The Bobo

{{More plot|date=September 2022}}

Singing matador Juan Bautista is offered a break by a theater manager if he will seduce the beautiful Olimpia. He does so, in part by singing her a beautiful song about the "girl from Barcelona". Once she has succumbed to his advances, she finds out his deception. She and a female relative find a way to get him in a bathtub of blue dye and he is turned dark blue in revenge.

• Peter Sellers as Juan Bautista
• Britt Ekland as Olimpia Segura
• Rossano Brazzi as Carlos Matabosch
• Adolfo Celi as Francisco Carbonell
• Hattie Jacques as Trinity Martinez
• Ferdy Mayne as Silvestre Flores
• Kenneth Griffith as Pepe Gamazo
• Al Lettieri as Eugenio Gomez
• Marne Maitland as Luis Castillo
• John Wells as Pompadour Major Domo
• Don Lurio as Ramon Gonzales
• Antonia Santiago Amador (La Chana) as flamenco dancer

The film was based on the 1959 novel Olimpia by Burt Cole. The New York Times wrote that "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."Results Much Cheaper: Olimpia. By Burt Cole. 152 pp. New York: The Macmillan Company. $3.50. Mitgang, Herbert. The New York Times 12 July 1959: BR22.

In 1961 it was announced that David R. Schwartz had written a theatre adaptation titled The Bobo, with former Moss Hart assistant Joseph Hyman slated to produce,Lucille Ball Ill; 'Wildcat' Halted, The New York Times 7 February 1961: 39. Norman Jewison to direct and Diane Cilento and Shelley Berman to star. Jewison said: "It's not a slick comedy. It's a little different and much fresher."Romantic Comedy Planned for Fall. The New York Times 17 April 1961: 36. In 1962, Caroline Swan was named as producer,Carol Channing Signed ror Play: Musical Star Gets Lead in 'King's Mare,' a Comedy. By Sam Zolotow. The New York Times 23 May 1962: 38. but the play never materialised.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In August 1962, George Cukor announced that he would produce a film based on the book to star Ava Gardner.Cinerama Plans 2 More Theatres. By Eugene Archer. The New York Times 25 Aug 1962: 11.

In May 1966, it was announced that film rights to the play were owned by the team of Eliot Kastner and Jerry Gershwin, who had recently produced Harper and Kaleidescope for Warner Bros. They signed a deal with Peter Sellers to star in the film and possibly direct it.Coming Up: 'Bobo' Sellers: About Movies By A.H. Weiler. The New York Times 22 May 1966: 129. In August 1966, it was announced that Sellers' wife Britt Ekland would appear in the film as the first of a five-film contract with Gershwin.Top Role for Candy Bergen. Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 9 August 1966: c9. Eventually, Sellers decided not to direct and Robert Parrish took the job.

Filming took place in Italy and Barcelona in August 1966Movie Call Sheet: Team to Produce 14 Films. Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 30 November 1966: D16. and at Cinecittà Studios, Rome. It was a difficult shoot, as Sellers and Ekland were having marital problems and Sellers' mother died during filming. Sellers insisted on directing some of the film.{{Cite news|title=A Sellers' Market for Comedy: A Sellers' Market for Comedy|last=Champlin|first= Charles|newspaper= Los Angeles Times |date=14 May 1967|page= c1}}{{Cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mrstrangelovebio00siko_0/page/260 260–264]|title=Mr. Strangelove|url=https://archive.org/details/mrstrangelovebio00siko_0|url-access=registration|first=Ed |last=Sikov|year=2002|publisher=Hyperion| isbn=9780786866649 }}{{Cite book|title=Hollywood doesn't live here anymore|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywooddoesntl00robe|url-access=registration|last=Parrish|first= Robert|year=1988|publisher=Toronto Little, Brown| isbn=9780316692588 }}

"Imagine," the song heard with the titles, was written by Francis Lai, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was released as a single by Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, by Dana Valery as a B-side to "You" and by John Gary as a B-side to "Cold", all in 1967.Billboard - 2 September 1967 - Page 43 Francis Lai, composer of "A Man and a Woman," has come up with another melodical score in Peter Sellers ... With Sammy Cahn's lyrics, the Mexican-oriented music includes vocals and instrumental of the title song, "Imagine" and "The Blue Matador."The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures 0520209702 1997 Songs: "Imagine," "The Song of the Blue Matador" Francis Lai, Sammy Cahn British singer Petula Clark also recorded it in 1967 for her album These Are My Songs. She performed the tune on ABC's Hollywood Palace.

In a contemporary review The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote:

A remarkably unfunny comedy. Peter Sellers gives an equivocal performance as the mongrel hero – part clown, part singer, part lover – that leaves one constantly aware of the discrepancy between the intended effect and the one actually achieved. When his redrimmed eyes stare soulfully out from a cerulean face, we sense that we are meant to be moved – as by Keaton or Chaplin – but are merely embarrassed; and the same is true – though this time an analogy with Jerry Lewis would be more appropriate – of the scene where his singing, which a little earlier had made both us and the impresario wince, is supposed to touch Olimpia's granite heart. But in context his performance acquires an almost heroic stature. Kenneth Griffith – embodying the film's fundamental principle that additional sibilants are all it takes to establish a Spanish atmosphere – is conspicuously bad, and Britt Ekland, whom Robert Parrish relies upon almost entirely to provide the visual interest, provides very little else. Only John Wells, as the poovy Maitre d'Hotel in Louis XV costume, emerges with his professional reputation undamaged. The photography is remarkable for the poor lighting of the studio exteriors and for a repetitive shot of Olimpia's admirers taken through the distorting lens of the peep-hole on her apartment door. Nonetheless, the scene in which she all but makes love to her new Maserati is not without interest.{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1967 |title=The Bobo |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305821081/BDA75949ACE4CCBPQ/1 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=34 |issue=396 |pages=138 |via=ProQuest |archive-date=27 December 2023 |access-date=27 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227130128/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305821081/BDA75949ACE4CCBPQ/1 |url-status=live }}

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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16621/the-bobo#articles-reviews|title=The Bobo (1967) - Articles - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=7 December 2017|archive-date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208122432/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16621/The-Bobo/articles.html|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0061414|The Bobo}}
• {{tcmdb title|id=16621}}
• {{AFI film|22454}}

{{Robert Parrish}}

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Category:1967 films

Category:1967 romantic comedy films

Category:British romantic comedy films

Category:Films scored by Francis Lai

Category:Films produced by Elliott Kastner

Category:Films set in Barcelona

Category:Films shot at Cinecittà Studios

Category:Films directed by Robert Parrish

Category:1960s English-language films

Category:1960s British films

Category:English-language romantic comedy films