Were you impressed by Seller’s three roles? I thought he was great, especially when you consider that many of his lines, if not most, were improvised. Kubrick was so pleased with the ad libs that he had them transcribed and put into a post-filming version of the script. He also improvised the Nazi salute -- it was not called for in the original script.I really enjoyed his three accents -- the upper-class English, the flat midwestern, and the Austrian (which was supposed to approximate German). He also learned a Texas accent for the role of T.J. Kong, which he was originally supposed to play.
The President role was originally played comically, but Kubrick finally insisted that Sellers play it seriously. I think that was a really good change.
6 comments:
I enjoyed him most as the president. And yes, thank God, he played the role more seriously (quiet, understated humor vs. zaniness that verges on slapstick). It would have been ridiculous to have every single character in the movie be some absurd type.
I liked the president, too. He was the funniest, I think, because of the deadpan, as you're saying. Him on the phone with "Dmitri" was really great.
Holy shit, I didn't even realize at first the president was Sellers.
I agree with you all ... he had to play a straight man to all the absurdity around him in that role.
I know it wasn't important, but it didn't make any sense for him to have a British accent in his role at the Air Force base. Did I miss something?
Mandrake is supposed to be an exchange officer from the British Royal Air Force.
Incidentally, that character was the easiest for Sellers to play, since he was in the RAF during WWII.
Oh! I missed that. Thanks, Ben.
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