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I wonder if Mancini did the music.
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.
Sorry that I don't have an answer to the Blu-Ray question!
This is my favorite too, precisely because Plummer and Schell are just as fun to watch as Sellers.
I agree.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 :))
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...' 🤔
Perfection.
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Seler's is on fire.
The themes merge perfectly, this is a great mix.