Peter Sellers' 10 Best Movies, Ranked

Peter Sellers was one of the greatest comedic actors of all time, and his best movies are still just as hilarious now as they always have been.

• Peter Sellers was a comedic genius who could steal scenes and make audiences laugh in both minor and leading roles.
•  He had an impressive range as an actor, being able to play both the straight man and the funny man in comedies, and his versatility was showcased in movies like "The Mouse That Roared" and "Lolita."
•  While some of his movies have aged poorly and faced controversies, Sellers' comedic talent and his best movies, like "The Pink Panther" and "Dr. Strangelove," continue to be just as funny now as they were decades ago.

Peter Sellers is one of the greatest comedic actors in the history of cinema, and his legacy includes some unforgettably hilarious movies. His most famous character is the clueless French detective Jacques Clouseau, who appeared in the Pink Panther series of movies, but he had plenty of other great roles in his career. Sellers could steal scenes in minor, relatively unimportant roles, but he soon became a leading man, whose name was enough to attract comedy fans to a movie. Inspector Clouseau is a gauche fool, but Sellers has several ways to make audiences laugh.

As well as mastering subtle physical comedy, Sellers was also famous for his deadpan delivery. Not many actors can play either the straight man or the funny man in a comedy dynamic, but Sellers had that kind of impressive range. He can be absurd, like in The Party, or he can be stoic, like in Being There. Sellers can do anything for a laugh, but many of his best comedies also have a powerful message behind them. Sellers' career was not without its controversies, and some of his movies have aged terribly. But he was still a remarkable comedic talent, and some of his best movies are just as funny now as they were 50 or 60 years ago when they were first made.

10 PHOTOS

10. The Party (1968)

Peter Sellers plays Hrundi V. Bakshi

The Party is a farcical romp about an incompetent actor who accidentally gets put on an exclusive Hollywood guest list, instead of a studio's list of actors to never hire again. His presence at the high-society function causes chaos, as he unwittingly destroys a painting, removes a guest's wig, and sends a crowd of people tumbling into a pool. Unfortunately, the elephant in the room is Sellers' regrettable use of brownface to portray an Indian character. The strange part is that Bakshi's Indian heritage is not particularly important to the plot, and the movie would function the same if Sellers had played a white character instead.

9. Murder By Death (1976)

Peter Sellers plays Inspector Sidney Wang

Just like The Party, Murder by Death is hampered by Sellers' misjudged portrayal of an Asian character. This time, he plays Inspector Sidney Wang, a Chinese detective invited to a mysterious dinner alongside four other great sleuths. Their host promises to put their skills to the test and challenges them to solve a murder that will happen that very night. Murder by Death features a great ensemble cast spoofing the detective genre and some of its most famous characters. Without Peter Sellers' offensive stereotypical Asian character, it could easily have sat alongside Clue and Knives Out as a classic comedy mystery.

8. The Pink Panther (1963)

Peter Sellers plays Inspector Jacques Clouseau

Clouseau is merely the bumbling detective, but Sellers made this lesser character into the undisputed star of the show.

The first movie to feature Peter Sellers' most iconic character isn't really about Jacques Clouseau. The story follows David Niven an English aristocrat who leads a secret life as an international jewel thief known as "the Phantom". Clouseau is merely the bumbling detective, but Sellers made this lesser character into the undisputed star of the show. The Pink Panther also benefits from a sumptuous score by Henry Mancini and a delightful title sequence that acts as a charming relic of a bygone era of Hollywood movies. The Pink Panther is an underrated comedy movie, but the legacy of its dim-witted detective lives on.

7. The Mouse That Roared (1959)

Peter Sellers plays Count Ruper Mountjoy, Tully Bascombe, and Duchess Gloriana XII

Sellers gets a chance to show off his impressive comedic versatility in The Mouse That Roared, as he plays three different characters. The Mouse That Roared features the fictional tiny European nation of Grand Fenwick, who wage war on the USA for financial gain. Sellers is the nation's Prime Minister, top military leader, and Duchess. Sellers play the role of Duchess Gloriana with the over-the-top swagger of a traditional British pantomime Dame. Everything about Grand Fenwick is outdated, as evidenced by their medieval-style knights invading New York City with bows and arrows. The Mouse That Roared is comically absurd, but its anti-war message cuts through.

6. Lolita (1962)

Peter Sellers plays Clare Quilty

Although Lolita isn't often considered to be one of director Stanley Kubrick's best movies, there's plenty to like about his darkly comic adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel. Lolita shows a rarely-seen depth to Peter Sellers' acting talents. Of course, all great comedic actors must be great actors first and foremost, but this often goes unnoticed in some of Sellers' more madcap performances. In Lolita, he disappears into the role of a conniving stalker, who reappears under different guises throughout the story. His performance shows that Sellers also had the ability of a brilliant character actor, not just a comedic star.

5. A Shot In The Dark (1964)

Peter Sellers plays Inspector Jacques Clouseau

The second movie in the Pink Panther series sees the spotlight thrown onto Sellers for the first time, and he more than lives up to it. This time, Inspector Clouseau investigates the murder of a millionaire's chauffeur, but soon, more and more people in the household start to die. The movie wasn't originally meant to include Clouseau, and A Shot in the Dark's behind-the-scenes story offers a fascinating account of how Sellers and the studio turned a minor character into a comedy icon. Cato's introduction and Sellers' increasingly ludicrous accent both helped, as did the hilarious billiards scene, where Clouseau tries to keep his cool while interrogating his prime suspect.

4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Peter Sellers plays Inspetor Jacques Clouseau

Peter Sellers decided not to reprise his role as the inept French detective for 1968's Inspector Clouseau, but he later returned for three more movies. The Pink Panther Strikes Again sees Charles Dreyfus' obsessive hatred of Clouseau reach new heights, and he concocts a plan to kill him by any means necessary. The plot spirals into a deadly game of international espionage, with Clouseau fumbling his way through the middle. It's gloriously absurd, escalating the stakes to comic heights as a way of mocking long-running franchises that run out of ideas. But The Pink Panther Strikes Again is not just a parody. It also features some of Clouseau's best quotes.

3. The Ladykillers (1955)

Peter Sellers plays Harry Robinson

Peter Sellers was yet to establish himself as a leading man in 1955, but he contributed to an outstanding ensemble cast in The Ladykillers. In one of Alec Guinness' best movies, Sellers plays a supporting role in a gang of criminals who deceive an elderly lady into believing they are merely a string quintet. It's a classic crime caper, with the thieves slipping up at every opportunity and double-crossing each other relentlessly. But unlike many heist movies, the gang in The Ladykillers is truly despicable, and their total capitulation is a joy to witness. Sellers has a small role, but the movie wouldn't be the same without him.

2. Being There (1979)

Peter Sellers plays Chance

Sellers' deadpan delivery is perfectly ambiguous for the role, as he can be perceived as either stoic or empty-headed.

Peter Sellers is pitch perfect in Being There, a dramedy about a simple-minded gardener, Chance, who becomes an influential player in national politics. Being There is one of Sellers' last movies before his untimely death in 1980, but it bolstered his incredible legacy. Chance's ignorance is mistaken for deep wisdom by the Washington insiders, and Sellers' deadpan delivery is perfectly ambiguous for the role, as he can be perceived as either stoic or empty-headed. Being There's surreal ending casts the entire movie in a new light. Luckily, the performances of Sellers and Melvyn Douglas make rewatching Being There a pleasure.

1. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Peter Sellers plays Merkin Muffley, Lionel Mandrake and Dr. Strangelove

In Dr. Strangelove, Peter Sellers makes a strong case for the best comedic performance of all time. He plays not one but three hilarious characters, each representing a different nation in a Cold War nuclear standoff. Kubrick's timeless political satire still holds up today, despite now being decades divorced from its original context. Sellers can lampoon the foibles of British, American, and German attitudes to war all at once, and yet he doesn't miss a step. Dr. Strangelove's iconic ending provides the perfect finale for its anti-war message, not to mention one of Kubrick's most enduring images, as Major Kong rides the bomb to oblivion.