Peter Sellers he also said that in Sellers's previous films he had "been at his worst recently". In 1969 Sellers starred opposite Ringo Starr in the Joseph McGrath-directed film "The Magic Christian". Sellers portrayed Sir Guy Grand, an eccentric billionaire who plays elaborate practical jokes on people. The critic Irv Slifkin remarked that the film was a reflection of the cynicism of Peter Sellers, describing the film as a "proto-Pythonesque adaption of Terry Southern's semi-free-form short novel", and "one of the strangest films to be shown at a gala premiere for Britain's royal family". The film, a satire on human nature, was
Joseph McGrath (film director) Joseph McGrath (film director) Joseph McGrath (born 1930, Glasgow) is a Scottish film and television director and screenwriter. He studied at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1940s/early 1950s where his energy and talent was much admired by his contemporaries. McGrath is best known for his collaborations with "The Goon Show" stars Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. He directed the scenes with Sellers and Orson Welles in the multi-director James bond spoof "Casino Royale" (1967). He also directed Sellers and Spike Milligan in "The Magic Christian" (1969) and "The Great McGonagall" (1974). McGrath also worked with director Richard Lester