The Battle of the Sexes

In order to get her out of their hair, her US employers send powerful businesswoman out to Scotland on some vague mission to investigate export potential. On the way she meets businessman Robert MacPherson who asks for her help to improve the efficiency of his late father's company. The mere suggestion that a woman would be brought into the male dominated company causes panic within the stuffy departments of the company – especially since the sole woman employee only makes tea for the men. Things only get worse when she starts updating the company, suggesting centralised tweed production in a factory, changing filing systems and carrying out time & motion studies. Happily employee Mr Martin is on hand to try and outwit her modernising ways.

In this comedy the plot could easily just involve a man coming into a company because the battle is less one of male versus female and more a matter of old school versus new school where, much I'm Alright Jack, Sellers leads the defence against such action. Looking at it this way the film is much more interesting because it keeps it relevant (nobody likes change) whereas the idea of working for a female boss is no longer the crazy modern idea that it may have once been. The film uses this story reasonably well and produced a few chuckles from me while managing to maintain a consistent amusing tone. The lack of really sharp jokes or big laughs is a bit of a problem though, and it would have been better if the commentary had been sharper and some of the comic sequences had had more laughs but the overall tone is quite nice.

The main reason it is quite funny is the subtle playing of Sellers who is gently amusing and sets the tone well for the material; perhaps not one of his most famous creations but he is enjoyable nonetheless. He is well supported by Morley, who plays the blundering boss with enthusiasm and adds to the comedy. Cummings is quite good and brings out well the manipulative nature of some women – turning on femininity and tears when it suits them; she does this well without being cruel to her sex I thought. The support is mainly good and includes a brief appearance from Donald Pleasence but really the film belongs to Sellers in his quiet role along with Morley and Cummings.

Overall this is not a great film mainly because it lacks a sharp intelligent edge that it could have had and not replacing that with enough broad laughs to do the job. The cast really help and the material is good enough to be roundly amusing and it is worth a look because it is a pleasing little film even if it isn't anything that special or memorable.

Peter Sellers could do just about anything and this film helped to prove that fact. With some white hair, a moustache, and spectacles, you thoroughly believe his transformation into Mr. Martin, a character at least twenty-five years older than the actor was at the time.

Although the title sounds like a sex romp, that's not the right description of this clever comedy with a somewhat dark theme. But BATTLE OF THE SEXES is about a power struggle between a man and woman. Martin is the faithful manager at the House of MacPherson, a Scottish firm that's been turning out tweed the same way for decades. When the new heir (Robert Morley) takes over, he brings in a domineering efficiency expert (Constance Cummings), an American no less, whose ideas threaten to ruin the company.

Martin is forced to act. While he seems like a quiet and unassuming sort, he actually has a lot of guile and cunning beneath his mild-mannered exterior. First he tries to get her fired, but when that doesn't work he decides that more drastic measures are called for - like murder. Martin comes up with what he believes is the perfect plan, and all he has to do is carry it out.

Do yourself a favor and watch it all unfold. Entertaining from start to finish, hilarious in several places, with a good supporting cast, and a plot that has a couple of surprises in store. Sellers proves yet again that he's a true comic genius. Three cheers for that, and four stars out of five for the film.

A delicious mix of dry comments, cultural clashes and devious expressions. Sellers is excellent as the mouse-like Mr Martin shocked to the core by the brash Miss Barrows and driven by his devotion to the family to protect tradition at all costs ! The bumbling uncertainty of the head of the Tweed empire could only be achieved by Morley whose portly figure towers over his frail employees as they await his next disastrous decision. Great examples of new not always being better (or not allowed to be !) form the key of the battle until the final hilarious showdown between the American and Scottish way of thinking. Every second is a film treat - should be on everyone's shelves !

Mr. Martin is a clerk at a Scottish Tweed weaving company.Then one day a creature called woman starts talking about all these changes they should make in the company.He has a little problem with that.The Battle of the Sexes (1959) is directed by Charles Crichton.It's based on the short story The Catbird Seat by the great humorist James Thurber from 1942.Peter Sellers is quite excellent as Mr. Martin.He obviously wasn't an old man when he did this film, but he certainly seems that way.He's nailed the gestures and all perfectly.Robert Morley is terrific as Robert Macpherson.Constance Cummings does brilliant work as Angela Barrows.Donald Pleasence is great as Irwin Hoffman.This is a pretty funny comedy, although it's not the best Peter Sellers starred in.The funniest sequence must be when he goes out to kill the lady.For Peter Sellers fans this is one not to be missed.

...as the quiet, devoted worker at the House of McPherson, a Scottish firm that's made tweed the same way forever. All that may change when the owner dies, and his son Robert Morley, returns from the US to run things, bringing with him Constance Cummings, an accomplished consultant. Morley is enamored of Cummings, and relishes all the changes she suggests (radical things like a real filing system, or opening the windows..) but when she suggests that the hand woven fabric can be factory-made more efficiently, mild mannered Sellers tries to sabotage her work, and then realizes the only solution is to be rid of her - permanently.

His murder attempt is perfectly timed comedy, and Sellers at his best. Expect sexism throughout this, based on a James Thurber story and it was 1960 after alll. Films of the 50's and early 60's often strike me as cringe-worthy when it comes to portrayal of women during that bridge period in film history when women are still not liberated but are now treated as overt sex objects. Overall, this is all about Sellers, but Cummings and Morley are in top form as well. There are clever well written characters with a slight eye-roll ending, but still recommended.