Peter Sellers puts his subtle comic skill to work in this 1959 film, giving a performance that foreshadows the drollery of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in his Pink Panther films of the '60s and '70s. As Mr. Martin, the meek head clerk of the House of MacPherson (an old Scottish textile business that makes traditional tweeds), he attempts to sabotage a crusade by efficiency expert Angela Barrows (Constance Cummings) to modernize the plant and make synthetic tweeds. To save his company and his job -- as well as the good name of Scottish craftsmanship -- from American-style automation, he schemes behind the unwitting Barrows' back to subvert her efforts, only to see his plans go awry. So, as a last resort, Mr. Martin decides to murder her, and the real fun begins. When attempting to execute Mr. Martin's plan, Sellers is at his bungling best, sometimes improvising during moments of inspiration. Mark Twain once observed that being funny requires one to appear deadly serious, and no one does this better than Sellers, even when situations verge on slapstick. Sellers gets capable supporting help from Robert Morley as Robert MacPherson, the head of firm who falls prey to Barrows' machinations, and from Donald Pleasence as one of Mr. Martin's co-workers. Although director Charles Crichton's film is a comedy, it has a serious message: modernization and automation, though good per se, can bring unwelcome consequences that profoundly affect the lives of workers -- consequences that social planners need to consider before introducing changes. Unfortunately, some viewers may miss this message due to the misleading title of the film. The story really isn't about a battle between the sexes, rather, it is about a battle between tradition and modernity, and between Scottish methods and American methods.