Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Blake Edwards (story)
Frank Waldman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 December 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Family | Mystery

Tagline:

There is only one Inspector Clouseau. His adventure continues...

Plot:

Sixth in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series. The Pink Panther diamond is stolen once again from Lugash...

Plot Keywords:

Clouseau | Pink Panther | Detective | Police | Farce

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau (archive footage)
David Niven	...	Sir Charles Litton
Herbert Lom	...	Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus
Richard Mulligan	...	Clouseau's Father
Joanna Lumley	...	Marie Jouvet
Capucine	...	Lady Simone Litton
Robert Loggia	...	Bruno Langois
Harvey Korman	...	Prof. Auguste Balls
Burt Kwouk	...	Cato Fong
Graham Stark	...	Hercule Lajoy
Peter Arne	...	Col. Bufoni
André Maranne	...	Sergeant Francois Duval
Ronald Fraser	...	Dr. Longet
Leonard Rossiter	...	Super-Intendant Quinlan (archive footage)
Marne Maitland	...	Deputy Commissioner Lasorde

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-8 | Ireland:PG | Norway:12 (1982) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:A (cut) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Titan Productions

Trivia:

Filmed at the same time as Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).

Goofs:

Continuity: In this movie Sir Charles is married to Simone the character from the first Pink Panther movie. But in the Return of the Pink Panther (the third movie) Sir Charles was married to Claudine.

Quotes:

Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus: Miss Jouvet, may I suggest that you go home and forget all about this.
Sergeant Francois Duval: Excuse me.
Marie Jouvet: I shall tell you exactly where I am going to go - directly to me office, where I shall write my next broadcast about the Mafia boss who kidnapped me, and about the chief inspector of the surute who refused to do anything about it.
Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus: In my opinion, that would be most unwise.
Marie Jouvet: What it boils down to, Inspector, is, I don't trust your opinion.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)

Soundtrack:

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair

A Travesty

Blake Edwards was not interested in doing a "tribute" to the late Peter Sellers with this movie. What he wanted to do was find a way to milk more money out of the property by first setting us up with a "Clouseau disappears" movie to squeeze the last nickel out of Sellers posthumously and then hope audiences would come back for the dreadful follow-up with Ted Wass and he could then get some more movies out of it. For the first half, we have half a plot by using old Sellers outtakes and then when he runs out it turns into a "tribute" by spotlighting old clips. What I remember so vividly when I saw this movie in the theaters was how after the outtakes ended, absolutely no one in the theater laughed for the last half of the movie.

If Edwards wanted to do a proper "tribute" he would have taken these Sellers outtakes (which are funny) and put them back into longer directors cut versions of the Panther films they were originally intended for (one outtake finally clears up why Clouseau keeps referring to Colin Blakely as "Sergeant Yard" in "Pink Panther Strikes Again"). The end result would have pleased everyone as a proper tribute to Sellers' genius and when Edwards used to know how to make a funny movie. Unfortunately Edwards wasn't bright enough to think of a sensible idea like that.