Long lost Sellars films unearthed for Branchage

Friday 13 June 2014

Two lost works by the late, great Peter Sellers could be the unlikely stars of this year’s Branchage Festival.

The film festival, which takes place from 24 to 28 September, will host a very special screening of two films by the Pink Panther, Casino Royale and Dr Strangelove star, which have been lost for more than half a century.

“Dearth of a Salesman” and “Insomnia is Good For You” have only been screened once in the last 50 years. They were thought to have been lost forever but copies were found when they were found in film cans in a skip when the now-defunct Park Lane Films was being cleared out in 1996. The cans were opened last year and the two films – recorded at the beginning of Sellers’ career after he rose to fame in The Goon Show – have been digitally restored.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Robert Farrow (who found the films), Paul Cotsgrove (who restored them), and Rachel Ray, the daughter of Jersey impresario Dick Ray, who was a cousin of Sellers’.

Festival programming and production manager Chris Bell said: “As a big Peter Sellers fan I’m hugely excited to have been given the chance to show these films at Branchage.

“I’d urge anyone with even the most fleeting interest in Sellers’ work not to miss this as we’re very privileged to have an important piece of his history on display at the festival.

“The Q&A following the screening is bound to be immensely entertaining too, as I’m sure Robert, Paul, Dick and Rachel will have many an insight and anecdote to share.”

Passes for Branchage are on sale from www.branchangefestival.com, and the box office for individual tickets will open on 20 September.