Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
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.
moonspinner55
In order to get a booking in Spain as a 'singing matador', Peter Sellers must first spend one hour alone with ravishing Britt Ekland, the local tease who has developed a bad reputation-in-reverse due to the fact she spurns all the men who desire her. Screenwriter David R. Schwartz adapted his own play, which began as the novel "Olimpia" by Burt Cole, but seems to have left out the heart of the story. Sellers and Ekland (real-life marrieds at the time) are both good, though neither has much of a character to play. The low-keyed film is so restrained, it may confound viewers hoping for a European farce. There are minor compensations: some of Peter's shtick, including a pantomime bit on the street, is funny, also the affected way Sellers pronounces 'Barcelona'. The sight-gag in the final act is successfully rendered, and Francis Lai contributes a beautiful bossa nova score. Still, the picture never really takes off, remains a rather glum and meandering vehicle for its star. ** from ****
grstmc
THE BOBO will undoubtedly disappoint those expecting Peter Sellers to be doing Clouseau-style slapstick, and those that expect the satirical humor he was also famous for.Instead, this is a character comedy and Juan Bautista (not Batista)is one of Sellers' more interesting characters, albeit from among his lesser efforts. But even lesser Sellers is better than the overall product from today's so-called comedy geniuses.BOBO was well-made, with a great opening sequence aerial shot of Barcelona, Spain (although I believe the picture was made in Italy). The plot involves Sellers as Bautista, an ex-matador who wants to break into show business in Barcelona, but can't seem to get a theater booking. He finally is promised one if - and only if - he can conquer a rather cold-hearted gold digger named Olimpia Segura (played by Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time).There are some good comedy bits and sequences throughout the film. Bautista's attempts to audition for the theater owner are amusing (and unless I'm mistaken, Sellers does his own singing). He does some matador maneuvers while pretending a sportscar is a bull. The scenes at the hideaway-retreat are very good. Later, he gets dunked in a tub of blue dye and becomes "The Blue Singing Matador".Sellers (Bautista) and Ekland (Olimpia) work well together in the only time they were paired romantically on screen. Added to which, the picture does not end the way that most people think it will. On my own Sellers scale of five stars, THE BOBO ranks three stars.
