Only Two Can Play (1962)

Why so much hype?

Powerful

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

From Kingsley Amis, through Brian Forbes, to Sidney Gilliat, this amusing tale of Peter Sellers as a librarian in a small Welsh town, who can win the competitive promotion to Chief Minister of Local Librarianship with the help of Mai Zetterling, the wife of the local power broker, can't help but hold the viewer's interest. Sellers is happily married to Virginia Maskell and has two lovely kiddies at home but he's vaguely discontent and, besides, Zetterling has the hots for him and looks just swell in the nude, as we see in a brief shot.Zetterling keeps coming on to him and they keep getting interrupted at awkward moments. But there's no question about it. All Sellers has to do is continue to make himself available and sooner or later the dirty deed will happen. Zetterling has done it before. She has a dejected former lover following her around, waiting despondently for orders like hold this doggie, get me my usual drink, and baby sit for the man I now want to seduce.This is 1962, sort of on the cusp. Sellers hasn't quite got the character down. He uses his familiar mannerisms and interjections -- "Yes, well, you see --" and "My darling." Except for one slapstick episode involving the early return of Zetterling's husband, he plays the role as blasé, a little anxious about everything but not quite anxious enough about any particular thing, like the possibility of promotion. Sometimes his speech sounds a little Welsh. And there are a few moments when the hint of a Hindi accent appears, which he was later to put to good use in "The Party" and the baccarat scene in "Casino Royale." The director has given Sellers his head in some scenes and he's as good as ever at improvisation.Zetterling is suitably provocative. Virginia Maskell, as Seller's wife, is industrious, sensible, and a stunning combination of sensuality and domesticity. Richard Attenborough has a hilarious stint as a celebrated local poet who is busy translating Kafka into Welsh and who has written a play in the bardic tradition with an unpronounceable Welsh title. Kenneth Griffith is diverting as the neural shambles who vomits when he's upset.The chief problem with the film could hardly have been avoided. It reflects the traditional values of the 1950s and unless we can accept that, it's liable to seem dated. Sellers could be Doris Day and Zetterling could be Rock Hudson. The ending is concordant with those values, with Sellers turning down the sneakily-gotten promotion and Zetterling's body because he doesn't want to be used. Hardly acceptable in today's ethical climate in which sleeping one's way to the top is no longer despicable but more or less taken for granted.If it's not a great comedy, it's a good one, and uses the customary elements of the British comedies of the 1950s -- black and white, small budget, fine cast.

"Only Two Can Play" is a slice of life comedy made in 1962. Based on a novel by Kingsley Amis, it concerns an assistant librarian, John Lewis (Peter Sellars) who has a chance at a better position and a raise, contingent upon him sleeping with the council chairman's wife (Mai Zetterling). He has a beautiful if exhausted wife at home (Virginia Maskell) and children, and the confines of his home are a little tight and chaotic. Lewis attempts to make a go of the affair, with humor and poignancy as the result.This is a very well acted film, and a very satisfying one. Sellars wasn't a huge star yet, but all the elements are there. Mai Zetterling, primarily remembered today as a director, was a marvelous actress and very sexy. In her book, "All Those Tomorrows" she describes her experiences living with Tyrone Power and being madly in love with him for several years. That was some life she had. This was the last film Virginia Maskell would make for a time - she married after this movie and did very little until 1967. Sellars tried to get her replaced in the film, but the director refused. It seems odd, because she was very good. After the birth of a child in 1967, she became acutely depressed and ultimately overdosed on antidepressants. A sad end for a fine actress. The rest of the cast is excellent as well.A very good film, well worth seeing.

Mai Zetterling was a member of that very exclusive club - the female actor/director/writer sorority.Her curse - if indeed that it be - was that she possessed great physical beauty as well as intellectual and artistic distinction:and in a society obsessed with physiognomical appearance her other attributes were very often considered to be of secondary importance. It is ironic then,that in "Only two can play",she is cast as by far the strongest and smartest character - Mrs Gruffyd - Williams. Strong,smart and very sexy,she is clever enough to hide the first two and flaunt the third.Mr Peter Sellers as John Lewis the oversexed librarian is in thrall to her from the moment they meet.Imprisoned in a dreary flat and an equally dreary marriage,a victim of his libido,Lewis is desperately seeking a little spice. Rather than a film of the sixties, this is very much a film of the fifties.It negotiates the labyrinthine complexities of post world war two British society skilfully,following the guidelines set down by Kingsley Amis(a determinedly 1950s man) in his novel.Adultery is contemplated,even attempted but never actually committed. Set in Wales,a country that at the time was considered to be even more prudish than middle - England ,the film pokes fun at social and intellectual pretensions as personified by Mr Kenneth Griffith and Sir Richard Attenborough respectively.The social and sexual aspirations of Mr Peter Sellers' character are gently mocked too. It contains a fine portrait of a woman whose life is crumbling round her as she desperately struggles to keep it all together that is worthy of a less light-hearted context.The late Miss Virginia Maskell reminds us with her portrayal of Lewis's wife that adultery may be a game that only two can play,but others are always on the sidelines. Mr Sellers' career went global soon after this,his roles gradually degenerating until they became merely exercises in virtuoso mimicry. I personally found his performances in "Dr Strangelove" detracted from its efficacy,and once he donned the white mac and alpine hat of Inspector Clouseau he never again played a character that was a recognisable human being.The role of John Lewis has a depth and truth he was not to find again,demonstrating the full range of his skills as an actor.It is a matter of regret for me that "Being There" is apparently widely accepted as his best work and "Only two can play " is virtually unknown.In a perfect world the reverse would hold good.

'Only Two Can Play' varies uncertainly between sex farce and comedy of manners, but it's an excellent film which gives Peter Sellers a better chance than usual to create a three-dimensional character, rather than relying on putty noses and showy accents. Talking of which: This film takes place in South Wales, and I was distressed by the pushmi-pullyu accents of several of the main characters. Sellers, Virginia Maskell and Richard Attenborough all have a go at doing Anglo-Welsh accents, but none of them manage to be consistent. The authentic Welsh Valleys accent of the excellent character actor Kenneth Griffith (as Sellers's workmate) only emphasises the other actors' dodgy accents. Mai Zetterling's Swedish accent hovers incongruously above the proceedings. (The dialogue establishes her as a war refugee.) Also, the unbilled child actress who plays Sellers's daughter Gwyneth has a very strong North Wales accent, which contrasts rather jarringly with the voices all round her. Refreshingly, this child actress gives an excellent performance.Rather delightfully, 'Only Two Can Play' was actually filmed in South Wales, and it did my heart good to see the graceful hills and row houses of this region as it looked in the early 1960s. This film is full of tiny pleasures, celebrating the British way of life in this post-war period. Little details like the bag of salt inside the packet of crisps, a dialogue reference to conkers (a game which English schoolboys play with chestnuts), or a glimpse of a 1960s page-three girl well and truly pleased me. Even the toilet with the flush-chain next to the washbasin (something which I remember all too painfully) brought back a nostalgic smile to me, now that I no longer have to face this horror in my daily reality. Also, the dialogue includes some delightful figures of speech which are authentic to the period but which are no longer heard in modern Britain ... such as when Sellers nervously admits he has "a case of the screaming ab-dabs".'Only Two Can Play' has a very coherent and believable plot, which is no surprise as this film is based on a novel by Kingsley Amis. Sellers plays John Lewis, an assistant librarian who has a chance for a promotion (and a much-needed rise in wages) if he has an affair with Liz Gruffydds-Williams (played by the very sexy Mai Zetterling), the wife of the local council chairman. Lewis and his wife Jean (the beautiful Virginia Maskell) live in a walk-up flat, sharing a bathroom with all the other tenants. When Jean learns that her husband is cheating on her (or at least trying very hard to do so), Virginia Maskell's reaction is very believable and touching. Full disclosure: I briefly worked with Miss Maskell a few years after she made this film; she was a profoundly talented actress but extremely insecure with it. Her ultimate plunge into depression and suicide was a great tragedy.A fine contingent of British supporting actors are here, including John Le Mesurier ... who seems to have got a look-in during every important English comedy film of this period. Graham Stark, whom I usually find very funny, does an oddly unpleasant turn here as some sort of ill-defined pervert whose precise kink is never established. Raymond Huntley (as the councillor) and Meredith Edwards have too little to do. Richard Attenborough gives an excellent performance as a poncy intellectual, looking like a cross between George Orwell's "fruit juice-drinking, sandal-wearing" pseud and Rolf Harris. When Sellers refers to Attenborough as 'the Catcher in the Rye' I nearly died laughing.This film is not (and doesn't try to be) one of Peter Sellers's slapstick-fests: instead, it's a character study which gives Sellers a chance to show off his **acting** talents rather than his powers of mimicry.SLIGHT SPOILERS: American audiences won't get all the references here. After Sellers breaks off his affair with Zetterling, she acquires a very servile boyfriend whom Sellers suggests she should bring to Cruft's: this is an annual London dog show. The very last shot in the film contains a sight gag which is funny and poignant both at the same go. To strengthen his marriage, Sellers chucks his library job and operates a travelling library (a bookmobile) so that he and his wife can drive through the Welsh countryside together, bringing books to villagers. As they drive down the road, we see a large letter "L" affixed to the rear mudguard of their van. British viewers will recognise this as a learner's plate, which student drivers are required to display. Viewed symbolically, it's a sweetly funny joke: librarian Sellers is still learning his way on the road of life, but now he and his wife are taking that journey together.I'll rate 'Only Two Can Play' 9 out of 10, with only a few examples of bad shot-matching to deprive this movie of a perfect 10. This movie is an excellent change of pace for Peter Sellers.