Dir. Sidney Gilliatt/ Roy Boulting and Jeffrey Dell, UK, 1962/1959, 107 and 90 mins, in English with subtitles
Cast: Peter Sellers, Virginia Maskell, Mai Zetterling, Terry-Thomas, Luciana Paluzzi, Ian Bannen
Review by Colin Dibben
Both Only Two Can Play and Carlton Browne of the F.O. are probably best seen as historical documents, interesting explorations of post-war British social and political mores, but not very funny. Sellers was known for impressive character building on set (as well as being a bit of a cunt) but when the humour is as obvious – without the chortle factor – or obviously non-existent as this one wonders why he bothered.
Only Two Can Play is definitely the more interesting film: a cynical and downbeat look at early 1960s aspirational living in a fictional Welsh city (Swansea, in fact). The film majors in repressed male sexuality of the ‘dirty young man’ variety, leading to affairs, spousal bullying and other delights.
Sellers plays socially and sexually frustrated public librarian John Lewis, who embarks on an affair with glamorous married woman Liz (Zetterling) in an attempt to improve his career prospects. Virginia Maskell plays John’s scorned wife, Jean, and it is to her that your heart pours out, if you have an ounce of self-respect or moral compass.
There are a couple of borderline slapstick episodes in Only Two Can Play, but the film mainly ticks ‘kitchen sink drama’ boxes.
Carlton Browne of the FO is less funny than it used to be. Terry-Thomas plays the title character, an incompetent nepo-baby civil servant who is dispatched by the Foreign Office to clean up the political mess in a fictional former colony.
Sellers plays the scheming and corrupt prime minister of Gaillardia, Amphibulos. If, as the extras suggest, his performance is a good example of Sellers’ character building, it is a pity that he has to pack his work into so few scenes. In those scenes, the comedy is pretty obvious, too – so where is the art? I may be missing something.
There is something a bit dishonest about the comedy here: the laughs are based on Great Britain’s increasing political irrelevance during the Cold War, while downplaying the effect of two centuries of British imperialism on the colonized world.
Even Terry-Thomas starts to grate: his character is too stupid to be engaging in any way, although an early scene in which Carlton-Browne has breakfast with his parents is strangely affecting.
These new editions join part of an expanding collection of 4K restorations of Peter Sellers films. They will also form part of a fantastic new box-set of eight Peter Sellers films which will be available later in 2026.
Extras for Only Two Can Play include:
- Sellers Plays It Straight: Vic Pratt and Peter Lydon on Only Two Can Play
- Behind the Scenes: Only Two Can Play – with Mai Zetterling, Bryan Forbes, Sidney Gilliat, Roy Boulting (archive material from Seller’s Best)
Extras for Carlton-Browne of the F. O. include:
- Diplomacy & Drollery: Peter Lydon and Vic Pratt on Carlton-Browne of the F.O.
- Sellers Begins: From Satire to Stardom – with Roy Boulting, Ian Carmichael, Bryan Forbes and Beryl Reid (archive material from Seller’s Best)
Only Two Can Play and Carlton-Browne of the F.O. are each out on individual Blu-rays and DVDs on 26 January 2026.
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