Oldies Movie Review - The Wrong Arm of the Law

Director: Cliff Owen
Genre: Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 1963
Starring: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye, Nanette Newman, Bill Kerr, Ed Devereaux, Reg Lye

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 1: A CLASSIC BLACK-AND-WHITE FILM
           
Description: In London, Australian gangster disguised as Bobbies rob the local criminals, making the panicked British mobsters seek an alliance with Scotland Yard in order to eliminate the foreign competition and return things to “normal”.

Review: I love Peter Sellers. Of course his role as clumsy detective Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” series is iconic, as are his multiple roles in “Dr. Strangelove”. And the underrated movie “The Party” is so hilarious. In “The Wrong Arm of the Law”, Sellers plays a crime boss, who hides behind his salesman image. His team of thieves is currently very unsuccessful, because they themselves are being robbed by a group of criminals who impersonate cops. This causes for a lot of hilarity.

Even though the idea behind this sounds really funny, it never reaches the level of comedy and satire as the aforementioned movies. It has some funny moments, but it’s not as memorable. If it weren’t for Peter Sellers, it wouldn’t stand out.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 94: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Comedy

Runtime: 90 minutes

Year: 1964

Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, Tracey Reed, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Jack Creley, Frank Berry, Robert O’Neil, Glenn Beck, Roy Stephens, Shane Rimmer, Hal Galili

Description: An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

Review: “Dr. Strangelove” is a direct movie, with a fairly simple story and it’s pretty light. It’s also a bit weird, thanks to actor Peter Sellers. It’s a comedy, the only comedy director Stanley Kubrick ever made. The movie wasn’t meant to be a comedy though, but Kubrick thought the satire would give this film more power and he was right.

The humor and the message of the film are stronger because of it. The humor works so well, that the conspiracy theories of general Ripper are extra amusing. But it’s not the kind of humor that will makes you role on the ground of laughter. It’s satire, with drama lurking around the corner. It’s sometimes even disturbing to laugh out loud when our reality isn’t that different. Pure comedy, but the truth is scary.

The movie is carried by its characters. Peter Sellers plays three roles: the American president, English RAF soldier Mandrake and off course title character Dr. Strangelove. That last one is the most memorable, especially in that scene where he is trying to hide his “sieg heil” gesture. Seller improvised a lot of his dialogue, which gave us some hilarious and very memorable scenes.

It’s been on my watch list for way too long, but now that I finally saw it there is only one thing I can say: Watch this film!

Rating: 4,5/ 5