How sad is this?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

"Only Two Can Play" has Peter Sellers married with two children in a Welsh community, working as a librarian. We open on a highlight of one of his days when an enticing young lady comes in asking for "Conditioned Reflexes" by Pavlov. I don't read Pavlov, so I don't know if that's a real book or what. But it sure makes for an arousing moment for a somewhat humdrum day. He seems to like his job to a degree; we see he knows his books by way of conversations with the public and throughout the film. But, maybe he knows it too well and inside and out, needing a change. After the opening credits, he wakes up one morning, and we hear him thinking to himself about his day and his life and we sense he's become resigned to a life of monotonous drudgery. That is, until he meets Liz, played by Mai Zetterling, the wife of a town councilman, who comes in the library and needs assistance. An alliance is formed but never incorporated. Their attempts always seem to be to no avail, most of the time through no fault of their own. What I thought was going to be a zany comedy, like "School for Scoundrels," actually is a very good study of a married man trying to find excitement but looking in all the wrong places. Peter Sellers is very good and I would say it's one of his best dramatic films, outside of "Being There," one of my favorite films. What his character forgets is that "two can play." Richard Attenborough, an old acquaintance of his and his wife's, shows up trying to rekindle his affection for his wife. And, there's a new opening in the library dept. that Liz can influence her councilman husband for Peter to get. But then Peter's eyes are opened and the last 20 minutes or so is very touching. Watch "Only Two Can Play" and see the serious side of Peter Sellers at work. Is it his best side?

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.

"Only Two Can Play" is a slice of life comedy made in 1962. Based on a novel by Kingsley Amis, it concerns an assistant librarian, John Lewis (Peter Sellars) who has a chance at a better position and a raise, contingent upon him sleeping with the council chairman's wife (Mai Zetterling). He has a beautiful if exhausted wife at home (Virginia Maskell) and children, and the confines of his home are a little tight and chaotic. Lewis attempts to make a go of the affair, with humor and poignancy as the result.This is a very well acted film, and a very satisfying one. Sellars wasn't a huge star yet, but all the elements are there. Mai Zetterling, primarily remembered today as a director, was a marvelous actress and very sexy. In her book, "All Those Tomorrows" she describes her experiences living with Tyrone Power and being madly in love with him for several years. That was some life she had. This was the last film Virginia Maskell would make for a time - she married after this movie and did very little until 1967. Sellars tried to get her replaced in the film, but the director refused. It seems odd, because she was very good. After the birth of a child in 1967, she became acutely depressed and ultimately overdosed on antidepressants. A sad end for a fine actress. The rest of the cast is excellent as well.A very good film, well worth seeing.

This is an excellent film which is true-to-life without being showy or melodramatic. Although definitely a comedy it makes great play of the depressing and restricted life of the central character, particularly the crowded and noisy family home and the lack of privacy and comfort resulting from shared bathrooms (Sellers adjustment of the air-freshener when his landlord comes out of the toilet makes any verbal comment redundant).As a librarian myself I can relate to the professional setting and the dull routine of lending and shelving stock. Graham Stark's Mr Hyman is typical of some of the characters public libraries seem to attract. I remember a man like this who used to visit a library I once worked in. His speciality was putting a small mirror on the floor so he could look up women's skirts.The film makes no attempt to make adultery look romantic. Here it is a guilt-ridden farce full of betrayal and exploitation. It's a fine moment when Liz dumps her lapdog on Sellers and he realises he is just another accessory to her lifestyle (her 'bit of rough' to balance Bill's smoothness maybe?).Sellers attempt at adultery is all the worse because his wife is far from unattractive. Tired and worn down by family responsibilities perhaps, but practical and supportive. Virginia Maskell makes Jean's helplessness in the face of Liz's glamour extremely poignant indeed. It's a tragedy that this fine actress would reach a point in her own life when she couldn't see a way out.Sellers himself is still just on the verge of international stardom. He looks like a normal human being, not the stick thin Hollywood type he became (Sellers lost his natural chubbiness throughout his career, as he got thinner he got unhappier). He is also still a character actor, rather than a caricature who says things like 'heump' and 'beumb'. His John Lewis is totally believable.Some critics have ridiculed the idea that Sellers was ever an actor, they say he was only a mimic with a slim talent for funny voices. This film shows how wrong they are.