生

Genres

Comedy Drama

Theatrical

04 Apr 1961

UK

04 Apr 1961

Theatrical

97 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Zoë 🐝 ★★★½

A strange little movie. In parts it's a comedy-drama, in other parts a morality tale, in other parts a character study. It doesn't all come together, with the pacing probably being the biggest culprit - the inciting incident does not happen until around 50 minutes into a 97 minute movie - but it's nonetheless interesting. Herbert Lom is really fantastic in his supporting role and it was cool to see Lom and Sellers together again in between The Ladykillers and the Pink Panther series. I wish Sellers had tried his hand at directing again (I kinda also don't wish that at the same time because he probably would have hidden his second directorial feature from the public as well like…
Review by Quiller ★★½ 2

Peter Sellers’ only (credited) stab at directing a feature film isn’t the embarrassing failure he reportedly thought it was, but neither is it an overlooked classic, as a few critics want us to believe. It’s based on the same Marcel Pagnol play the pre-Code John Barrymore-Myrna Loy film Topaze is. Sellers plays a poor but honest schoolteacher who’s tricked into fronting a crooked business for corrupt city official Herbert Lom after he’s fired for refusing to change the grade of a rich student. Although naïve, Sellers is a quick study. He learns what’s going on and, after watching Lom handle blackmailer John Le Mesurier, educates himself on the subject of corruption with the help of Lom’s mistress Nadia Gray. Soon,…
Review by Katrina B 🐈 ★★½

Peter Sellers directed this movie, starred in it, became embarrassed by its tepid-to-bad reception upon release, and shortly thereafter bought (nearly) every copy of the movie and DESTROYED IT. This is very relatable to me because I might be just as pleased as punch with a creative effort (or even a conversation!) one day, only to wake up the following morning with instant regret and hatred for my creation! If I made a movie that people didn’t care for, you can bet I’d want to destroy it!! The retro-cringe is so real.
But BFI managed to save a copy and thus Sellers has been foiled. And you know, it’s not terrible, the movie. I laughed a few times, enjoyed the…
Review by Charismatic Megafauna ★★★★

God so some of this is kinda uncomfortable and I can see why Sellers wanted this film destroyed but... It has really pleasing cinematography and design. There's definitely a photographer's eye here. It's... Such a pretty film. I wish Sellers could have leaned into directing as much as he wanted to.
The whole time he just acts all thirsty and definitely wants to get pegged by this other teacher he's so awkward but I love him. His interactions with his friend are... Something else. He also straight up admits hes a 33 year old virgin and ngl its kinda cute.
So much of this film is wild. Like. Balls to the wall unhinged. People weren't ready for this. Especially the…
Review by gaviravioli ★★★

Albert Topaze walked so Jacques Clouseau could run.

Also Tamise is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs.
Review by Paul Petroskey ★★★

Great cast. Amazing to see Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom acting together years before they were in the Pink Panther movies.
Review by Chris ★★★★

In which everyone, audience included, wants to fuck Mr. Topaze until the end.
I get that it’s got its flaws but I genuinely had a fun time watching this one.
Review by Madelyn ★★★

Bearded baby Sellers learns money is bad but fun
Review by johnlease ★★★

This is a peculiar film, which may account for it's obscurity. It starts off as a perfectly charming picture about a French school teacher in the person of Peter Sellers, he does battle with the children and the headmaster, and attempts to woo a female colleague. He is always being reassured by a fellow teacher who also happens to be his downstairs neighbor. Then the picture takes an odd turn in which Sellers becomes embroiled in a business swindle, but rather than making this a dark comedy, it turns farcical, until the very end. A reluctant recommendation on this one.
Review by Tim Leggoe ★★★½

A really interesting choice of directorial debut for Peter Sellers. Pagnol’s play is very witty, although for the most part, Topaze is more a character that interesting things happen to than an interesting character. It’s also great to see the easy and antagonistic chemistry between Sellers and Lom in a non Pink Panther film (albeit one still set in France).
Review by MARTIN BRADLEY ★★★

The only film that Peter Sellers ever directed was this comedy set in the Paris of the not-too-distant past and based on a Marcel Pagnol play that was filmed several times before, though this version, produced and written by Pierre Rouve, is chock full of well-known English character actors pretending they're French. In hindsight, it might feel like a strange choice for Sellers' directorial debut, and sole effort, but at least he's got the plum title role of "Mr. Topaze". a mild-mannered and scrupulously honest school master who loses his job because he won't give a rich man's son a better grade. As it happens, said rich man, (Herbert Lom), is also a crook who then employs Sellers to act…
Review by JasonKruppa ★★

Neither as bad as Sellers portrayed it nor as good as it could have been. The muted color palette of the restoration -- a result of a degraded print, apparently -- works in the film's favor, giving it a weirdly painterly look. Unfortunately, the screenplay completely skips what is potentially the most interesting part of the story (how Mr Topaze is gradually and irrevocably corrupted), making the film essentially a too-long setup with an unsatisfying payoff missing its critical second act. Worth seeing if only to watch Sellers trying something different at a moment in his career where he was still looking to be an actor of substance.

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Mr. Topaze

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Theatrical

04 Apr 1961

Releases by Country

UK

04 Apr 1961

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Mr. Topaze

Synopsis

Cast

Director Director

Producer Producer

Writers Writers

Original Writer Original Writer

Editor Editor

Cinematography Cinematography

Production Design Production Design

Art Direction Art Direction

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Composer Composer

Studio

Country

Language

Alternative Titles

Genres

Theatrical

04 Apr 1961

UK

04 Apr 1961

Popular reviews

Director

Producer

Writers

Original Writer

Editor

Cinematography

Production Design

Art Direction

Set Decoration

Composer