The Bobo (1967)

Fantastic!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This is not a typical Peter Sellers comedy, but rather a very well written story that has Peter Seller's role as a retired singing bull fighter named Juan Bautista trying to clinch one last big pay day at a large live theater in Barcelona Spain. To achieve his ultimate goal, which is to become the headliner at a prestigious theater Juan agrees with the theater's owner, Francisco Carbonell, (played by Adolfo Celi) to bed the beautiful Olimpia Segura (Britt Ekland) within the next three (3) nights.For Juan to woo the beautiful Olimpia Juan comes up with an elaborate plan that requires Olimpia to meet up with a fictitious man of royal descent for a whack of money. Olimpia resists Juan's crazy but rich proposal for awhile but eventually she bends, and she agrees to meet this mysterious royal family member. Each time Juan sets up a meeting, the mysterious prince is a no-show, and Juan provides Olimpia with another far fetch excuse why the prince did not show up. Olimpia is a manipulative vixen herself so for Juan to be able to convince Olimpia that this so-called prince who is rich beyond one's wildest dreams really does exist, Juan's stories have to be believable. But it is not so much that Juan's stories that are so truthful, rather it is Juan's unique charm that catches Olimpia's attention and her fancy.The love tango that proceeds between Juan and Olimpia is what grabbed my attention as Juan's slow and unexpected romance of the beautiful Olimpia is not what anyone would have expected, but it does. At least Olimpia is smitten until she finds out she has been scammed. As the old saying goes "hell has no fury, than a woman scorned", so Olimpia determines a unique way of getting even with the lying Juan Bautista. To the bitter end, Juan remains a gentlemen, and a true singing bullfighter.I give the film a 6 out of 10 for being well written and unique in story line. Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland's performances were both above par and quite entertaining in their scenes opposite each other.

Peter Sellers stars with his then-wife, Britt Ekland, and Rosanno Brazzi in "The Bobo" from 1967.The always funny Sellers plays a singing matador named Juan, who comes to Barcelona to make his fortune. He sings for an unimpressed local impresario (Adolfo Celi), who agrees to book him on one condition. Juan has to spend an evening with Olimpia (Ekland), a flirt who gets whatever she wants from men, including apartments and sports cars, and then she drops them.Juan pretends he is the messenger of a wealthy count and works at seducing her.Anything with Sellers is good, I think, but in this period of time he was going through some kind of identity crisis. He was married to beautiful Britt Ekland and trying to change his image somewhat. The movie isn't very good, but there is some fabulous dancing, music, and atmosphere, and chemistry between Sellers and Ekland. Sellers has funny moments as well.The film has an unexpected ending which a lot of people did not like. I thought it fit. There's not much here, but if you want to see flamenco dancing like you'll never see it again, see this film for the nightclub scene.

Peter Sellers was a real enigma. For every wonderful film he made, he made an insipid film. It's weird, but for every film like "Dr. Strangelove" or "The Lady Killers", he made a dud like "The Party" or "The Prisoner of Zenda". So, over the years I have learned to hold judgment--not to necessarily expect anything--just sit back and hope it will be a good film. Perhaps he was a bad judge of scripts or had a bad agent, but too many of his films simply made no sense for his career and "The Bobo" is yet another one of them. Audiences expecting a comedy were shocked, as there's practically nothing funny about this film--just a very, very, very long and dry chameleon-like portrayal of yet another character by Sellers. Yes, he managed to produce a nice Spanish accent and create an interesting character...but not much else. Overall, the film is pretty dull and there really never is any sort of payoff--and I felt like I wasted my time holding on until the end. A sad and disappointing film made doubly worse because audiences expected to see SOMETHING from the husband-wife pairing of Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland...and they were pretty good together in "After the Fox". Here....nothing.

I think this is one of Peter Sellers' best movies, along with "Dr. Strangelove...", "Only Two Can Play," "Two-Way Stretch," "A Shot in the Dark," "After the Fox," and of course the original Pink Panther...Sellers is charmingly funny and Britt Eklund is deliciously stunning, and perfect for her role as a femme fatale who toys with men only to succumb to Sellers' rather pathetic efforts at courtship.There are a number of creative and funny scenes but the "Hermitage" restaurant scene during Sellers' and Eklund's first "date" is especially maginative and hilarious...not to be missed.Not a shoot-'em-up, but a rather lovely film with a great cast and great production values.