Really Not a Bad Collection
The issue of this Pink Panther compendium is rather disappointing for a few important reasons. I knew that RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER would probably not be included for legal reasons and 1968's INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU with Alan Akin as Clouseau as well, but I did expect to have CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER and SON OF THE PINK PANTHER included.
THE PINK PANTHER is a film richly textured with well defined characters, plot, dialogue, production design and location photography. Niven, Sellers and Wagner give very fine performances, which seem to remain fresh and vibrant to this day. Images of the Cortina ski lodge, the costume ball, the wild car chase and especially the animated Pink Panther are part of the iconic cinematic contribution from this film and Henry Mancini's theme and score are equally audibly iconic and indelible as well. This is an eternally endearing film and introduces Inspector Clouseau as Peter Sellers established that character for all future generations to come.
A SHOT IN THE DARK is a great example of sophisticated slapstick (screenplay by Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty based on plays by Harry Kurnitz and Marcel Achard). A SHOT IN THE DARK has Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Kato, which THE PINK PANTHER did not. A SHOT IN THE DARK focuses on Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. It is really more character based and driven than THE PINK PANTHER. In many ways A SHOT IN THE DARK is much funnier. It really defines the character of Clouseau a good-natured inspector who just cannot see the forest for the trees. George Sanders is once again brilliant in another similar role, the type that he perfected throughout his career. This time he is the very sardonic yet stately Benjamin Ballon one of Clouseau's suspects. The cast also includes Elke Sommer (the most obvious suspect to the audience), Tracy Reed, Graham Stark and Martin Benson. The opening shot (shots in the dark) and the nudist colony scenes are great examples of Blake Edwards' direction at his best. Production designer Michael Stringer and cinematographer Christopher Challis visually replicate the idea of shots and murder taking place in the dark or at least in places where passions run uncontrollable. A SHOT IN THE DARK has a much different look than the invigorating and opulent images found in THE PINK PANTHER. Henry Mancini once again delivers a very good score. A SHOT IN THE DARK's main title theme is very good but has been greatly overshadowed by THE PINK PANTHER theme. But can you blame it? A SHOT IN THE DARK is somehow in a league of its own yet it spawned all the great supporting characters found in the subsequent films which we all came to love and couldn't get enough of. A SHOT IN THE DARK was the foundation for what was to come and made the world of Inspector Clouseau so enduring and endearing yet there is something very different and special about this one film. It is somehow etched in a time that can never be replicated. To really enjoy it try to place yourself back in that time. A SHOT IN THE DARK is a true gem.
THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN is a bit of a dichotomy. It starts off extremely humorous with a base in some form of reality. However, as the film progresses, its drifts into the world of the surreal with Herbert Lom really coming into his own in this film. He is outrageously funny and steals this film. Mancini's theme and score is once again on target. This is a fun outing in all.
THE REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER is an entry I was never really fond of, even though it was Peter Sellers' last actual portrayal of Inspector Clouseau. It started out excellent but slowly deteriorated into mundane and silly slapstick. By the time it reached Hong Kong it seemed forced. Even Henry Mancini's score seems a little tired in this one. THE REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER remains a weak entry in the series for me.
Despite the fact that the first 30 minutes of TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER were made up from unused footage and the like of Peter Sellers as Clouseau, these sequences are some of the funniest and most outrageously humorous from the PINK PANTHER series. The remainder of the film follows reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) as she sets a trail to find the whereabouts of the missing Inspector Clouseau. During these scenes we are treated to highlights from the previous films in the PINK PANTHER series and the feeling is one of endearing nostalgia. David Niven as Sir Charles Litton, Burt Kwouk as Cato, Capucine as Lady Simone Litton, Robert Loggia as Bruno Langois, Graham Stark as Hercule Lajoy and André Maranne as Sergeant Francois Duval are all present. Eventually Joanna Lumley meets Clouseau's father innovatively played by Richard Mulligan in a very memorable comic setting at the Clouseau estate. Perhaps this film was assembled to keep the PINK PANTHER series alive, yet it is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. In the final analysis and most importantly, the driving force in the entire film is Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus. His brilliantly perfected performance with neurotic moments of strife and glee in reaction to the inept Clouseau, present or not, is the singular cohesive element that keeps this film afloat and perhaps is why PINK PANTHER series survived as long as it did.
In all this is really not a bad collection. It is just not complete.
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Where is the missing DVD???
With one DVD missing from the collection The Return of th Pink Panther.. The one with Christopher Plummer..... How can this be called a complete box set ? I felt duped and taken and wish I had not purchased the so called 'Box Set'. I believed that I had all the series, however, one of the best ones is missing. I wouldn't purchase until this is corrected...
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