Hoffman (1970)

Interesting facts

Hoffman is a 1970 British drama film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Peter Sellers, Sinéad Cusack, Ruth Dunning and Jeremy Bulloch. An older man blackmails an attractive young woman into spending a week with him in his flat in London, hoping that she will forget her crooked fiancé and fall in love with him instead.

Production

Producer Ben Arbeid optioned the screen rights to the novel and hired Gébler to write the script for a fee of £21,000. Peter Sellers agreed to star in the film and Columbia were going to back it. However, Columbia pulled out, so the project was taken to Bryan Forbes, who had just been appointed head of production at Associated British Picture Corporation (EMI had taken over Associated British and installed Forbes).

According to Forbes, Sellers did not wish to work with director Alvin Rakoff. However, Forbes insisted that Rakoff remain, and Sellers eventually agreed to work with him. Rakoff later said: "Then we got on like a house on fire." Forbes claimed Sellers made the film for him "as a favour", with a fee of only £85,000. Forbes said this nonetheless made Sellers the most highly paid actor during Forbes' time at MGM.

According to Judy Cornwell, who had been in the television play, Peter Sellers wanted to star opposite an unknown actress rather than Cornwell, whom he considered too well known. Arbeid was worried he wouldn't be able to find someone of sufficient standard and asked Cornwell to "stand by" as back up casting, but Cornwell refused. She felt Sellers was the "wrong sort of actor" to play Hoffman.

The female lead went to Sinéad Cusack (another candidate for the role had been Jane Asher).

In August 1969, production of the film was announced by Bryan Forbes, with Sinéad Cusack and Peter Sellers, for Associated British Picture Corporation. It was one of the first films greenlit by Forbes and was the third film of the Forbes' regime to start filming, following And Soon the Darkness and The Man Who Haunted Himself. Forbes called Hoffman "the first British financed film that Peter Sellers has appeared in in recent memory."

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