The Party (1968 film)

The Party
The Party
	Theatrical release poster. Illustration by Jack Davis.
Directed by	Blake Edwards
Screenplay by	Blake Edwards; Tom Waldman; Frank Waldman;
Story by	Blake Edwards
Produced by	Blake Edwards
Starring	Peter Sellers; Claudine Longet;
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Edited by	Ralph E. Winters
Music by	Henry Mancini
Production; company	The Mirisch Corporation
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	April 4, 1968;
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.5 million
Box office	$2.9 million (U.S. rentals)

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 and "makes terrible mistakes based upon ignorance of Western ways".^[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-Halaal was 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.

[1] "Big Rental Films of 1968", Variety, 8 January 1969, p. 15.

[champlin1968-2] Champlin, Charles (March 15, 1968). An open invitation to play it off the cuff. Time

[3] Luhr, William; Lehman, Peter (1981). Blake Edwards. Vol. 1. Ohio University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8214-0605-2.

[Namak-Halaal-4] Cite error: The named reference Namak-Halaal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] Azaria, Hank (December 6, 2004). "Fresh Air". National Public Radio (Interview). Interviewed by Terry Gross. Philadelphia: WHYY-FM. Retrieved August 15, 2007.

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