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
Peter Sellers led to his brief appearance on 1 July 1948 on "ShowTime" and subsequently to work on "Ray's a Laugh" with comedian Ted Ray. In October 1948, Sellers was a regular radio performer, appearing in "Starlight Hour", "The Gang Show", "Henry Hall's Guest Night" and "It's Fine To Be Young". By the end of 1948, the BBC Third Programme began to broadcast the comedy series "Third Division", which starred, among others, Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Sellers. One evening, Sellers and Bentine visited the Hackney Empire, where Secombe was performing, and Bentine introduced Sellers to Spike Milligan. The four would meet