The Party marked a re-teaming of writer-director-producer Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers, who had begun a longtime collaboration on The Pink Panther series (see entry for 1964’s The Pink Panther) in the early 1960s. The project was announced in a 25 Feb 1967 NYT item. According to various contemporary sources including the 21 May 1967 NYT, it was briefly retitled R.S.V.P., before reverting to The Party.
       The 8 Mar 1967 DV stated the production would cost $2.8 million, and that seventy-five percent of the film would be “without conversational dialog.” A later item in the 28 Jun 1967 DV claimed that Edwards had altered the script from its original silent-film-inspired concept by allowing Peter Sellers and co-star Claudine Longet to improvise as much dialogue as they wanted. In the 19 Mar 1968 DV review, the action-heavy screenplay was said to be only sixty-three pages long. The 6 Jul 1967 DV cited a budget of $2.9 million, slightly higher than earlier reported. According to the 11 May 1967 DV, Edwards, Sellers, and principals of the Mirisch Corporation had agreed to defer their salaries.
       Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin on 1 May 1967, as stated in a 3 Mar 1967 DV production chart, but the start of filming was delayed two weeks. A 23 Jun 1967 DV production chart confirmed a start date of 15 May 1967. Shooting began on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio lot, the 1 Jun 1967 DV reported. Except for a pre-title sequence that showed Sellers’s character, “Hrundi V. Bakshi,” on the set of a Hollywood film, the picture was set entirely at the home of “Fred Clutterbuck.” The interior of the house reportedly cost $150,000 and was built, at least partially, on Soundstage 5 at MGM, as noted in the 30 Jun 1967 and 6 Jul 1967 DV. With the aid of firefighting equipment, the set was covered in “cleansing foam” during the elephant washing scene.
       In early Jul 1967, filming moved from MGM to a location in Beverly Hills, where principal photography was scheduled to conclude five days early, on 21 Jul 1967. Re-shoots on Saturday, 10 Feb 1968, required the set to be rebuilt, according to a 9 Feb 1968 DV brief. At the time, Sellers was filming I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968, see entry) during the week.
       In a 2 Jun 1967 DV article, Edwards was credited with employing a “breakthrough in camera technique” by mounting videotape equipment on top of the film camera to capture all action simultaneously. The videotaped footage allowed Edwards to review instant replays and determine whether or not to re-shoot scenes or change camera angles. Typically, directors were only able to review footage via dailies, processed overnight and not available until the next day. Beside Edwards, Jerry Lewis was said to have “employed a similar system for years.” The cost of the videotape process was said to be $1,100 per week, and Edwards claimed the money he saved thanks to the new system more than offset the expenditure.
       Actress Julie Andrews, Edwards’s then girl friend and future wife, was anticipated to play a cameo, according to a 28 Jun 1967 DV item, which noted that Gower Champion might appear in the film as well. Kathe Green, Douglas Owen, and Linda Gaye Scott were said to be making their feature film debuts in items in the 25 May 1967 DV, 3 Jul 1967 and 25 Jul 1967 LAT. Natalia Borisova was named as choreographer in the 5 Jul 1967 LAT.
       A wrap party took place on the set at MGM, as stated in the 24 Jul 1967 DV. Furnishings used as set decoration were sold off to attendees, including Harold Mirisch of the Mirisch Corporation, who bought patio furniture; and Sellers, who purchased a barbecue.
       Critical reception for The Party was tepid. According to an 8 Jan 1969 Var box-office chart, the film grossed $2.9 million in film rentals, a figure equal to its estimated budget.
       A re-make was in the works as of early 2003, according to the 25 Feb 2003 DV, which stated that filmmaker Jay Roach planned to direct.