The Party (1968)

It’s unfortunate that the racist overtones of Peter Sellers’s brown-faced Indian character overwhelms this movie. It’s otherwise a delightful fish-out-of-water romp about a bumbling actor who is accidentally invited to an elite Hollywood party. There are plenty of crazy crowd scenes reminiscent of the best films of Jacques Tati. The colorful, swinging 60s pad provides ample settings for the madcap antics, particularly with the pool/fountain running throughout the living space. Oddly this is my second Gavin MacLeod film in as many days. It’s just really unfortunate about that racial caricature.