edwagreen This is essentially the story of a bored librarian, Peter Sellers, really in the throws of the 7 year itch. In walks in the wife of an important person on the library commission. She can get him a promotion providing that he fully cooperates in a love affair. Peter Sellers gives an interesting performance in both a comical and semi-dramatic way. Mai Zetterling is the shrew of a woman.The story is really about how you get somewhere and an ending similar in nature to that of 1960's "The Apartment."The picture is just fair as it becomes quite dull at times. The comedy scenes of Sellers being caught in the act aren't exactly played up in the manner that they could have been.

ShadeGrenade 'Only Two Can Play' is my all-time favourite Peter Sellers picture. As well as being wonderfully funny, it has the added appeal for me of being partly filmed on locations I know well - they are just up the road from where I live! Based on Kingsley Amis' book 'That Uncertain Feeling', it was brought to the screen by writer Bryan Forbes and the formidable producer/director team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. The story goes that Sellers did not want the role of 'John Lewis' as he felt incapable of reproducing a Welsh accent. Kenneth Griffith, one of his co-stars, took him into a Swansea pub and, after listening to the local men for a short while, Peter knew enough to get the accent dead right. As chief librarian in the town of Aberdarcy, Lewis is dissatisfied with his lot in life, and who wouldn't be - his wife Jean ( Virginia Maskell ) is too tired for sex, the kids ( particularly Gwyneth, who has an imaginary friend she calls 'Balk' ) nag him constantly, the plumbing in their lodgings does not work, the landlady is a right old gossip, the bus does not wait for him in the mornings, and so on. He glances lustily at the pretty women who come his way looking for books. He is ripe for a torrid affair, and Liz Gruffydd-Williams ( Mai Zetterling ) the wife of a local big-wig, seems attracted to him, as well as willing to help him secure a better job.Their attempts at love making are amongst the funniest scenes ever put on film, almost Clouseau-like in fact. At one point, they caress each other in a car in a field at night, but their passion dies when a cow peers through the window. When Liz' husband is away, she invites John to her house, but he returns unexpectedly, and John tries to sneak off, only to bump into their pompous butler ( the wonderful John Le Mesurier ). The French accent John uses would later be deployed by Sellers in 'The Pink Panther' ( 1964 ) and its sequels. Sellers gets the Welsh angry young man down to a tee, and the rest of the cast are impressive too, particularly Maskell ( whom Sellers did not get on at all with ) as Jean. Zetterling seems to have spent much of her career playing foreign spies in trench-coats, but here she took it off ( along with everything else! ). Griffith is a riot as John's best friend 'Ieuan', who seems to be dead and does not know it. He too is a bit of a social climber. In one of the best scenes, he plays 'Dai Death' in an amateur stage play, only to accidentally burn down the theatre! Having sat through 'Under Milk Wood' numerous times whilst at school, how marvellous it is to see Dylan Thomas' work parodied as 'Bowen Thomas - Tailor Of Llandilo'. "What a fabulous title!", says John, sarcastically. "Its a wonder nobody's thought of it before. Is it a comedy is it?". Richard Attenborough, who acted with Sellers in 'Private's Progress' and 'I'm Sll Right Jack', gives a nicely judged performance as supercilious Welsh playwright Gareth Probert.There's also Graham Stark as a pervert searching for dirty books in the library, John Arnatt as 'Bill', and Raymond Huntley as Liz' husband 'Vernon'. An uncredited Meg Wynn Owen, Talfryn Thomas and Desmond 'Q' Llewelyn are also around. But its Sellers who makes the film a treat to watch. There are similarities between 'Only Two Can Play' and the kitchen sink drama 'Room At The Top' ( 1959 ) which starred Laurence Harvey as 'Joe Lampton', a frustrated Northern working class provincial hero who has an affair with a foreign temptress ( Simone Signoret ). Like 'Billy Liar' ( 1963 ), you can watch this film on two levels - as a comedy, and as a social document of life in Wales at that time. Nice music by Richard Rodney Bennett too!Funniest moment? There are many, but for me its the sight of John trying to carry Liz into the bedroom and handle two cigarettes at the same time.If you love early '60's British film comedies, you must see 'Only Two Can Play'. It was one of Sellers' last great films, made just before he went to Hollywood and squandered his talents on tenth-rate junk.

MartinHafer While there are some ironic twists here and there, this Peter Sellers film is definitely NOT a comedy. And while it is interesting (particularly at the end), it's a movie that is just OK--not one you should rush out to see.Sellers plays a librarian who is both looking for a promotion and longs for an affair. In many ways, the film is like a Welsh version of THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, as Sellers is a family man who seems to want to cheat on his nice wife more to prove he's "still got it" than any other reason. Throughout the film, he pursues the rather easy to get Liz, the wife of a local big-wig. I was frankly quite turned off by this because it wasn't all that funny and it was really hard to care at all about Sellers--he was behaving like a real jerk.Fortunately, as the movie continues, it fortunately begins to show a bit more depth--with a deeper message other than "horny Sellers wants to get in Liz's knickers". This leads to a dandy climax (no pun intended) which tends to make watching the rest of the film worth while.Overall, if you are looking for a film like DR. STRANGELOVE, THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, THE PINK PANTHER or BEING THERE, then you'll be very disappointed. Without these high expectations, you'll probably have an easier time connecting to the film.

ianlouisiana Mai Zetterling was a member of that very exclusive club - the female actor/director/writer sorority.Her curse - if indeed that it be - was that she possessed great physical beauty as well as intellectual and artistic distinction:and in a society obsessed with physiognomical appearance her other attributes were very often considered to be of secondary importance. It is ironic then,that in "Only two can play",she is cast as by far the strongest and smartest character - Mrs Gruffyd - Williams. Strong,smart and very sexy,she is clever enough to hide the first two and flaunt the third.Mr Peter Sellers as John Lewis the oversexed librarian is in thrall to her from the moment they meet.Imprisoned in a dreary flat and an equally dreary marriage,a victim of his libido,Lewis is desperately seeking a little spice. Rather than a film of the sixties, this is very much a film of the fifties.It negotiates the labyrinthine complexities of post world war two British society skilfully,following the guidelines set down by Kingsley Amis(a determinedly 1950s man) in his novel.Adultery is contemplated,even attempted but never actually committed. Set in Wales,a country that at the time was considered to be even more prudish than middle - England ,the film pokes fun at social and intellectual pretensions as personified by Mr Kenneth Griffith and Sir Richard Attenborough respectively.The social and sexual aspirations of Mr Peter Sellers' character are gently mocked too. It contains a fine portrait of a woman whose life is crumbling round her as she desperately struggles to keep it all together that is worthy of a less light-hearted context.The late Miss Virginia Maskell reminds us with her portrayal of Lewis's wife that adultery may be a game that only two can play,but others are always on the sidelines. Mr Sellers' career went global soon after this,his roles gradually degenerating until they became merely exercises in virtuoso mimicry. I personally found his performances in "Dr Strangelove" detracted from its efficacy,and once he donned the white mac and alpine hat of Inspector Clouseau he never again played a character that was a recognisable human being.The role of John Lewis has a depth and truth he was not to find again,demonstrating the full range of his skills as an actor.It is a matter of regret for me that "Being There" is apparently widely accepted as his best work and "Only two can play " is virtually unknown.In a perfect world the reverse would hold good.