The PINK PANTHER Thread

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  • mattjoesmattjoes Pay more attention to your chef
    Posts: 7,057
    Yeah, it's funny how everything goes wrong. Clouseau can't even get the damned gunbarrel sequence right.

    I wonder if Mancini did the music.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    Revenge is an underrated PP movie. I always thought Strikes Again was overrated, but I know I'm in the minority.
  • slide_99slide_99 USA
    edited September 2022 Posts: 698
    1. Return of the Pink Panther- the overall funniest of the bunch. Good mixture of funny dialogue and OTT gags. Also the only PP film where the supporting cast (Plummer and Schell) carry the film just as well as Sellers.

    2. A Shot in the Dark- just narrowly misses being number 1. The best script of them all. It just doesn't reach the comedic heights of Return, probably because it was still the 60s and the style of humor was less OTT.

    3. The Pink Panther- more of a European caper with humorous elements than a flat-out comedy. The classiest of the bunch.

    4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge of the Pink Panther- I can't choose between either. Strikes Again has a lot of funny moments- the best being the scene where Clouseau questions the staff, which might be the funniest scene in the entire series- but it gets downright weird with Dreyfuss turning into a super-villain with a giant laser. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the series. It's too OTT. Meanwhile Revenge isn't as funny and has a lot of gags that are downright terrible, but it's more in keeping with the earlier films, it has a funny female lead, and a great wrap-up in Hong Kong. So, the two films even out.

    5. Trail of the Pink Panther- doesn't really count since it's not exactly a movie but a hatchet job. I barely remember anything from it.

    Haven't seen any of the others.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 755
    Gotta disagree with #1 as far supporting (or rather co-star) cast... the original is still the best there
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,083
    Can anybody tell me why A Shot In The Dark seems to have been unavailable for a long time on Blu-ray, at least in Europe? I'm among those who considers the original Pink Panther comparatively unfunny and would finally love to give the sequel a chance.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Pay more attention to your chef
    edited September 2022 Posts: 7,057
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Can anybody tell me why A Shot In The Dark seems to have been unavailable for a long time on Blu-ray, at least in Europe? I'm among those who considers the original Pink Panther comparatively unfunny and would finally love to give the sequel a chance.
    I think it is meant to be comparatively unfunny. It's more of a glamorous romantic comedy sprinkled with Clouseau silliness. It took me some time to understand that, as I came into it having watched the sequels first, and I was getting bored with all the non-Sellers, non-silly stuff. And then it took me more time to appreciate it on its own terms. Now I can enjoy the rest of it. Robert Wagner is particularly good in that movie. The scene in which Capucine is trying to hide Niven and Wagner from Sellers is fantastic.

    Sorry that I don't have an answer to the Blu-Ray question!


    slide_99 wrote: »
    1. Return of the Pink Panther- the overall funniest of the bunch. Good mixture of funny dialogue and OTT gags. Also the only PP film where the supporting cast (Plummer and Schell) carry the film just as well as Sellers.
    This is my favorite too, precisely because Plummer and Schell are just as fun to watch as Sellers.


    slide_99 wrote: »
    3. The Pink Panther- more of a European caper with humorous elements than a flat-out comedy.
    I agree.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,083
    mattjoes wrote: »
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Can anybody tell me why A Shot In The Dark seems to have been unavailable for a long time on Blu-ray, at least in Europe? I'm among those who considers the original Pink Panther comparatively unfunny and would finally love to give the sequel a chance.

    I think it is meant to be comparatively unfunny. It's more of a glamorous romantic comedy sprinkled with Clouseau silliness. It took me some time to understand that, as I came into it having watched the sequels first, and I was getting bored with all the non-Sellers, non-silly stuff. And then it took me more time to appreciate it on its own terms. Now I can enjoy the rest of it. Robert Wagner is particularly good in that movie. The scene in which Capucine is trying to hide Niven and Wagner from Sellers is fantastic.

    Sorry that I don't have an answer to the Blu-Ray question!
    Thanks anyway. It's just that I started somewhat belatedly with the Pink Panther movies (the first thing I ever experienced in relation to them was the cartoon series on TV in the 1970s) and I thought all of the movies were the pinnacle of comedy...which the first one certainly isn't, althought it is indeed quite a good romantic comedy in which bumbling Inspector Clouseau is actually a sort of foreign object. It just doesn't fit. It's not the total comedy that I expected when reading about the PP series.
  • Posts: 7,616
    You have to remember the original 'The Pink Panther', Clouseau wasnt meant to be the focus of the film, but Sellers made him so appealing to the audiences, the series we know, he became the main character! I do like the end chase, but overall its not as entertaining as the follow up movies. I put 'Return' and 'A Shot in the Dark' as the best, the others have great moments, but those two shine the most!
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,207
    Got to admit I love all the Sellers PP films, but the original I love for different reasons, such as David Niven and Capucine, as well as the atmosphere and beautiful Cortina d’Ampezzo.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,479
    This may or may not be true, but A Shot in The Dark was not supposed to be a Clouseau film. Sellers was cast and saw the script needed help, he suggested Blake be brought in and the rest as they say is history.

    I recently re-watched it with my son. I have a fondness for Herbert Lom as Dreyfus. The twitch that starts in this movie. The little suppressed giggle when talking about Clouseau. Just great stuff. I also loved Sellers and how he owns the character in this one. Not too OTT yet, but some great sequences from him. The police wagon gag is so funny. Especially the last one when him and Maria are in the wagon after being found nude in their car.
  • edited September 2022 Posts: 440
    The Pink Panther (1963) - A decent film but so unlike the later instalments that it really has to be viewed on its own terms as a romantic caper film vehicle for David Niven. Even on that level though, it's really only ok. The production being based in Italy means that there is a lot of very unconvincing dubbing and sound recording which can rankle a bit.

    A Shot in the Dark -
    A big step up and essentially creates what we think of as the Pink Panther franchise. Dreyfus, Cato, token one-movie love interest, a genuine problem for Clouseau to solve etc...

    Still a little unusual though in that the comedy is much more sparse and low-key, this is almost a mystery movie with comedic elements and not a comedy mystery. The move to the UK is appreciated, if not for the much bigger sets (Michael Stringer's work is superb) then at least for not having every cast member being unconvincingly dubbed.

    Inspector Clouseau - A movie which seemingly nobody involved wanted to make, Poor Alan Arkin is given almost nothing to work with here, which is a shame as he could've really sold the role. The few times he is given a witty line or a well-directed bit of schtick, he sells it well enough. Nice supporting cast here too (though this is true of most Panther films).

    Blake Edwards is sorely missed here as movie as a whole also feels much cheaper than any of the Sellers movies, despite having a similar budget and production crew. The film was also sheared down haphazardly in post-production leading to gags either running too long or being cut off, and entire plot elements and characters appearing and disappearing from the movie randomly.

    Return of the Pink Panther - Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers' careers were in the dumps by this point and they were forced to make this movie on the cheap just to get a bit of quick cash. Somehow they managed to turn out the single funniest movie in the franchise and possibly the very best.

    Though maybe it's not that surprising as the movie essentially rehashes the best elements and gags from the first Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark, turns them up to 11, and then places them into a genuinely clever mystery plot. The opening heist is also very suspenseful and well done as is Mancini's score.

    The Pink Panther Strikes Again-As with the Return, bigger and stupider is the order of the day here and unlike Returns which had a very cleverly written plot, this is completely slapdash. Luckily it's just as funny and almost all the individual scenes and setpieces work very well on their own so really, who cares?

    While Sellers might be the funniest actor in the franchise, Lom might just give my favourite performance. The value of Edwards is perhaps best demonstrated here. His directing really emphasizes both the dramatic and the comedic elements of the movie. The scale feels massive and even the scenes and actors without any comedic improvisation are still written and directed hilariously.

    Revenge of the Pink Panther - The weakest movie since Inspector Clouseau but nowhere near as bad. This is still a funny movie but Sellers' desire to leave the franchise makes sense as many of the bits are starting to feel a bit stale with comparatively fewer new elements to replace them.

    If the last couple of movies were Lom's, this one is definitely Burt Kwouk's. Cato finally gets more to do in the plot and his non-fighting double act with Sellers throughout the movie's second half is a highlight. If they needed someone to take over after Sellers died, this movie makes a very good case for him.

    Trail of the Pink Panther - Viewed as a movie, this is pretty terrible. Viewed as a clip show it's... still pretty weak. But the deleted footage from Strikes Again is nice, even if it becomes very clear why it was deleted.

    It's nice to see the old cast come back and they all do a good job. The scenes where Edwards is clearly reflecting on his tumultuous relationship with Sellers via the characters remembering Clouseau is genuinely nice though.


    Curse of the Pink Panther - I'm not sure why people hate this movie more than Trail, unlike that it is, at least, an actual film and not just a clip show. This movie and Trail were shot back to back and like most films shot back to back it feels like one big bloated story that should've been cut down to a single 2-hour movie.

    The supporting Clouseau characters are always good but it also becomes very clear that Edwards' plan to move the series to America without them wouldn't have worked. Wass is decent but he is buoyed very heavily by those other characters and without them, I doubt it would have worked. Roger Moore's cameo is very funny and a nicely mean send-off to Clouseau.

    Son of the Pink Panther - I've never enjoyed Robert Begnini so I am not really primed to like this film, that being said, I can see why he was cast and he's not at peak insufferable levels here. Edwards also tries to take the series in a much darker direction (which matches his output at this time) that aspect actually works quite well.

    Much like Inspector Clouseau though, it's been edited to shreds and so many sequences that might be funny or suspenseful get cut off right in the middle for seemingly no rhyme or reason. The end credits even list an actor as "Clouseau's Ghost", whose footage I would be fascinated to see.

    The Pink Panther (2006)- The modern Hollywood approach toward comedy badly lets down what could've been a very funny film. Instead of Edwards' precise blocking/staging and an already humorous script made better by improvisation we have this. Director Shawn Levy went on record as saying that much of the film's dialogue sequences were achieved through improvisation and it shows.

    What makes it worse is that a few sequences which clearly could not have been improvised are actually decently funny. These generally tend to be the ones that reflect Steve Martin's slightly more surreal sense of humour.

    The scale is at least nice, with the most European location filming of any Panther movie (though for the first time since 1963, it was not shot in the UK) with the majority of studio and location filming taking place mostly in New York.

    However, the studio's mandated $5 million re-shoots to turn it from a talky PG-13 to a more slapstick-oriented family PG, does lead to some odd tonal issues and a bloated budget. (With reshoots taking place in Los Angeles, London, and Vancouver). As well as moments where the characters will suddenly be thinner or have different hair colors halfway through a scene.

    The Pink Panther 2 - Somehow both better and worse than the first Martin film, this was at least made with the understanding that it would be a PG movie. With Sony taking over the technical aspects of the movie it actually looks very nice and colourful, at least moreso than the first movie.

    It does look much cheaper though, as the 2006 movie at least had a sense of scale and international filming. With the sequel's budget being cut and the pay bumps for the actors, this movie was shot almost entirely in Boston despite being set all over Europe.

    A better supporting cast this time around though and John Cleese is much more memorable as Dreyfus than Kevin Kline despite being given less to do.

  • Posts: 7,616
    thedove wrote: »
    This may or may not be true, but A Shot in The Dark was not supposed to be a Clouseau film. Sellers was cast and saw the script needed help, he suggested Blake be brought in and the rest as they say is history.

    I recently re-watched it with my son. I have a fondness for Herbert Lom as Dreyfus. The twitch that starts in this movie. The little suppressed giggle when talking about Clouseau. Just great stuff. I also loved Sellers and how he owns the character in this one. Not too OTT yet, but some great sequences from him. The police wagon gag is so funny. Especially the last one when him and Maria are in the wagon after being found nude in their car.

    It is true, A Shot in the Dark was adapted from a play by Harry Kurnitz, which itself was adapted from a French play called 'L'idiote!' So it wasnt meant to feature Clouseau!
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,207
    Ranking them according my personal enjoyment of them:

    1. The Return of the Pink Panther
    2. The Pink Panther
    3. A Shot in the Dark
    4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
    5. Revenge of the Pink Panther
    6. Trail of the Pink Panther
    7. Curse of the Pink Panther

    Haven’t seen the ones with Arkin or Begnini. Of the ‘modern’ adaptations I’ve only seen the 2006 one. Wasn’t too fond of it really. I’d definitely put it lower than Trail, maybe also lower than Curse.

    Those last two might not be cinema’s finest hours but the presences of David Niven, Capucine and Roger Moore make them worth a watch.
  • edited October 2022 Posts: 440
    Incredible find here. Someone has scanned and uploaded a private blooper reel from The Pink Panther Strikes Again. As far as I know, it's never appeared on any home media release of the series.

    Not only does it contain tons of footage not seen in any of the other blooper reels from the franchise, but it's also in much higher quality, full uncropped widescreen, and scanned into HD.

    And the end even has a little skit done by the production team in their spare time.

  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,413
    Incredible find here. Someone has scanned and uploaded a private blooper reel from The Pink Panther Strikes Again. As far as I know, it's never appeared on any home media release of the series.

    Not only does it contain tons of footage not seen in any of the other blooper reels from the franchise, but it's also in much higher quality, full uncropped widescreen, and scanned into HD.

    And the end even has a little skit done by the production team in their spare time.


    That was great, Chevalliers poor skull :))
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    edited December 2022 Posts: 25,413
    Watching Curse of the Pink Panther, incredibly exploitative, it's far worse than I remember. None of the so called humour lands.

    The description on Prime for the film is the funniest joke... 'Inspector Clouseau is missing and the Pink Panther is hot on his trail in this wildly funny laugh fest...' 🤔
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    edited December 2022 Posts: 25,413

    Perfection.
    ---

    Seler's is on fire.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,918
    PINK PANTHER & JAMES BOND | EPIC Theme Song Mashup 2022 (2:58)
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,413
    PINK PANTHER & JAMES BOND | EPIC Theme Song Mashup 2022 (2:58)

    The themes merge perfectly, this is a great mix.
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