I wasn't till after I saw the Crime-Doc on TV about 60's "Moon River" singer Andy William's wife, Claudine Longet and her lover ski champion, Spider Williams would I have possibly recognized Peter Seller's mild love interest in The Party. Claudine is so nice to bumbling Hrundi. In truth, according to the documentary, Claudine in real life got what she wanted in Hollywood no matter what, but her role here is the opposite of type.
Are site gags funny for an-hour-an-a-half? Not always in The Party. How many ways can you embarrass yourself at an uncharacteristically stuffy Hollywood mogul's party? The answer is, endlessly. The bathroom scene with the toilet gives Sellers a wet laugh a second. Since there is a lake of water in every room, before long the cocktail dresses of 1968, and the tuxedo's of any era, end up in the soup. Ad laundry detergent and you have a bubble bath of sound stage proportions. Throw in a drunken waiter and a Gay mincing caterer, a control panel to open and shut floors, walls, and bars, and put on the ladies head falls upon falls plus toupee jokes. I think you're getting the idea.
Blake Edwards was trying to make a hip, swinging 60's comedy, but I think he missed the mark completely. If you are looking for sex, drugs, and LSD, this film looks more like Sinatra Vegas of an earlier era.
Are site gags funny for an-hour-an-a-half? Not always in The Party. How many ways can you embarrass yourself at an uncharacteristically stuffy Hollywood mogul's party? The answer is, endlessly. The bathroom scene with the toilet gives Sellers a wet laugh a second. Since there is a lake of water in every room, before long the cocktail dresses of 1968, and the tuxedo's of any era, end up in the soup. Ad laundry detergent and you have a bubble bath of sound stage proportions. Throw in a drunken waiter and a Gay mincing caterer, a control panel to open and shut floors, walls, and bars, and put on the ladies head falls upon falls plus toupee jokes. I think you're getting the idea.
Blake Edwards was trying to make a hip, swinging 60's comedy, but I think he missed the mark completely. If you are looking for sex, drugs, and LSD, this film looks more like Sinatra Vegas of an earlier era.