Customer Reviews

The Bobo [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Bobo" is a strange little film. It's intended as a comedy, yet it rarely goes for a big laugh. There are no comic set-ups, no pratfalls, no goofy characters as in a typical Peter Sellers comedy. It seems content to make the viewer smile, and it works on that level. Sellers is amusing and charming as Juan Bautista -- you can't help but like the little guy. The great comic brings a warmth and humanity to a role that could easily have been a stereotype or a caricature. Britt Eklund is stunning as Olympia; her beauty is reminiscent of early Bardot. She's well cast as a spoiled girl who coasts through life on her magnificent looks! The plot is a little mean-spirited, but Sellers brings a touching quality to his role which makes the viewer accept that sometimes good people can do bad things. While this is certainly not classic Sellers, it is a pleasant and pleasing little oddity that serves to show that the actor could create a rather moving character when he didn't have a script full of bellylaughs to work with!

'The Bobo' is one of Sellers' less known films, but shows his great ability to take on a character and run with it. Although his 'Barcelona' accent is far from perfect (contrary to his great vocal renditions of other accents), this film is a delightful romp of a guy who is commissoned to get 'The Girl' (the famous model 'Britt Eckland', who Sellers married) in a 3 day period. He goes from newcomer to suave Ladykiller in those few hours. The second scene, where he introduces our Lady into a Grecian palace scene, replete with 1700's dandy, is priceless...if only we could see the outtakes...from the overly 'dandy' introduction to the manic scenes of Sellers dancing a hip modern beat....
won't give away the final scenes...but this film is a true Sellers gem...

If you are like me, you probably grew up with "A Shot in the Dark" and other Pink Panther/Blake Edwards movies. Maybe you have even seen "I Love You Alice B. Toklas," and some other odd Peter Sellers happenings like appearances on the old "This Is Tom Jones" show with sketches written by Cleese and Chapman. But this movie takes the proverbial cinematic cake. Quite Euro-centric, quite Barcelona and Spain indulged, complete with an evening at a Flamenco theater, and definitely all Peter Sellers. Why isn't this available on American (let's just say) Region 1 DVD? Now, there's the real conspiracy!

This is not the silly Peter Sellers of the late Pink Panther movies, but he is here young, ambitious, and hungry for a good laugh. He succeeds in all his hilarity! This must have been the movie that brought Ekland and Sellers together. Probably THE best Peter Sellers movie! That's why they are keeping it a secret, and not letting you have it on DVD . . . YET! C'mon movie moguls, we want our DVD of "The Bobo!" Let's hear that Moorish/Andalusian chant once again, Juan!

I have seen virtually every film in the Peter Sellers canon with the rare exceptions that are currently unavailable on disc. Sellers catalogue is an interesting one running the gamut of slapstick comedy to serious drama. Sellers' films weren't all successes but he did express a desire to extend himself as an artist. "The Bobo" isn't the best from Sellers' repertoire but it is a piece with it. This is a gentle modern day fable if you can say a tale of blackmail, lying, sex, deceit and manipulation can be genteel. Sellers here plays an aspiring singing matador who is challenged to seduce the most beautiful, albeit greedy, temptress in Barcelona(Britt Ekland). Sellers doesn't overplay the part and his performance is one of understated guile. Ekland, Sellers then spouse, is quite good as the goldigging beauty and manages to engender some empathy for what is essentially an unsympathetic role. If your not a Sellers fan this may not be your bag or a good introduction to his predigious talent. Nonetheless, there's a terrific scene in a restaurant where a female flamenco dancer gives a breathtaking performance. I'm sure the dancer in the day must have had some world renown but I haven't the foggiest what her name is.

SPOILER ALERT: I don't think there is anything I say here that you can't get from looking at the cover of the DVD and reading the liner notes. But I am going to discuss the non-surprise ending, and will give details to make some points. You really do need to see the movie to understand its charm and humor. It isn't so much the plot that is distinctive as the characters and their personalities that have to be seen to be understood.

I first saw this film late at night on one of the UHF channels back in the early 1970s. I loved it from the beginning to the end! I probably only have seen the movie twice, in a similar circumstance. Yet the film was so memorable!

I have always wanted to see the film again, but have never seen it listed for television replay since the 1970s. So I am terribly pleased that I now have a copy to watch any time I want to.

This is not Pink-panther slapstick comedy. I have the complete set of those movies, and love them. But Peter Sellers was so much more than Inspector Clouseau!

I feel this movie has more akin to "Being There" ... another, more subtle and gentle comedy.

Seller's character "Juan Bautista, the Singing Matador" is simply charming. You just love him from his first awkward attempts to order a cheese sandwich on credit.

The basic plot is that Juan is a country bumpkin and a very bad matador who runs from the bulls. So he starts singing while running from the bulls, and uses that as a gimmick to try to sell himself. He goes to the "big city" (Barcelona) and tries to persuade the local empresario to give him a chance on the stage.

After some haggling, Juan is told that if he can bed the local beauty (and resident man-destroying B#@$), Olimpia, he can have his chance on the stage.

What follows is a wonderful sequence of scenes where Juan presents himself as the manservant of a nobleman who is enamored by Olimpia and is willing to pay huge sums of cash for a date. As Olimpia is the definition of a gold-digger, she willingly agrees. But on each occasion, Juan shows up, they wait together for the Count, who never shows, and Olimpia ends up footing the bill for the "date."

Gradually she starts to fall in love with Juan. In the end, he wins the bet.

At this point, I would normally stop in order to not give away the ending. But in fact, the ending is already given away by the DVD packaging. As you can see on the front and back covers, Juan is dyed a nice deep blue. That is his punishment for using this woman for his own career advancement.

But its also necessary to explain some things that I really like about the movie:

-- although you end up liking Olimpia by the end of the movie, she is seen as a nasty gold-diggeer throughout the first part of the movie. She uses men for their money, and then destroys them. So by the time Juan comes along to "use" her, you really don't feel sorry for her.

-- In fact, it is through Juan's influence that you begin to see Olimpia soften and start to like her as a person.

-- Juan does get his just deserts. But what is so wonderful about this film, and Juan, is that he is totally accepting of the punishment. No resentment. On stepping out of the bath, totally blue from head to toe, he smiles gently, admits he deserves the punishment, and asks for a robe, since he does not want to stain his matador outfit. There is a really wonderful scene where he walks out of his apartment completely blue, in a ladies' pink bathrobe, with his matador outfit slung over his shoulder and walks across the town plaza with a crowd of onlookers. Smiling proudly and gently the whole way!

I'll leave the rest of the ending for you to watch. But it is just as charming as the rest of the movie.

One other thing, for a very old movie, the quality of sound and video is excellent, especially the color, which obviously becomes important in the end.

This is one of those "sleeper" Peters Sellers comedies which is very different and original. He plays an out of work singing matador who is offered a bullfight if he can seduce the most beautiful prostitute in Barcelona, Spain, played by his real life wife at the time, Swedish beauty Britt Ekland. Very offbeat humor, there is a line about manchega cheese being consumed by poor people, and the businessman offering Sellers the job says to him, "you look like a cheese eater." It makes you chuckle throughout the movie, and the developing romance between Sellers and Ekland is poignant, up to the hilarious near-ending which involves him getting in a tub filled with blue dye.

Good stuff here. Sellers is delightful in a deliciously obscure little flick that is impossible not to love. While certainly not his best known work, if unaccompanied by hype, THE BOBO is sure to please. Enjoy this unknown gem to the max!!!!

-> review ONLY for "Warner Archives"-release (ASIN: B003NTVW7U)

Second of two film collaborations of the Ekland-Sellers couple (personally I much preferred their first one "After the Fox" 1966). If not Sellers' greatest achievement, it still is a must-see for Britt fans who also happen to be fans of Peter's.
Very good print. No extras. No menu. No chaptering - only stops every 10 min or so. Recommended.

Film: 7/10
Picture quality 8.5/10
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 (orig. 1.85:1)
Run time NTSC 60 Hz: 1:42'57"
Chpt.: 11
Audio: Engl.
ST: -
RC 1
Bonus: -
Studio: Warner Archive

DVD-R: will ONLY play on DVD player, NOT on PC drive or DVD recorder etc.

A really funny Peter Sellers movie where he gets dyed blue in the end for revenge.