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Volume aaa, Number 7 |
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Film's fantastic fan
AUDREY AMIDON
STAFF WRITER
Bowdoin Film Society has long known about its number one fan-he's Thom Colkitt of Bowdoin's alumni and development, the guy who sits in the back left hand corner of Smith Auditorium and can be counted on to attend any worthwhile film screening. Thom knows the value of the true film experience: your television and all the distractions of home are not comparable to a big screen and a dark theater. So, this week, in honor of Thom's dedication to BFS, we're showing two films he picked that star Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau the clueless detective.
Thom is a huge Peter Sellers fan, so he's pretty excited to see A Shot in the Dark (1964) and The Pink Panther (1964) on a big screen this weekend.
"I love quirky off-the-wall humor, and, in my mind, no one has ever done it better than Peter Sellers," said Thom, who says he first became "enraptured" with the comedian through a 1950s BBC radio program called The Goon Show.
Thom explained that Peter Sellers became known for "surprisingly believable" comedic characterizations in film after film. Sellers played up to six different characters in a single movie. Thom feels that the character of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau is a great example of Sellers' talents. If one needed more evidence as to this man's genius, earlier this semester BFS screened Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, in which Sellers played four different parts.
A Shot in the Dark is being screened Friday night at 7:00 p.m. It's actually the second Inspector Clouseau film, but according to Thom, it's thought to be the best. He pointed out that, interestingly enough, one of the credited screenwriters was the author of The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty. In this film, Inspector Clouseau attempts to crack a murder case in which the maid, Maria, seems to have obviously committed the crime. He finds himself attracted to the woman and tries to clear her name even as the bodies and clues pile up.
The Pink Panther will be shown Saturday at 7:00 p.m. In this jump back to the first Inspector Clouseau film, an enormous diamond (the "Pink Panther" of the title) is stolen and it's up to Clouseau to track down the thief. This movie introduced audiences to the animated Pink Panther and the wonderful Henry Mancini tune that everybody knows.
Thom gives a whole-hearted thumbs-up to these films. "Most of all I recommend these films because they are silly," he says. "Silly from a time when silly really meant something." So come on out to Smith Auditorium, and say hello to Thom. Be sure to ask him a question about Peter Sellers, too, since he knows his stuff.