Being There

Peter Sellers gave perhaps his greatest performance in Hal Ashby's wicked satire Being There (1979).
Free | TCM

Posted: 8/1/2008

A sheltered gardener, whose entire knowledge of life comes from watching television, enters the world of politics when his employer dies. Low key black humor with witty comments about American life. Douglas won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Free | Video Detective
Length: 02:46
Posted: 3/17/2008

In his last great performance, Academy Award and Emmy-nominee and Golden Globe-winner Peter Sellers ("Dr. Strangelove," "The Pink Panther" features) stars as Chauncey Gardner, a child-like manservant (and progenitor to "Forrest Gump") whose hermetic existence is shaken when he is cast out upon his employer's death, and seems to encounter the outside world for the first time as he tries to reconcile reality with what he's seen on television. His enigmatic behavior from being autistic savant is taken for brilliance, as he profoundly affects the lives of his newfound friends and benefactors: a dying multimillionaire and political advisor to the president, portrayed by Melvyn Douglas in his Academy Award-winning role, and his wife, played by Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Shirley MacLaine ("Rumor Has It," "In Her Shoes"). Variety says: "a highly unusual and unusually fine film...Sellers' performance stands as the centerpiece of the film, and it's a beauty."
Paid | iTunes
Length: 02:09:50
Posted: 12/5/2008

Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity.
Paid | Amazon Video on Demand
Length: 02:10:00
Posted: 3/5/2009