Because It's Party Time

I was watching The Party (1968), a Peter Sellers comedy directed by Blake Edwards. It's a cult film that I find fascinating but don't really love. I like the audacity of the concept. A Hollywood studio head invites a no-name screw-up actor (from India) to his party and lots of destruction ensues. That's it. He finds a girl along the way, but not much more.

It's probably better the second time you see it, since the first time you keep expecting a plot. Sellers is funny (though his Indian act would be a no-no today), but it's almost impossible to have sustained comic brilliance in essentially one setting for 90 minutes--I don't think Chaplin could have pulled it off.

Still, I'm surprised some modern physical clown hasn't attempted a remake. It seems like a natural. The Party wasn't a hit, but who wouldn't want to be another Sellers. Jim Carrey comes to mind.

Of course, they'd update it. The original is set in that weird period that still had the style of the 50s--tuxedos, servants, jazz combo--with the mod 60s knocking up against it (and exploding at the end). The set of the mogul's house, in fact, with moveable bars and indoor-outdoor pool is half the movie. It would almost certainly be updated to mock what's hot today in a fancy Bel Air home.

Even more certain, they'd give it a plot--which might ruin it. In the original, Peter Sellers gets fired, and later his girlfriend's career is destroyed, and there's no indication at the end that will be fixed. As for romance, it's only hinted at. No way would this be allowed today. The script would have all sorts of machinations going on, and somehow the star, and maybe the girl, would end up with a three-picture deal, and in bed. Maybe he'd also foil some sort of bomb plot.

Worse, they'd probably open it up for a wacky third-act chase on the streets of Los Angeles.

In fact, forget the whole thing.