THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS

 

There's always been a fascination over terrible films. Whether it's a no-budget turkey with no proficient technical values whatsoever, or a major-budget blockbuster disaster, the stories behind the making of lousy movies are often times more compelling than watching a well-made cinematic story. THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS details a extremely troubled production made in 1973 called GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN, directed by Peter Medak. What makes this documentary different is that instead of an outsider examining the failed film, it's Medak himself who presents what went wrong. (I viewed this film on the Tubi streaming channel.)

In 1972 Peter Medak was receiving international acclaim for having directed the dark social satire THE RULING CLASS. Peter Sellers convinced Medak to direct the actor's next film, a comedy about 17th Century pirates written by Spike Milligan. Medak had concerns about the script, but, needing money, he felt he couldn't turn down the chance to work with two comic legends. The result was a nightmare that Medak had no way of anticipating. 

Filming took place in Cyprus, and the production was immediately beset with one problem after another. The refurbished boat used as the pirate ship kept breaking down, the weather didn't cooperate, and the budget started going up and up. But the worst problem of all was Peter Sellers, who went out of his way to sabotage the production, while exasperating the entire cast & crew--Medak in particular. 

Medak goes over all the various crises in this 2018 documentary, while revisiting the shooting locations, and talking to surviving crew members. Medak also chats with friends and associates of both Sellers and Milligan. 

Medak also does a lot of self-examination here, trying to look back and find out what went wrong, and if he could have handled things differently. Considering all that happened during the making of the film, it's amazing that it even got finished. Medak relates that no matter what, he was determined to see the movie through--if he hadn't, no one would have gotten paid, and he would have been blamed for it all. 

Columbia Pictures felt that the final cut of GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN was so bad that it couldn't be released. (There's plenty of scenes from the film in this documentary, and it truly is a mess.) It didn't totally ruin Medak's career--he went on to direct several major films and episodes of numerous TV series--but what happened during the making of it affected him for the rest of his life, so much so that he made this documentary to try and get some closure on the experience. 

There's plenty of gossipy stories in THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS, especially concerning Sellers himself. But there's more here than just tabloid fodder. An undercurrent of sadness runs throughout. The Hungarian-born Medak (whose family suffered at the hands of both the Nazis and the Soviets) couldn't just file away what happened on GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN as simply a bad experience. Medak passionately explains that any creative individual puts their heart and soul behind any project--no one sets out to make a lousy picture. THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS isn't so much about a bad movie as it is about an artist trying to come to terms with his past. 

After viewing THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS, I came to the conclusion that Peter Mendak couldn't have done anything to change the train-wreck that was GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN--especially when the film revolved around someone as highly talented and highly dysfunctional as Peter Sellers. This is an intriguing, if at times depressing, documentary.