| The Party | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Party_moviep.jpg) Theatrical release poster. Illustration by Jack Davis. | |
| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Blake Edwards |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Ralph E. Winters |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.5 million |
| Box office | $2.9 million (U.S. rentals)[1] |
The Party is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents.[2] Based on a fish-out-of-water premise, the film is about a bungling actor from India, Hrundi V. Bakshi (portrayed by Sellers), who accidentally gets invited to a lavish Hollywood dinner party, although having awkward moments, he's generally well liked by the other guests, but gets into borderline trouble and causing both subtle and major nuisances due to his incredibly bad luck and overall clumsiness".[3]
The protagonist Hrundi Bakshi was influenced by two of Sellers' earlier characters: the Indian doctor Ahmed el Kabir in The Millionairess (1960) and Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series. In turn, the character Hrundi Bakshi went on to be influential, inspiring several later popular characters, including Amitabh Bachchan's character Arjun Singh in the 1982 Bollywood blockbuster Namak Halaal,[4] and Hank Azaria's character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.[5]
- ^ "Big Rental Films of 1968", Variety, 8 January 1969, p. 15.
- ^ Champlin, Charles (March 15, 1968). An open invitation to play it off the cuff. Time
- ^ Luhr, William; Lehman, Peter (1981). Blake Edwards. Vol. 1. Ohio University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8214-0605-2.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Namak-Halaalwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Azaria, Hank (December 6, 2004). "Fresh Air". National Public Radio (Interview). Interviewed by Terry Gross. Philadelphia: WHYY-FM. Retrieved August 15, 2007.