In a very different time, racial stereotyping was acceptable to society. In Murder by Death, Sellers played a Chinese man by overselling the attributes that were associated with the entire population. In The Party, he goes one step further and actually uses makeup, for the equivalent of black face, to play an Indian character. It's just so incredibly insensitive that even back then I'm surprised it ever flew.
The story is about an Indian actor who is inept and ruins a movie shoot. In a mistake, the actor is invited to a dinner party. The rest of the story is him being a doofus and trying to fit in with a group of people he obviously has no place with.
The funny thing is, Sellers would have actually thrived in the role of the waiter but instead they cast him as the Indian. He did have a couple of funny things but the waiter gets all of the best scenes, IMHO.
Overall the film is a letdown on two levels. One, it is a misuse of Sellers. Two, it's just not very funny. I don't understand Blake Edwards as he did have a couple of funny Pink Panther films he wrote but, in general, his material is just not good. If it weren't for Sellers he never would have had success. Heck, this movie basically had a rape scene in it and it's supposed to be a comedy!
No, I will not recommend this one.
P.S. this film could easily have been done with Sellers being a bumbling white guy and had the and effect without the racism.
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