The Party (1968)

One of the funniest movies ever made was 1968's The Party, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. It was directed by Blake Edwards.

Sellers plays a bumbling Indian movie extra, Hrundi V. Bakshi, who accidentally blows up an expensive movie set. When the executive producer, Fred Clutterbuck, is told of the incident, he gives the order to have Bakshi fired, but writes Bakshi's name on the guest list for a party he's going to throw at his swank Beverly Hills mansion.

As one can imagine, Bakshi attends the party and proceeds to make an enormous mess of it.

The Party was purportedly Elvis Presley's favorite movie.

One of the players in The Party was Fay McKenzie, who plays the producer's wife. She spends much of her time falling into the mansion's swimming pool. One of my co-workers is Fay McKenzie's son. I knew she was in many westerns in the 1930s and 1940s, some with Gene Autry, but I found out last night that she was the party's hostess, Alice Clutterbuck. Her encounter with an elephant is hilarious.

Above, an upset Alice Clutterbuck (Fay McKenzie) after falling into the pool.

If you've never seen The Party and want (or need) a good laugh, go out and get the DVD!

My grade: A+