Repeated lines, initially referring simply to his lifelong habit of watching television. In late december 1979, united artists unveiled being there, starring peter sellers. Though illiterate, a bit slow, and obsessed with television, he possesses a unique passion for plants. Hard to believe that this was made over 20 years ago, it is still as funny as ever. I raised that boy since he was the size of a pissant. A simpleminded gardener named chance has spent all his life in the washington d. Chance, who has spent his life working as a rich mans gardener. Peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, jack warden en richard dysart. Peter sellers plays an innocent and illiterate gardener who ends up the most influential man in washington, d. In uttering that line in the 1979 movie being there, chauncey gardiner peter sellers was confessing his addiction to television. A lifetime of comedies behind him, sellers ended his career as an actor and a comic legend with this classic. All actors peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, jack warden, richard dysart, richard basehart.
What started as a fable ends up being a satire and that is precisely where the story becomes tedious and long, at the same time that it. Being there critics consensus smart, sophisticated, and refreshingly subtle, being there soars behind sensitive direction from hal ashby and a stellar peter sellers performance. Upon the death of his employer, a confused chance is cast out into the big world. Being there is a 1979 american comedydrama film directed by hal ashby. Were your movie poster source for new releases and vintage movie posters. Smart, sophisticated, and refreshingly subtle, being there soars behind sensitive direction from hal ashby and a stellar peter sellers performance. Strangelove on nbcs today show interview 1980 duration. Being there movie trailer starring peter sellers and shirley maclaine. What are the interpretations of chance walking on water at. In being there, the character of chauncey gardiner, a. The final scene of being there 1979 has sparked years of discussion. Download premium images you cant get anywhere else.
Ive included it here because i believe that being there is a deeply philosophical film that is misunderstood by film critics, who are not trained in philosophy. Often credited as the greatest comedian of all time, peter sellers was born richard henry sellers to a welloff acting family in 1925 in southsea, a suburb of portsmouth. The following analysis of being there contains major plot spoilers. Being there movie trailer starring peter sellers and shirley. In retrospect, the same could be said of director hal ashby. The filming locations for hal ashbys oscar winning satire are around washington d. For its entire running length, being there successfully holds a delicate combination of two moods, humor and sadness. His parents worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. It begins with a cockamamie notion, its basically one joke told for two hours, and it requires peter sellers to maintain an excruciatingly narrow tone of behavior in a role that has him onscreen almost constantly.
The movies twist ending, whopper that it is, tends to be spoiled. The best movie quotes, movie lines and film phrases by movie quotes. Peter sellers should have taken home the academy award for his role in being there. Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at. Criticus roger ebert schreef in zijn boek 100 great movies dat veel mensen. On the day that kasparov was defeated by deep blue, i found myself thinking of the film being there 1979.
The minute comedy was nominated for two honors at the. In 2015, ben carson, a brain surgeon portraying himself is a candidate for president of the united states of america in being here. The stage play being sellers premiered in australia in 1998, three years after the release of the biography by roger lewis, the life and death of peter sellers. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by jerzy kosinski, it was adapted for the screen by kosinski and the uncredited robert c. The film stars peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, jack warden, richard a. With peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, jack warden. Aimless gardener chance peter sellers fascinated by a washington, d.
The 1979 film is a semiserious comedy starring peter sellers as chance, a tveducated gardener, whose simplemindedness and lack of protocol is mistaken for deep wisdom. Chance peter sellers is a middleaged gardener who lives in the townhouse of a wealthy man in washington d. What is the meaning behind the movie being there 1979. He was the son of agnes doreen peg marks and william bill sellers. Its screenplay was adapted by jerzy kosinski and the uncredited robert c. The film being there has some brilliant acting from multiple people all around. How i learned to stop worrying and love the bomb 1964, and being there 1979. In 2004, the book was turned into an hbo film with the same title, starring geoffrey rush. Buy being there movie posters from movie poster shop. On the day that kasparov was defeated by deep blue, i found myself.
Peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, jack warden, richard dysart. This is reprinted with permission from reflections on being there by stuart fernie. Met peter sellers, shirley maclaine en melvyn douglas. This was his last, and possibly, best out of a string of critical and commercial successes through the 70s. One of peter sellers finest and final roles as an unassuming gardener who is mistaken for a brilliant philosoper. The very best of peter sellers 1 episode 2014 the greats 1 episode. The wideeyed look of being there a stately satire of modern media consumption and american politics, hal ashbys 1979 film being there follows the fortunes of a childlike gardener named chance peter sellers, who becomes an unlikely celebrity of d. Peter sellers list of movies and tv shows tv guide. In the following years, peter sellers acted in some of the best movies of his career. The film stars peter sellers, shirley maclaine, melvyn douglas, richard a. Being there, released 40 years ago, seems weirdly relevant today as the heros traits mirror those of donald trump, peter bart writes.
Peter sellers full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films. Being there is not for all tastesespecially not for those who dont appreciate comedic subtlety. Find highquality peter sellers stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images. The chess champion said there was something about the computer he did not understand, and it frightened him. Chance seems very simpleminded and has lived in the house his entire life, tending the garden, with virtually no contact with the outside world. But as a showcase for the daring genius of peter sellers, this is a classic movie in a category all its own. The play later transferred to new york in december 2010. A number of schools of thought exist on the subject, as is the nature of film. Being there is een amerikaanse dramafilm uit 1979 onder regie van hal ashby. This is just like television, only you can see much further. Hal ashbys being there is a movie that inspires those feelings. Peter sellers looks for a garden in a being there scene. Being there should have been peter sellers last movie, instead, his final credit was the cringe worthy the fiendish plot of dr. Peter sellers in being there 1979 shirley maclaine and peter sellers in being there 1979 peter sellers and melvyn douglas.
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