Ed-Shullivan
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.
JasparLamarCrabb
Certainly not Peter Sellers' finest hour, but still a fairly entertaining diversion. Sellers is a singing matador who makes his way to Barcelona seeking fame & fortune. He finds entertainment impresario Adolfo Celi, who challenges him to seduce the local man eater (Britt Ekland) in three days. His reward being a featured appearance in Celi's revue. What follows is a series of goofiness as Sellers fakes his way into Ekland's life and naturally falls in love with her...it's not the most sophisticated romantic comedy and frankly it's not even particularly funny, but Sellers has his moments. He has great chemistry with Ekland (Mrs. Sellers at the time) and the supporting cast (including Rosanno Brazzi) is a treat. Directed by Robert Parrish, who was not known for pulling off comedy and the rather sluggish pacing shows. HIGH POINT: Sellers & Ekland attempting to con a pretentious furrier out of a mink coat.
fatbob03082
There isn't much about the movie other than it was pretty much sub-par for Mr. Sellers. However what I did find interesting was the Spanish dance sequence in the middle of the movie. I don't know who the dancer was, but obviously one of great talent. As far as I'm concerned it was the only thing worth watching in the whole movie but it was bad for the movie itself. This exceptional dancer filmed in such artistic form was absolutely thick with raw sensual energy and when they cut away from her to the two Bobo's the movie's lack of substance was painfully obvious. From that point on Sellers and Ekland seem shallow and amateurish.
MartinHafer
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.