SYNOPSIS
Unwilling to sacrifice his principles, Auguste Topaze (Peter Sellers), a poor but proud French schoolmaster, loses his job after he refuses to alter the failing grades of one of students. Seizing the opportunity to exploit his well-known honesty, actress Suzy Courtois (Nadia Gray) convinces her lover, the corrupt city council member Castel Benac (Herbert Lom), to hire Topaze as a managing director for one of his shady businesses. But when Topaze learns he is being used, he cunningly turns the tables on his deceivers and makes off with all of the money.
Seller’s first and only credited directorial feature, MR. TOPAZE displays the British comic genius at the peak of his powers alongside his future Pink Panther nemesis Herbert Lom and a stellar supporting cast that includes Nadia Gray, Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw and Michael Gough. Believed to be “lost” for years, MR. TOPAZE was digitally restored from the lone surviving 35mm print in the BFI archives at the request of the British public.
MR. TOPAZE joins FILM MOVEMENT’s VIRTUAL CINEMA, partnering with over 300 theaters across North America, to offer a slate of award-winning films including Abner Pastoll’s thriller A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND, medieval crusade epic SWORD OF GOD, Nordic thriller A WHITE, WHITE DAY from director Hlynur Palmason, Jan Komasa’s Oscar®-nominee CORPUS CHRISTI, Diao Yinan’s noir thriller, THE WILD GOOSE LAKE , Bertrand Bonello’s genre mash-up ZOMBI CHILD and six digitally restored classics with Nanni Moretti’s Cannes award-winner CARO DIARIO, a trio of Romy Schneider’s best films from France with LES CHOSES DE LA VIE, CESAR ET ROSALIE and L’IMPORTANT C’EST D’AIMER, L’INNOCENTE,Luchino Visconti’s final film, and DONA FLOR AND HER TWO HUSBANDS, Bruno Barreto’s 1976 sexy breakthrough comedy starring Sônia Braga.
