Based on the 1959 novelOlimpia by Burt Cole, also known as Thomas Dixon, Sellers is featured as the would-be singing matador, Juan Bautista. A theater manager offers to give him a big break if he seduces the beautiful Olimpia and spends an hour in her apartment with the lights off. The plot centers on Juan's attempts to woo the woman and famously includes Sellers covered in blue dye as the "Blue Matador."
The film was based on the novelOlimpia by Burt Cole, published in 1959. The New York Times said "the author does have an ability to see with imagination and occasionally literary artistry. What he lacks ... is not flamboyance, but a story with substance." In 1961 it was announced David R. Schwartz had written a theatre adaptation called The Bobo which Joseph Hyman, former right-hand man for Moss Hart was going to produce. Norman Jewison was going to direct it with Diane Cilento and Shelley Berman. "It's not a slick comedy," said Jewison. "It's a little different and much fresher." Then in 1962 Caroline Swan was going to produce it. However the play never was produced.
Development
In August 1962 George Cukor announced he would make a film of the book with Ava Gardner. In May 1966 it was announced film rights to the play were now owned by the team of Eliot Kastner and Jerry Gershwin, who had just made Harper and Kaleidescope for Warner Bros. They signed a deal with Peter Sellers to star in the film, and possibly direct it. In August 1966 it was announced Sellers' then-wife, Britt Ekland, would make the film under the first of a five-film contract with Gershwin. Eventually, Sellers decided not to direct and Robert Parrish took the job.
Shooting
Filming took place in Italy and Barcelona, Spain, in August 1966. It was a difficult shoot — Sellers and Ekland were having marital problems, and Sellers' mother died during filming. Sellers insisted on directing some of the film.
The flamenco dancer in the restaurant sequence was La Chana and
"The Blue Matador"
Critical reception
In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote "after sitting dutifully through it, I can tell you what a bobo is. It's a booboo — and that goes not only for the title character, played by a strangely lackluster Mr. Sellers, but also for the film." Richard Schickel wrote in Time: "There comes a time in the life of every screen comedian when he urgently feels the need to have the adjective 'Chaplinesque' applied to his work. It is a dangerous moment, with the pitfall of pretentiousness yawning on one side, sentimentality on the other and all the psychological hazards of overreaching buzzing in the back of the mind. It is a pleasure to report that Peter Sellers — that excellent fellow — has not only endured this trial, but has mostly prevailed over it." Tony Sloman in the Radio Times, although praising Hattie Jacques performance and the locations, concluded "It's not very funny."
