Revenge Of The Pink Panther
By 1978, both Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers had declared themselves to be DONE with The Pink Panther Franchise, but when the studio practically backed a brinkâs truck full of money up to the front door of both menâs homes, the inevitability of yet another sequel would indeed come to pass. With the exception of Return (a greatly improved redo of the original Pink Panther), the principals involved deserve credit for at least taking each new film in a unique and different direction while always remembering that the plots and storylines were mere window dressing always when compared to the legendary love / hate relationship between Sellersâ Inspector Clouseau and Herbert Lomâs Chief Inspector Dreyfus. After doing an elaborate spoof of the James Bond films with the last entry in Strikes Again (with Dreyfus taking on the role of a supervillain / Dr. Evil type character with mixed results), here the decision was made to stage an elaborate parody not only of The Godfather, but also The French Connection (only natural since the home base of the series is set in France) with the premise featuring Clouseau (and Dreyfus) taking on the French organized crime underworld as embodied by Douvier (Robert Webber), said to be one of the richest and most respectable men in all of France while also running (presumably) one of the largest heroin smuggling operations in the world. The film starts on almost a somber note as Webberâs Douvier is visited by a representative of the New York Mob (Robert Loggia) and given the bad news that his American partners wish to back out of whatever deal that they have made with him on the pretense that heâs just ânot strong enoughâ anymore. Webber promises to give them a sign that heâs still as strong as ever and it turns out that the best way to accomplish that is to order a contracted hit on none other than Clouseau himself, said to have survived a recorded sixteen assassination attempts (âincluding two by his own bossâ as is pointed out) and considered to be such a well known and esteemed man that he is more famous to people outside of France than even the President Of France! Once the hit goes out, then itâs something that even Clouseau has never seen before with a bomb being delivered to the shop where he gets his disguises which he survives (even if the city block does not) before going home fearful of another Cato attack only this time having to deal with Mr. Chong (American Kenpo Master Ed Parker), a highly skilled assassin for whom Clouseau finally sees his long hours of fights and training with Cato finally pay off for him (before Cato launches another sneak attack anyway) and then finally he finds himself carjacked by a transvestite who steals his hat and coat away from him before the transvestite runs into a full on ambush that sees him killed in Clouseauâs place and the car itself blown up to prevent further identification. With the word out that Clouseau is believed to be dead, the effects and ramifications are immediate, as Dreyfus (last seen being vaporized at the end of Strikes Again which must have been either a paranoid delusional hallucination while Dreyfus was in the loony bin or just simply a non canon chapter that meant nothing to the overall series storyline) enjoys a literal 12 hour turnaround to recovery that is unheard of by his doctors and finds himself fully reinstated to his old rank with no loss of pension or benefits! The caveat though is that he is assigned to find Clouseauâs killers and bring them to justice, a prospect that he finds less than enticing. Meanwhile, Clouseau slinks back to his apartment, only to find that Cato (again in only a matter of a few hours) has completely redecorated and redesigned the place into being an Asian brothel, complete with a Mama San madam, a hulking bouncer / bodyguard and a bevy of of beautiful girls including a gorgeous whip wielding dominatrix. Once Clouseau huddles with Cato in the back office, he reveals that with Catoâs help, he will infiltrate the underworld in order to bring down the criminals who believe that they have killed him, thus opening the door for one of the few pleasures unique to this sequel, that of seeing Clouseau and Cato actually working together on a case. Meanwhile, Dreyfus has actually been asked to read the eulogy at Clouseauâs funeral, an honor which he refuses at first but then gives in due to âpoliticsâ, making for one of Lomâs finest hours in the series, reading the saintly, emotional words about his hated Clouseau all while trying not to laugh hysterically. Now comes the bit about this movie that elevates it ever so slightly into greatness: While Clouseau has chosen markedly to just reveal himself and the fact that he is still alive to only a very select few whom he trusts (Cato, Professor Balls his disguise maker), whenever he happens to cross paths with Dreyfus at various times throughout the film, he never hesitates to lift up his disguises and quickly reveal his face to his old boss, a gesture that always seems to result in Dreyfus having a fainting spell. But the real question is why? Why would Clouseau reveal himself to a guy whose entire insanity (and recovery) was based upon having a seething hatred of him and his foolish ways? While some could speculate that Clouseau would only do such a thing to purposely antagonize him, given the weight and importance of keeping his still living status a secret at that time, one can only conclude that (amazingly) Clouseau still TRUSTED Dreyfus as being an old friend and confidante (after all, their relationship goes back at least 14 years and at one point it is said that Dreyfus knew him better than anybody) that he would feel comfortable with revealing himself to a guy who knew and hated him so much that he had twice tried to kill him. Dreyfus for his part thinks at first that heâs hallucinating out of some repressed guilt, but when he starts thinking that maybe Clouseau really is alive and about to blow the case wide open, he realizes that he had better get to solving it first and heads to Hong Kong where most of the third act takes place. Unfortunately, the Clouseau / Dreyfus dynamic is not as explored as extensively as it was in the previous films (with Lomâs role at times almost feeling like an extended cameo despite the fact that, as usual, he is second billed here) with the focus being more on the machinations of the Webber character and the falling out between him and his beautiful secretary / mistress played by Dyan Cannon, whom he fears could orchestrate his downfall out of spite over their breakup and thus orders for her to be killed too, allowing for her to fall under the protection of Clouseau and Cato. Cannon plays yet another one of those âgood girl mixed up with the bad guyâ types here and typically succeeds in drawing sympathy under the idea that she was with such a rotten son of a bitch because it was the only way for her to survive in this world (as usual). It all leads up to Clouseau (and Dreyfus) heading out to intercept an all important business meeting in Hong Kong between Webber and the New York Godfather (with whom Loggia is aligned) but since it turns out that Webber has never laid eyes on The Godfather himself, this provides a chance for Clouseau to strap on his âGodfather suitâ (complete with the old Brando trick of stuffing cotton in his cheeks which he chokes on later) and of course sporting a bloated belly (also Brando) as he struts on out doing an over the top Brando impersonation. Of course, he tips off Dreyfus to his presence again (and by now the good Chief Inspector is fully convinced that heâs alive) so that when all of the major players are gathered in one place, Dreyfus naturally completely forgets all about the criminals that theyâre supposed to be busting and goes straight for Clouseau, firing away at him with his Colt Python (Clouseau: âItâs me!â Dreyfus: âI know!â) prior to one more final confrontation in a fireworks warehouse. Sadly, this was to be Sellersâ last completed film in The Panther series (not counting the bastardized outtake reel abomination that was Trail), but at least it managed to go out on several high notes including Henry Mancini doing a disco take on the classic theme music and the reassurance that Lomâs Dreyfus was still alive (with Lom continuing to carry the torch until 1993âs misguided Son Of The Pink Panther with Roberto Benigni as Clouseauâs son) to fight another day. Certainly not the best of the series, but considering some of what had come before (and definitely after), it still earns its credentials as being a true comedy classicâŚ
8/10