Trail Of The Pink Panther
Sometimes it might just be better to let some things lay to rest. Movies have a long history of having their lead actor die during production only to have the entire film retooled from its original script and story so that the existing footage filmed can still be used to put together a coherent presentation. In the case of Brandon Leeâs passing during the filming of The Crow, the results turned out to be brilliant, giving us a moving, ethereal tribute to Lee himself while still presenting us with a thrilling storyline. In most other cases though, not so much. But yet still there remains one rare case where the filmâs lead actor had actually died BEFORE filming, leading to the use of outtake footage from the actorâs previous films being edited in with new footage to be foisted on the public as a brand NEW film featuring its star (who had died two years before the release). That would be this 1982 feature which would be the sixth (but not the last) in the Pink Panther franchise directed by Blake Edwards but it would be the last featuring Peter Sellers being top billed above the title as Inspector Clouseau despite Sellers having died of a massive heart attack way back in 1980. Shortly before his passing, Sellers had made a bit of a power play with the franchise, having written his own script for the next Clouseau film (to have been titled Romance Of The Pink Panther) and even succeeding in having Edwards removed from the directorâs chair to be replaced by someone of his own choosing. The film was greenlighted shortly before his death and when he died mere weeks before filming was to begin, the entire thing was scrapped. Edwards then successfully pitched this concept to the studio, having gotten hold of all the unused Sellers / Clouseau bits that had been filmed for the previous three movies and he intended to somehow weave them into creating an entirely new story (somewhat) with the stated purpose of presenting a heartfelt tribute to Sellers that would be marketed as his last starring role and even intimating that he had recently filmed the footage but then died before completing the movie (which was not true as the footage was shot during production of the three previous âofficialâ Panther films between 1975 and 1978). The reaction was not quite what they had hoped: Audiences were aghast, realizing that the new footage of Sellers as Clouseau (funny as it is) made little to no sense when matched with the âstoryâ of the movie itself, and even worse, they were bored to tears when the second half of the film turned into a mere clip show / highlight reel / tribute special with really no story at all to speak of in terms of being an actual film as even Sellersâ family and widow were so offended over the presentation and marketing that they filed a massive lawsuit against the production company (and won). The filmâs premise (initially) was a rehash of that of both the original film and Return Of The Pink Panther as the fabled Pink Panther diamond finds itself yet again being stolen by a thief who not only curiously boasts a similar looking moustache to Clouseau, but gets away with the precious jewel in considerably easier fashion than the thief who committed the robbery in Return, where all kinds of extremely advanced technology was in play and required to be outwitted in order to pull it off. The leaders of the fictional country where the diamond was stolen from again request Clouseau being put on the case, although Clouseau himself seems pretty lackadaisical in getting around to it, preferring instead to set his office on fire a couple of times (as Edwards is obviously milking everything he can here). Herbert Lom returns as Chief Inspector Dreyfus and even his schtick is nowhere near as inspired here as he has somewhat of a relapse with his obsession of killing Clouseau and finds himself back on his psychiatristâs couch, but at least we finally see his wife for the first time in the series. Clouseau travels to London for no other reason than to use deleted footage from Strikes Again of him dealing with Scotland Yard and then gets on another flight bound for the fictional country where the diamond was stolen, officially clocking out as a âliveâ character in the story about 38 minutes in, leading to a major shifting in gears where itâs announced that Clouseauâs plane has gone missing and is believed to have crashed into the ocean, Dreyfus once again pronounces himself as being âcuredâ upon hearing the news, and The Panther diamond theft itself is completely and utterly dropped and ignored as the story now focuses on a tenacious female reporter (Joanna Lumley) setting out to do a major news piece on Clouseauâs disappearance which includes interviewing several of the people who knew him best, including Dreyfus (again having trouble containing his glee on live television), Burt Kwoukâs Cato (who ambushes the girl reporter but loses), Graham Stark as Clouseauâs old assistant Hercule Lovejoy (a character not seen since 1964âs A Shot In The Dark) and most disturbingly, Sir Charles Litton (The Phantom) himself along with his wife (Clouseauâs ex wife) Simone, played respectively by David Niven and Capucine returning to the series for the first time since the original Pink Panther in 1963. The problem is that Niven really was near death himself during the filming (and would die shortly after) and was actually so weak that he couldnât even speak properly, leading to him mouthing most of his onscreen dialogue which was later dubbed by the famous impressionist Rich Little. She also is coerced into a meeting with a crime boss played by Robert Loggia (returning from Revenge) and finally meets with Clouseauâs father as played by the late, underrated comedic character actor Richard Mulligan who if not really being all that funny here, still gives the best performance in the film and is totally convincing as Clouseauâs aged, drunken dad, making us believe fully that he and Peter Sellers could have come from the same gene pool. Unfortunately for Edwards, he was unable to obtain the rights to the outtake footage from 1975âs Return (which featured the same basic plot of the diamond being stolen and reportedly had footage that would have helped Sellersâ role in this one make much more sense) and his initial ideas of making this more of a comedic, Citizen Kane type spoof fell almost completely by the wayside in favor of having very little acting or insight being done by the interviewed characters (save for Loggia who comes off in a gently threatening manner towards Lumley for the sake of protecting his business), opting instead for extensive clips from all of the previous movies with a little bit of narration from the interviewees for good measure (Niven / Little does get off a halfway touching monologue while reflecting on Clouseau though). Even moreso, the film ends rather flatly and abruptly with the mystery unsolved (although the prevailing indication is that Clouseau is still very much alive which would be the basis for the next film, Curse Of The Pink Panther which at least consisted of entirely newly shot footage) before we get another extended end credits highlight reel of Sellers as Clouseau in various bits which only drives home the point that while Clouseau might still be alive, Peter Sellers is most definitely dead and not coming back for another sequel. Now whether Edwards should have allowed the series to end with 1978âs Revenge (which would have been fitting given the âClouseau is dead?â angle had been used there prior) instead of shouldering on in the almost perverse way that he did (and given that had Sellers lived, Edwards never would have made another Panther film anyway and may have harbored a slight grudge) will always be open for debate as at least the next entry in Curse introduced a new lead character in Ted Wassâs Clifton Sleigh (and not in a entirely unsuccessful manner it should be said) and this filmâs opening dedication to Sellers as being âthe one and only Inspector Clouseauâ would be (and was) contradicted by Alan Arkin, Roberto Benigni as Clouseauâs son years later and of course most notoriously by a woefully miscast Steve Martin. If you go to watch movies to see nice tributes to your favorite late actors, this might be your cup of tea, but if you were expecting a compelling (yet funny) story that upholds the gold standard of a series and franchise such as this, then be prepared to be woefully disappointed at just what a lame, patchwork effort that Peter Sellersâ âfinal roleâ would turn out to beâŚ
3/10