Son of the Pink Panther (1993)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers (WGA):

Maurice Richlin (characters) &
Blake Edwards (characters) ...

Release Date:

27 August 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Funny has a color all its own.

Plot:

Eighth entry in the Pink Panther. It is nearly 30 years since Inspector Jacques Clouseau managed to...

Plot Keywords:

Clouseau | Police | Son | Policeman | Pink Panther

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Roberto Benigni	...	Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli
Herbert Lom	...	Police Commisioner Charles Dreyfus
Claudia Cardinale	...	Maria Gambrelli
Shabana Azmi	...	Queen
Debrah Farentino	...	Princess Yasmin
Jennifer Edwards	...	Yussa
Robert Davi	...	Hans Zarba
Mark Schneider	...	Arnon
Mike Starr	...	Hanif
Kenny Spalding	...	Garth
Anton Rodgers	...	Police Chief Charles Lazar
Burt Kwouk	...	Cato Fong
Graham Stark	...	Professor Auguste Balls
Oliver Cotton	...	King Haroak
Aharon Ipalé	...	Gen. Jaffar

Also Known As:

Blake Edwards' Son of the Pink Panther
Il figlio della pantera rosa (Italy)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Norway:10 | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Jordan

Company:

Filmauro

Trivia:

A straight-to-video release in the UK.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Gambrelli says "ha" when Yussa shoots at him, but his mouth is closed.

Quotes:

Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli: Excuse me, do you know which way is north?
Camel Driver: Yes.
[rides on]

Movie Connections:

Features A Day at the Races (1937)

Son of the Pink Panther was an okay finale to Edwards' iconic series

Ten years after the flop that was Curse of the Pink Panther, director Blake Edwards once again tried to revive his iconic series without the late star Peter Sellers. In Curse, there was some wonder among Dreyfus and Francois if Clifton Sleigh was related to Clouseau. Here, it's confirmed that Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli (Roberto Benigni) is indeed Clouseau's son by his mother, Maria Gambrelli (returning Claudia Cardinale, previously Princess Dala in The original Pink Panther. She replaced Elke Sommer of A Shot in the Dark). It's also confirmed that it's been ten years since Clouseau's death (perhaps a little after the events of Curse, perhaps?). Besides the always welcome return of Herbert Lom as Commissioner-once again!-Charles Dreyfus, we also get again Bert Kwouk as Cato, Liz Smith as Marta Balls (she previously appeared in Trail of the Pink Panther in outtakes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again as well as Curse), and, back as her husband, Professor Auguste Balls, the always versatile Graham Stark (though Harvey Korman played him in Smith's previous entries). With Andre Maranne having died by this time, Dermot Crowley takes over his role of Seargent Francois Duval here. Also new to the cast is Debrah Farentino as Princess Yasmin who falls for Gambrelli, Robert Davi as the villain Hans Zabra, and Edwards' daughter Jennifer as Yussa. All are good in their roles. Incidentally, the director's son Geoffrey Edwards, who previously was co-writer on Trail as well as Curse, is second unit director here as well as the director of the live-action section of the title sequence. Okay, I liked Curse despite the ending so I wondered how I'd feel about this one after what happened there. I was very glad no mention was made of Clouseau's going over to the other side so I half wondered if that was conveniently forgotten or what. Anyway, Benigni was fine mixing his and Sellers' characterizations in making us believe he really was Jacques Clouseau's son and his scenes with Lom are pure gold. Kwouk as Cato is also nicely done compared to his over-the-top attacks on Curse. In fact, I liked his disguise as a Jewish man and his surprise attacks on the villains though I half wondered if he'd die when one of them kicked him back in the refrigerator. Not every set piece was laugh-your-head-off funny but I was pretty entertained from beginning to end. Oh, and there's a cameo by Benigni's wife, Nicoletta Braschi, involving another twist that I won't reveal here. And the beginning live-action/animated title sequence by Desert Music Pictures/Kroyer Films, Inc., respectively, marked a new kind of hilarity as conductor Pink Panther (who is passed the baton from Henry Mancini in a nice cameo) tries to stop the animated Benigni from wreaking havoc in the music/film projector studio as we see Bobby McFerrin use his unique mouth to warble his own version of Mancini's Pink Panther theme. So with this series entry, we say goodbye to the cast and crew of the previous nine (including this one) Pink Panther movies especially Mancini as he'd die not long after. This also turned out to be Edwards' last feature film as once again, Son of the Pink Panther flopped. So in a way, this was indeed the end of the ORIGINAL Pink Panther series. However, someone decided to reboot the series thirteen years later. Next up, The Pink Panther (2006)...