Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Party Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 5, 2017

Blake Edwards' "The Party" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival featurettes; and cast and crew profiles. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

What's his name?

He tries hard, he really does, but the more he speaks and moves… Actually, scratch that, the longer he shows any signs of life, the clearer it becomes that he is not one of them. He is every director and producer’s biggest nightmare, the most clueless foreigner to ever land a job in Hollywood, the ultimate jinx that ever was.

And yet, after he derails a very promising period production worth millions of dollars, Hrundi V. Bakshi (Peter Sellers) somehow gets an invitation to attend an exclusive party hosted by Fred Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley), the big-time Hollywood producer who has now lost a ton of money because of his incompetence. Then a few days later, the man with the uncommon name parks his equally uncommon three-wheeler in front of the Cluttebuck residence.

What happens next is dwarfed only by the events that history tells us ensued after that famous big horse that the Greeks built centuries ago was let into the city of Troy. The outsider quietly joins the motley crew of guests that have gathered to have fun and while doing his best to fit in begins destroying the stylish Clutterbuck residence -- literally. It is not his intent, but he simply can’t stop being the wrong man at the wrong place who always says or does the wrong thing. At first the hosts politely ignore him and the odd ‘accidents’ that happen around him, assuming that he is an eccentric but important guest that the other has invited, but when a large piece of the ceiling falls off and then the entire ground floor is flooded, they finally panic.

Sellers and director Blake Edwards worked together on a number of different films that are now considered genre classics, but if they would have made only The Party and then abruptly exited the film industry they still would have been remembered and praised as a genius team. And rightfully so, because there have been countless directors and actors that have spent their entire careers hoping to have just one brilliant hit like The Party.

The film is irresistibly funny but also devastatingly brutal in its rejection of Hollywood elitism and hypocrisy. Sellers’ character is essentially the ultimate wrecking ball that drops right in the heart of Hollywood and then unintentionally forces the privileged ones to drop their masks in spectacular fashion. And of course they don’t realize what has hit them until it is too late, so the endless attempts to excuse the chaos make the humiliation that they force on each other even more degrading.

In the midst of the party Sellers’ outsider meets another outsider (Claudine Longet) who finds his sincerity irresistibly attractive and the two warm up to each other. It is an odd connection for sure, but truly the only one that actually makes some sense and feels authentic. And this is where the brilliance of this film comes from -- it is its ability to effectively reverse the identities that its characters are initially given and reveal the hypocrisy that defines Hollywood. The supposedly loony outsider and later on his partner emerge as the only sane guests, while the cultured and respectable hosts and their dear friends are exposed as the dim-witted clowns that they truly are.

Lucien Ballard’s camerawork ought to be studied by aspiring cinematographers because sequence after sequence it looks like Sellers was unintentionally caught doing a very simple move or facial expression that turn up to be brilliant, but nothing is accidental. The rhythm and fluidity that emerge give the film its identity and the precision with which they are created is nothing short of astonishing.

The Party Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Blake Edwards' The Party arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from the same older master that MGM/Fox have licensed to other parties in North American and Europe. (I currently have this Italian release in my library, which is sourced from the same master that Kino Video's release also uses). The master is decent, but it is quite uneven and it easily shows that there are various source limitations. There are two very obvious ones. First, there are noticeable drops in terms of density where the visuals become flat and soft (see examples in screencaptures #7, 8, 9, and 10). A few very minor fluctuations are also part of the original cinematography, but they have different characteristics and are not as pronounced. Second, there are obvious color registration issues. Some are noticeable during the same examples that are listed above, but elsewhere you will see them appear in random spots (see screencapture #17). In fact, even on normal screens (46'-52') you will almost certainly notice various color pulsations even in areas where the registration issues are not present. In other words, overall stability could and should be much better. The good news here is that there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments, so even though there is quite a bit of room for improvements, the master does have some decent organic qualities. There are no large damage marks, cuts, or torn frames, but various tiny specks, stains, and blemishes occasionally can be spotted. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Party Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film has a very nice score from the great Henry Mancini and there is actually plenty of dynamic activity before and during the party. I viewed the film with the LPCM 2.0 track and really do not have any major reservations. Depth is very nice and clarity is consistently pleasing; overall dynamic balance is also very good. The dialog is stable, though there are a few areas where it does become somewhat thinner. Still, even if one day the film is fully restored and the audio remixed, I think that the improvements will likely be cosmetic at best. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report.

The Party Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Party. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Party Revolution - this archival featurette takes a closer look at the production history of The Party and its groundbreaking visual composition. Included in it are clips from archival interviews with director Blake Edwards, associate producer Ken Wales, electronic cinema designer Clark Higgins, and video assistant creator Jim Songer, amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Inside The Party - this archival featurette focuses on the professional relationship between director Blake Edwards and Blake Edwards and the conception of The Party. In English, not subtitled. (24 min).

• Blake Edwards Profile - in English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Walker Mirisch Profile - in English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Ken Whales Profile - in English, not subtitled. (8 min).

The Party Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Blake Edwards' The Party is one of my all-time favorite comedies. I revisit it a couple of times each year and I always find it astonishing that so much of what makes it special was in fact improvised. Interestingly, the more time passes by, the more I also begin to admire its fearless sense of humor. I think that it should have earned at least one Oscar nomination, but on the other hand, considering how it effectively targets just about everything that normal people dislike about Hollywood, it seems perfectly logical that it was snubbed. Eureka Entertainment's upcoming release of The Party is sourced from the same MGM/Fox master that other labels have accessed in different territories. It is a mostly decent master, but the film needs to be fully restored so that it looks as good as it should. RECOMMENDED.