The Pink Panther (1963, Blake Edwards)
The comedy movie that gave us the world’s clumsiest police detective, French inspector Jacques Clouseau, played by British comedian Peter Sellers. Two other things that have become part of the cultural legacy of mankind, are the theme music by Henry Mancini and the animated credit sequence featuring a pink panther.
The pink panther from the title is not an animal, but a diamond; it’s called ‘the pink panther’ because a leaping panther can be spotted in its flaw when looking deeply into the stone (*1). The diamond belongs to princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) from the (fictitious) country of Lugash, but when on holiday n Cortina d’Ampezzo, it is stolen from her by a mysterious jewel thief knick-named the Phantom. The French police inspector Jacques Clouseau is on the Phantom’s trail, not knowing that his wife (Capucine) leads a double life and is actually the Phantom’s mistress and his partner in crime ...
Oddly enough Peter Sellers did not receive top-billing as Clouseau. The movie was intended as a star vehicle for David Niven, who originally would play the inspector, but then decided to play the thief. Sellers was only asked for the role after Peter Ustinov had turned it down. Unlike Niven and Ustinov, Sellers was above all a comedian, and for this reason it was decided to redefine the character when the production was already on its way: most of routines the character is now identified with, were conceived on the set.
Is the film still as enjoyable as it used to be? Well, not an easy question. It soon became clear that Sellers was stealing virtually every scene he was in and for this reason his role was extended, but his character remained one among many and the film plays like an ensemble movie. The first half of the movie is slow-moving with several sequences needlessly drawn-out. Moreover we’ve become too familiar with the clumsy character to enjoy some of Sellers’ routines. But the pace picks up in the second half and the finale, with the costume party and the subsequent chase scene in costume through the streets of Rome, is a hoot. And yes, some of Sellers’ routines may have lost their effectiveness, but his facial expressions and the use of franglish are priceless
⭐⭐⭐½ (out of 5)
As said, Sellers was not top-billed as the inspector (David Niven was as the Phantom), but audiences definitely wanted to see more Sellers and more Clouseau, so the Pink Panther became a franchise and inspector Clouseau would become the central character of the various sequels. Some think that the follow-up, made within a year after the first movie, A Shot in the Dark and (especially) The Pink Panther Strikes Again (made more than a decade later) are superior to the original.
Note:
Reacties
Een reactie posten