Review of Party, The (Special Edition)

Introduction

Peter Sellers and Director Blake Edwards had what looks like a fruitful relationship. Following on from films such as The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, The Party and three more Pink Panther films, there seems to be something distinct about the pairing of Edwards with Sellers. For starters, The Party is the only non-Pink Panther film the pair made together.

I first saw The Party about 15-years ago one Sunday afternoon and it was just mesmerising then, to see Peter Sellers bumbling about and causing havoc. I`ve seen it once or twice since and it`s always remained a Sunday afternoon film for me, and now that it`s on a Special Edition DVD it`s something I can just leave playing in the background.

The Party was Writer/Director Blake Edwards attempt at making a silent comedy with Peter Sellers as the uninvited guest at a Hollywood party. After one day`s shooting however, Sellers said he needs his character to say things, so from that moment forward the film changed. What didn`t change was the 63-page script calling for most of the film to be improvised. This kind of leeway is unheard of in films these days, but they took the risk and went with it. Shot entirely in continuity, The Party is where Sellers causes chaos, building scene upon scene, with slapstick and naivety, resulting in a party unlike most.

Video

The Party comes with a good, if a little soft, 2.35:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer. Colours are bright and colourful, detail looks okay and grain is kept to a minimum. There are the usual flecks of dirt but not too much that it spoils the film. I couldn`t spot any problems with this transfer.

Audio

This comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Considering that the film was made with a mono soundtrack, the newly remastered sound here works well. Dialogue is clear from the centre and the front speakers cover most of the sound in the film with the rears covering ambience and working well too.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with a fair selection of extras, all of which can be found on disc two:

• Inside The Party documentary (23:59) - Interesting and up-to-date interviews with Blake Edwards, other producers/writers and a couple of cast, covering the ups and downs relationship between Edwards and Sellers, the improvising of the script and the general atmosphere and fun they had making the film. This is worth watching at least once.

• The Party Revolution: A New Technology (16:30) - Because the film features a lot of improv it was important for the filmmakers to be able to review the footage they shot immediately afterwards so they could review the timing. This need developed the Video Assist system, which changed the face of filmmaking at the time. Developed by Jim Songer, he eventually earned himself an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for this development. This is a very interesting piece to watch.

• Filmmaker Profiles - Profiles covering director Blake Edwards (5:59), producer Walter Mirisch (4:25) and associate producer Ken Wales (7:19) - From the early beginnings of Blake Edwards working in radio and cinema to Walter Mirisch and the films he produced, to Ken Wales starting out as an actor to being Blake Edwards` Assistant Director. These are up-to-date interviews and are interesting to watch.

• Vintage interviews with Peter Sellers - This is a collection of nine interviews with Sellers, running to around 20-minutes in total. Sellers talks about various things, such as television, the Goons, his favourite characters, creating characters, going to parties, gadgets, the Optician`s Ball and the future. While these were interesting to watch, the menu is missing a `play all` button.

• Barclays Bank Commercials - Having three of Peter Sellers Barclays` adverts seems a bit odd but there you go. You`ll watch them once and probably forget about them.

• Theatrical trailer (1:54) - a widescreen enhanced trailer giving away some of the gags from the film.

• Photo gallery - There are about 27 production stills from the film as well as posters. Interesting to look at the first time.

All of these extras have English subtitles, as well as other European languages. The film has clear and easy to read English subtitles, along with many other Euro subtitles.

Conclusion

"Birdie Num Num"

I really like this film and think it`s a wonderful way to wile away an idle afternoon. The fact that the actors had a lot of room to improvise their parts leads to fun, chaos and hilarity. Despite seeing it a fair few times, I don`t get tired of it and enjoy Peter Sellers incompetence from start to finish. There isn`t a traditional story here and the film tells of an uninvited party guest, someone a little different and quiet, causing a little unintentional trouble here and there, escalating into something altogether out of control. The scenes and gags build on one another and I like the way Blake Edwards has worked with the actors in giving them freedom to play their parts. One of the standouts other than Sellers` Hrundi V. Bakshi is the waiter who becomes increasingly inebriated with each passing moment; the casting here is very good.

There comes a time of course where you wonder what will happen next, if you haven`t seen it that is, because we`re just passively watching, waiting and curious. The film crew have deliberately built things into the set for the actors to play with which lends a charm of its own, such as the electronic control panel that can do many things. I won`t talk about the elephant but a way to get to the end of the film was needed, so why not include a sizeable baby elephant?

"Howdy partner!"

This 2-disc set is a good DVD to have, particularly if you`ve previously enjoyed the film and want the DVD. Blake Edwards fans need no excuse to get it, and anyone else looking for a 60s comedy with Peter Sellers could do worse than check this out. If you can stand the improv and spontaneity of what the film has to offer, I think you`ll enjoy it. Video is quite good, sound is fine and the extras are interesting too. All in all, this is a nice package.