4. Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
It's hard to find an actor who's as much of a chameleon as Peter Sellers. Sellers dabbled in a number of genres, but he seemed to quickly find that his character-acting style was tailor-made for comedy. Watch Sellers' comedy filmography and you'll find Sellers playing a wide assortment of characters, including a sweetly naive Indian actor (The Party), a black-marketeer (The 1955 version of The Ladykillers), a suave professional gambler (1967's Casino Royale), and the inept-but-dogged French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (the Pink Panther franchise). No film better displays Sellers' talent, however, than Stanley Kubrick's 1964 masterpiece Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, in which Sellers plays three different roles. We first see Sellers as RAF Captain Lionel Mandrake, who discovers that the U.S. General he's serving under, Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), has launched an unauthorized nuclear attack on Russia. After U.S. President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) discovers the unauthorized attack is underway, he tries to call it off but discovers that he needs a certain cease code in order to call off the bombers, a code known only to Ripper. Mandrake knows this, too, and after Ripper commits suicide, Mandrake discovers the cease code and sets about getting the code through to Washington. Meanwhile, the President's scientific advisor, former Nazi Dr. Strangelove (Sellers yet again), advises President Muffley on what should be done should a nuclear holocaust occur ("Animals would be bred and SLAUGHTered..."). Sellers does a fantastic job with each part, giving each character a distinct personality, style, and mode of dealing with the impending chaos. In fact, Sellers plays each part so differently that it's almost impossible to tell that it's one man playing all three parts. Sellers did such a great job that he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor of 1964. Unfortunately, Sellers lost to Rex Harrison, who won the award for his phoned-in portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.