Tuesday, January 26, 2021

The Ghost of Peter Sellers (Peter Medak, 2020)

A documentary by Peter Medak about the disastrous production of Ghost in the Noonday Sun starring Peter Sellers. Medak directed the movie in 1973. Filmed in Cyprus.

I don't know if it would have been any good no matter what they did, but they started filming before the script was ready and filming on a ship at sea turned out to be a terrible idea. Peter Sellers didn't make it any easier.

I don't know how this failure affected Medak's career. Before Ghost in the Noonday Sun he directed The Ruling Class starring Peter O'Toole and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. After the disaster, he directed more TV than movies. It's apparently been eating away at him for nearly half a century in any case.

Terry Gilliam always makes a documentary about the making of his movies so he can show that it wasn't his fault if it turns into a fiasco. Medak did the same thing here, just 47 years too late.

Available on the Criterion Channel or for rent on Amazon Prime.

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