Peter Sellers centenary Blu-rays announced
- More Peter Sellers films are being released on Blu-ray ahead of the late actor's 100th birthday in September
- Two Way Stretch and Heavens Above! have been restored in HD for their debuts in August
- A box set of his work has also been teased, for release in November
Two new Blu-rays of classic Peter Sellers comedies are being released, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the star's birth.
Two Way Stretch (1960) and Heavens Above! (1963) have been remastered and restored, and will be issued on 4th August on Blu-ray, making their high definition debut in the UK.
The films come from archive owner STUDIOCANAL's Vintage Classics series and are available to pre-order now.
Each comes ahead of Sellers' 100th birthday on 8th September. The releases also coincide with In Character: The Films Of Peter Sellers , a season of screenings of some of his acclaimed film work, at London's BFI Southbank between 2nd and 30th August. Both titles will be shown during the run, plus others including Only Two Can Play, The Wrong Arm Of The Law and The Smallest Show On Earth.
A Peter Sellers box set featuring "many of these titles and more" will be released in November. Further details are expected to be announced nearer his birth date.
Two Way Stretch (above) is a lauded crime caper in which convict and criminal mastermind Dodger Lane (Sellers) decides to commit the ultimate crime with the ultimate alibi. Along with a misfit crew of fellow inmates he plans to escape from prison, steal a priceless cache of diamonds and then return to his cell before anyone notices.
Liz Fraser, Lionel Jeffries and Bernard Cribbins are amongst those completing the cast.
In Heavens Above!, Sellers reunites with I'm All Right Jack co-star Ian Carmichael and others.
John Smallwood is an idealistic Reverend who finds himself appointed to the parish of an upper-class village by mistake. With a bad habit of telling the truth at all times, Smallwood makes several clerical decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners.
A satire "way ahead of its time" and inspired by an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge, the Boulting Brothers film also features Eric Sykes, Irene Handl, William Hartnell and Joan Hickson.
Each film is presented in its original aspect ratio, with English subtitles and a smattering of both new and old extra features, including photo galleries, a making-of documentary, commentaries, and interviews with the film-makers, Sellers's colleagues, fans and experts.
STUDIOCANAL note: "A chameleon of the silver screen, Peter Sellers was one of the most versatile and unique comic actors of his generation. A master in mimicry and improvisation, he is best known for his expertly choreographed and exaggerated portrayal of the clumsy yet absurdly self-confident French Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther series (1963 - 1978). His slapstick genius was likened to that of Charlie Chaplin, who he openly acknowledged as a major influence and source of inspiration.
"After an early start in radio, Sellers's career in film catapulted in the 1950s, notably appearing alongside Sir Alec Guinness in the Ealing Studios black comedy The Ladykillers (1955), directed by Alexander Mackendrick, and in John Boulting's I'm All Right Jack (1959), which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best British Actor."
Heavens Above!
The inimitable Peter Sellers stars as John Smallwood, an idealistic Reverend appointed to the parish of an upper-class village by mistake. With a bad habit of telling the truth at all times, Smallwood makes several clerical decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners.
Inspired by an idea by British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge, the Boulting Brothers' Heavens Above! was considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption on its 1963 release. Way ahead of its time, the film, featuring Sellers at his most iconoclastic, has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. A superb supporting cast includes Eric Sykes, Irene Handl, William Hartnell and Joan Hickson.
First released: Monday 4th August 2025
Blu-ray New- Distributor: STUDIOCANAL
- Region: B
- Discs: 1
- Minutes: 118
- Subtitles: English
- Catalogue: OPTBD4648
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.
Two-Way Stretch
Starring the finest comic actor of his generation Peter Sellers (The Pink Panther), Two-Way Stretch is one of the funniest comedy crime capers of 1960s British cinema. Also starring a supporting cast of comedy legends including Lionel Jeffries (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Bernard Cribbins (Crooks In Cloisters).
Constantly taking advantage of the prison governor's liberal methods towards authority, convict and criminal mastermind Dodger Lane (Sellers) decides to commit the ultimate crime with the ultimate alibi. Along with a misfit crew of fellow inmates he plans to escape from prison, steal a priceless cache of diamonds and then return to his cell before anyone notices. Who said genius was easy?
First released: Monday 4th August 2025
Blu-ray New- Distributor: STUDIOCANAL
- Region: B
- Discs: 1
- Minutes: 87
- Subtitles: English
- Catalogue: OPTBD4623
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.