Peter Sellers casts his shadow and his legacy over Blake Edwards’ “Sellers-less” Pink Panther films.

Director: Blake Edwards/1983/1993

Street Date: June 27, 2017/Kino Lorber Studio Classics

Blake Edwards’ classic Pink Panther movies starring the late-great comedic genius Peter Sellers are each comedy gems.  Following Seller’s 1980 death, Edwards made a new Pink Panther film, Trail of the Pink Panther.  It featured Sellers in deleted scenes from the previous films, ending with the possible death of the character, before it is revealed that he is standing on a cliff looking out on the ocean.  While this would be the last time Sellers would appear onscreen as Inspector Clouseau, I’m sorry…CHIEF Inspector Clouseau, it would be his shadow that hung over the next two Blake Edwards installments of this classic franchise.  These turned out to also be the last Pink Panther entries involving Edwards.

While this Pink Panther Series did not continue, Son of the Pink Panther did give us a glimpse, more so than Curse of the Pink Panther, of the brilliance of this series as a whole.  It also provided a legacy for Peter Sellers in terms of measuring just how big of an impact he had on this series both with his involvement and with his noticeable absence.

Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

Filmed concurrently with Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther brought in Ted Wass as New York Detective Clifton Sleigh.  Sleigh is chosen by the world’s smartest computer who will select the world’s greatest detective to find Clouseau. The computer is reprogrammed by Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) before the big selection day to actually find the world’s worst detective.  Sleigh is eagerly sent by his superiors, who long to get rid of him, to Paris to begin the search.

Curse of the Pink Panther features an all-star cast, bringing back the likes of David Niven, Robert Wagner, Capucine, Robert Loggia, Harvey Korman, Ed Parker, Herbert Lom, Andre Marrane, Joanna Lumley, and of course Clouseau’s man-servant Cato, played again by Burt Kwouk.

While Ted Wass ably handled the physical comedy involved with a Pink Panther film where the protagonist takes himself very seriously in spite of the pratfalls and absurd situations he is perpetrating on the other individuals in the scene, something was off.  This was borne out with the way United Artists failed to market the film, and the subsequent box office failure that this film was.  Ted Wass, who was offered a six film contract as Edwards planned for this film to shift the setting of the series from France to the United States, never had the chance to play Clifton Sleigh again.

The true highlight of the film, is seeing Sir Roger Moore, who was filming the James Bond film Octopussy at the time, show up as France’s favorite detective.  Moore shows he could deliver physical comedy with the best of them, wearing an ice bucket on his head for much of his scene, as well as mastering the falls and random karate chops Clouseau was known for. Moore also pays tribute to Sellers in the way he portrays the famous French detective following plastic surgery, speaking in Clouseau’s butchered French (but in English) and using Clouseau’s popular phrases like calling people “swine”.  It is a good tribute by Moore, but the film suffered heavily without Sellers.

Edwards was approached about recasting the role of Clouseau, before deciding on Wass, but following the poor reception of Alan Arkin’s 1968 portrayal of the detective in the film Inspector Clouseau, recasting was not an option. While the idea of centering on a new character altogether ala Clifton Sleigh seemed like a good idea, it failed to gain traction with audiences.

For the Blu-ray release, Kino Lorber has included a number of extras such as trailers for the various Pink Panther films, as well as a new interview with Ted Wass.

*****

Son of the Pink Panther (1993)

Following the failure to reboot the series on television, director Blake Edwards made one last attempt to keep the famed Pink Panther series alive launching Son of the Pink Panther 30 years after the original Pink Panther film debuted in 1963.

Returning to the series would be Herbert Lom as Commissioner Dreyfus, Burt Kwouk as Cato, and Graham Stark who played various roles in the series over the years.  Also appearing from the original film, The Pink Panther (1963), was Claudia Cardinale (Once Upon a Time in the West) although here she is appearing in a different role.

When Princess Yasmin (Debrah Farentino) is kidnapped by Hans Zarba (Robert Davi) and his henchmen (who includes Blake Edwards’ daughter Jennifer), France is desperate to solve the case and rescue the princess.  Commissioner Dreyfus is tasked with solving the case, and his rival Chief Inspector Lazar (Anton Rodgers) isn’t happy that he isn’t running the investigation.  When Dreyfus orders Lazar to put give him his best man for the job, Lazar gives Dreyfus his worst, Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli played by the hilarious Roberto Benigni (who won an Oscar just a few years later for Life is Beautiful).

Benigni enters the film as a classic silent movie star according to Jason Simos of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society. Emulating the best of Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, Sellers, and even Laurel and Hardy, Benigni puts an Italian spin on this Frenchman who reminds Comm. Dreyfus all-too-much of Inspector Clouseau.  Even his famous eye-twitch comes back the first time they meet.  When Dreyfus meets Officer Gambrelli’s mother (Cardinale) and she confirms that Gambrelli is the son of Clouseau following a short but passionate affair, Dreyfus finds history repeating itself.

While Benigni is a wonderful comedian and ably handles Edwards’ gags and setups with perfect timing and execution, Son of the Pink Panther still suffers from the lack of Sellers. It also suffers in being a 1960’s era film in terms of humor and physical gags, while being set in the 1990’s.  It felt dated…even then. Benigni would have totally been able to take the reigns of this franchise had Son of the Pink Panther been a success, but instead it would be prove to be the swan song for the series (not including the reboot with Steve Martin), as well as for Blake Edwards who did not direct another movie on the silver screen again.  It would also be the last film featuring Henry Mancini, the composer of the classic Pink Panther Theme and his many other musical contributions in film.

While this Pink Panther series did not continue, Son of the Pink Panther did give us a glimpse, more so than Curse of the Pink Panther, of the brilliance of this series as a whole.  It also provided a legacy for Peter Sellers in terms of measuring just how big of an impact he had on this series both with his involvement and with his noticeable absence.  Edwards also insured through the character of Gambrelli, which was cemented by Begigni’s performance, that the character of Inspector Clouseau….I’m sorry, CHIEF Inspector Clouseau, would live on, even if there would be no future cases for us to see.

This Blu-ray features an audio commentary with Jason Simos of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society, a “making of” featurette, as well as an extended trailer of the film, 2 deleted scenes, and trailers of the classic Pink Panther films.

The images in this review are not representative of the actual Blu-ray’s image quality, and are included only to represent the film itself.

Peter Sellers casts his shadow and his legacy over Blake Edwards’ “Sellers-less” Pink Panther films.