The Bobo
The Bobo is a 1967 British comedy film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Peter Sellers and co-starring Britt Ekland. The screenplay is based on the 1959 novel "Olimpia" by Burt Cole, also known as Thomas Dixon. Plot. Sellers is featured as the would-be singing matador Juan Bautista. A theater manager offers to give him a big break if he seduces the beautiful Olimpia (Ekland) and spends an hour in her apartment with the lights off. The plot centers on Juan's attempts to woo the woman and famously includes Sellers covered in blue dye as  the "Blue Matador." Production. Original novel and play. The film was based on the novel "Olimpia" by Burt Cole, published in 1959. The "New York Times" said "the author does have an ability to see with imagination and occasionally literary artistry. What he lacks ... is not flamboyance, but a story with substance." In 1961 it was announced David R. Schwartz had written a theatre adaptation called "The Bobo" which Joseph Hyman, former right-hand man for Moss Hart was going to produce. Norman Jewison was going to direct it with Diane Cilento and Shelley Berman. "It's not a slick  comedy," said Jewison. "It's a little different and much fresher." Then in 1962 Caroline Swan was going to produce it. However the play never was produced. Development. In August 1962 George Cukor announced he would make a film of the book with Ava Gardner. In May 1966 it was announced film rights to the play were now owned by the team of Eliot Kastner and Jerry Gershwin, who had just made "Harper" and "Kaleidescope" for Warner Bros. They signed a deal with Peter Sellers to star in the film, and possibly direct it. In August 1966 it was announced  Sellers' then-wife, Britt Ekland, would make the film under the first of a five-film contract with Gershwin. Eventually, Sellers decided not to direct and Robert Parrish took the job. Shooting. Filming took place in Italy and Barcelona, Spain, in August 1966 and Cinecittà Studios, Rome. It was a difficult shoot — Sellers and Ekland were having marital problems, and Sellers' mother died during filming. Sellers insisted on directing some of the film. Critical reception. In "The New York Times", Bosley Crowther wrote "after sitting dutifully through it, I can tell you what a bobo is. It's a booboo  — and that goes not only for the title character, played by a strangely lackluster Mr. Sellers, but also for the film." Richard Schickel wrote in "Time": "There comes a time in the life of every screen comedian when he urgently feels the need to have the adjective 'Chaplinesque' applied to his work. It is a dangerous moment, with the pitfall of pretentiousness yawning on one side, sentimentality on the other and all the psychological hazards of overreaching buzzing in the back of the mind. It is a pleasure to report that Peter Sellers — that excellent fellow — has not only endured  this trial, but has mostly prevailed over it." Tony Sloman in the "Radio Times", although praising Hattie Jacques' performance and the locations, concluded "It's not very funny."