Ghost in the Noonday Sun

Ghost in the Noonday Sun
Directed by Peter Medak
Produced by Thomas Clyde
Gareth Wigan
Written by Evan Jones
Spike Milligan
Starring Peter Sellers
Spike Milligan
Music by Denis King
Cinematography Michael Reed
Larry Pizer
Edited by Ray Lovejoy
Distributed by Tyburn Entertainment (UK)
Columbia Pictures (USA)
Release date
 1985 home video
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Ghost in the Noonday Sun is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Peter Medak starring Peter Sellers, Anthony Franciosa and Spike Milligan. The film suffered a notoriously difficult production due to Sellers's erratic behavior and was never released in cinemas.[1] Medak described the film as "the biggest disaster of my life”.[2]

Plot

Pirate captain Ras Mohammed (Peter Boyle), accompanied by his incompetent Irish cook Dick Scratcher (Peter Sellers) and three other crewmen, goes ashore to bury three chests of treasure. Berated by the captain, Scratcher kills him with a knife. He returns to the pirate ship and proclaims himself the new captain as only he knows the location of the treasure. He soon discovers his predecessor's treasure map was drawn in invisible ink.

Fourteen years later, the pirate ship reaches Ireland, although Scratcher initially believes they are on a Greek island. The crew visits an inn and eats like pigs, with the exception of the debonair and cerebral Pierre Rodriquez (Anthony Franciosa). They abduct an Irish boy, Jeremiah (Richard Willis), whom Scratcher believes can see ghosts and will therefore be able to ask Ras Mohammed's ghost for directions to the treasure. After seeing off the British Navy by posing as Portuguese fishermen suffering the "red plague", the pirates sail to Algiers, where Jeremiah is taken prisoner. The pirates encounter Scratcher's old friend Billy Bombay (Spike Milligan) and later release Jeremiah. After threats of mutiny by a pirate named Abdullah (Thomas Baptiste), the pirates end up back at the island of buried treasure. They dig up Billy Bombay's treasure chest of silver cannonballs and fire all of them at Billy Bombay and his six brothers, leaving only Billy alive. Separately, Pierre, Jeremiah and Abdullah discover Ras Mohammed's treasure. The film ends with Scratcher buried up to his neck in the sand, while Billy Bombay is tied to a tree, and the two shout insults at each other.

Style

The film's opening seven-minute prologue is shot in the style of a black and white silent movie, complete with caption cards.[3]

Sellers' onetime Goon Show colleague Spike Milligan appears halfway through the film and worked on revisions to the script. This results in some Goonish style banter and effects, such as sped-up film, dialogue and sound effects. When Scratcher and Billy Bombay meet, Millgan says to camera, "It's that smelly old sea-goon, Dick Scratcher" - an apparent reference to the Goon Show character Ned Seagoon.

Cast

Production

The script was written by Evan Jones and Ernest Tidyman (uncredited) with additional dialogue by Spike Milligan. It was produced by Thomas Clyde and Gareth Wigan with cinematography by Michael Reed and Larry Pizer. The title and some of the plot details are based on the book of the same title by Newbery Medal-winning children's author Sid Fleischman.

The film was shot in and off the coast of Kyrenia, Cyprus, and at Bray International Studios in Maidenhead, England. Peter Sellers arrived on location displaying strange behavior, attributed to his break-up with Liza Minnelli.[4] Shortly after filming began, Sellers began to lose confidence in the project and when Spike Milligan arrived to shoot his scenes, Sellers asked him to assess the footage that had been shot thus far. Milligan was unimpressed, which led to Sellers trying to convince Peter Medak to get the production shut down. Medak refused to comply. Sellers subsequently became deliberately uncooperative and would often pretend to be sick, only to be later spotted water-skiing the same day. Sellers caused further upset by agreeing to shoot a cigarette commercial during one of the few off-days in the filming schedule, drafting in an unwilling Peter Medak to direct it, and then on the day refusing to be filmed holding the cigarette packet because he claimed to be the chairman of the Anti-Smoking League.[5]

Sellers had personally invited British cinematographer Larry Pizer to shoot the film, only to later fire him after a party once production had commenced. Sellers also fought on set with co-star Tony Franciosa. After the final scene was filmed, involving Sellers and Milligan both being physically restrained, the crew forced them to listen to a song detailing the production's woes.[6]

The film was shot in 1973, although the copyright notice in the opening credits is for 1974. Columbia Pictures deemed the film not worthy of cinematic release. It was later released on Betamax and VHS home video in 1985. The film was released on DVD in 2016.

Making of documentary

In 2016, it was announced that Peter Medak was directing a feature-length documentary about the ill-fated production, called The Ghost of Peter Sellers. It is due for release in 2017.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "How Peter Sellers sabotaged his own movie". Chortle. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Bernstein, Paula (21 March 2016). "Director Peter Medak Plans to Resurrect The Ghost of Peter Sellers". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "Ghost in the Noonday Sun Review". TV Guide. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Norman, Alix (1 February 2016). "The ghost of Peter Sellers". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  5. ↑ Farnes, Norma (2004). Chapter 11 of Spike: An Intimate Memoir, Harper Perennial, London. ISBN 1841157872
  6. ↑ Ed Sikov (19 August 2011). Mr Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers. Pan Macmillan. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-1-4472-0714-6.
  7. ↑ Bernstein, Paula (21 March 2016). "Director Peter Medak Plans to Resurrect The Ghost of Peter Sellers". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
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