Kurt at 21:33, 12 April 2023

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	\| image = The Battle of the Sexes (1959 film).jpg		\| image = The Battle of the Sexes (1959 film).jpg
	~~\| image_size =~~
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster
	\| director = [[Charles Crichton]]		\| director = [[Charles Crichton]]

Kurt at 15:46, 4 April 2023

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Kurt at 13:10, 27 March 2023

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	~~{{Short description\|1959 film}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=April 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = The Battle of the Sexes		\| name = The Battle of the Sexes
	\| image = ~~"The_Battle_of_the_Sexes"_~~(~~1959_film~~).jpg		\| image = The Battle of the Sexes (1959 film).jpg
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster
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	* {{IMDb title\|id=0052607\|title=The Battle of the Sexes}}		* {{IMDb title\|id=0052607\|title=The Battle of the Sexes}}
	* {{rotten-tomatoes\|1001811-battle_of_the_sexes}}		* {{rotten-tomatoes\|1001811-battle_of_the_sexes}}

	~~{{Charles Crichton}}~~
	~~{{Authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of the Sexes, The}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of the Sexes, The}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-03-24T18:19:43Z

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en>Britfilm: /* Production */ add info

2023-03-17T04:47:20Z

Production: add info

New page

{{Short description|1959 film}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Battle of the Sexes
| image = "The_Battle_of_the_Sexes"_(1959_film).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Charles Crichton]]
| writer = [[Monja Danischewsky]]
| based_on = ''[[The Catbird Seat]]''<br>by [[James Thurber]]
| producer = Monja Danischewsky
| starring = [[Peter Sellers]]<br/>[[Robert Morley]]<br/>[[Constance Cummings]]
| narrator = [[Sam Wanamaker]]
| cinematography = [[Freddie Francis]]
| editing = [[Seth Holt]]
| music = [[Stanley Black]]
| studio = Prometheus Film Productions Ltd.
| distributor = [[Bryanston Films (UK)|Bryanston Films]]
| released = {{film date|1960|2|25|df=y}} (UK){{film date|1960|4|18|df=y}} (US)
| runtime = 80 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = £133,060<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/114988/1/Bryanston_Films_An_Experiment_in_Cooperative_Independent_Film_Production_and_Distribution.pdf|last=Petrie|first= Duncan James |year=2017|title= Bryanston Films : An Experiment in Cooperative Independent Production and Distribution|journal= Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television| issn= 1465-3451|page=7 }}</ref>
}}
'''''The Battle of the Sexes''''' is a 1959 British black and white [[comedy film]] starring [[Peter Sellers]], [[Robert Morley]], and [[Constance Cummings]], and directed by [[Charles Crichton]]. Based on the short story "[[The Catbird Seat]]" by [[James Thurber]],<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |author=Weiler, A.H. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 April 1960 |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9501EED8143DE333A2575AC1A9629C946191D6CF |title=Screen: Thurber Tale: Battle of the Sexes' Is British Import}}</ref> it was adapted by [[Monja Danischewsky]]. A timid accountant in a Scottish Tweed weaving company cleverly bests a brash modern American efficiency expert whose ideas threaten his way of life.

==Plot==
Martin, the accountant for a Scottish Tweed weaving company, is in [[Edinburgh]] buying whisky and cigarettes on the [[Royal Mile]]. Martin is called to the death-bed of the owner, old MacPherson, at Moray Place. MacPherson offers him a whisky but Martin declines, so MacPherson drinks the two and promptly dies.

The new owner of the Tweed company, the young MacPherson, is enamoured of a zealous American woman who is an efficiency expert and who wants to turn her hand to revolutionise the very traditional company. She insists on visiting "the factory" on the [[Hebrides]] islands, only to discover the task is done by old couples, on crofts where they spin the wool. She plans to replace the 700 weavers, dotted across the islands, with a single large factory. Whilst being driven through the city, she also says the company should change to synthetic fibres, causing the chauffeur to drive into the back of a brewer's dray.

Martin watches a [[Sherlock Holmes]] film at the cinema and is inspired to kill Mrs Barrows. As he is a non-smoker and a non-drinker, he decides he can mislead any future investigation by smoking and drinking at the scene of the planned crime. He buys a half-bottle of whisky and a packet of cigarettes. However, in her flat, after a series of botched attempts, his conscience gets the better of him and he cannot kill her. He tries to remove all evidence when MacPherson appears suddenly, and manages to avoid detection. Back in the office, MacPherson interrogates Martin and finds his denial more plausible than Mrs Barrows' claims. She cannot take any more, accusing them all of being mad, and she leaves for good. Thus, Mr. Martin wins his "battle of the sexes". Later, seeing her crying at the station, he is moved to buy her a flower.

==Cast==
* [[Peter Sellers]] as Mr. Martin
* [[Robert Morley]] as Robert MacPherson
* [[Constance Cummings]] as Angela Barrows
* [[Jameson Clark]] as Andrew Darling
* [[Ernest Thesiger]] as Old Macpherson
* [[Donald Pleasence]] as Irwin Hoffman
* [[Moultrie Kelsall]] as Graham
* [[Alex Mackenzie]] as Robertson
* [[Roddy McMillan]] as Macleod
* [[Michael Goodliffe]] as Detective (on film in cinema)
* [[Noel Howlett]] as Mr. White
* Abe Barker as Mr Meekie
* [[William Mervyn]] as Detective's friend (on film in cinema)
* [[Patricia Hayes]] as Jeannie Macdougall
* [[Fred Griffiths (actor)|Fred Griffiths]] as railway porter
* [[Glyn Houston]] as railway porter

==Production==
Film rights to the story were owned by [[Hecht Hill Lancaster]]. [[Billy Wilder]] was signed to direct.<ref>Notes From Coast
Special to The New York Times. 4 June 1957: 38.</ref> Then Charles Crichton was brought out from London to direct the film but it didn't proceed. Eventually they sold the rights.

It was the first film made by the newly-formed Bryanston Films, who approved it on 13 May 1959.<ref>Petrie p 5</ref> Crichton liked the script, felt Robert Morley was "slightly miscast... but I think it was about the best performance Peter Sellars ever gave in his life."<ref>{{cite web|title=Charles Crichton Interview|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/default/files/HP0072%20Charles%20Crichton%20-%20Transcript.pdf|date=14 December 1988|website=British Entertainment History Project|page=23}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box Office===
The film was a minor box office hit earning Bryanston a profit of £10,894.<ref>Petrie p 8</ref> ''Kine Weekly'' called it a "money maker" at the British box office.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1960-12-15_523_2776/page/n7/mode/1up|last=Billings|first=Josh|magazine=Kine Weekly|date=15 December 1960|page=9|title=It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes}}</ref>

===Critical===
On its 1960 release, the film was very warmly reviewed by ''[[The New York Times]]'', with critic [[A. H. Weiler]] calling it a "gentle, tongue-in-cheek ribbing that cleaves to the spirit, if not entirely to the letter of Thurber's lampoon."<ref name="nyt"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0052607|title=The Battle of the Sexes}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|1001811-battle_of_the_sexes}}

{{Charles Crichton}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of the Sexes, The}}
[[Category:1959 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:1959 comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charles Crichton]]
[[Category:Films set in Scotland]]
[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Films based on works by James Thurber]]
[[Category:Films shot in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

The Battle of the Sexes (1959 film) - Revision history

Kurt at 21:33, 12 April 2023

Kurt at 15:46, 4 April 2023

Kurt at 13:10, 27 March 2023

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en>Britfilm: /* Production */ add info