![]() ![]() Seller's performance is the highlight of the movie, and it gave birth to what would become one of the defining characters of his career. But funny he is, even as he experiments, searching for that perfect comedic note (which he would finally find in `The Pink Panther Strikes Again'). It's interesting to watch this movie again, especially after seeing the rest of the series, as you're seeing Clouseau in his raw stage of development the accent is not yet as pronounced as it will be later, and his `denseness' is not quite refined yet. And then again, he had the inimitable Sellers as his star, which was certainly no hindrance to their combined efforts. In developing his formula he seemed to possess an innate sense of what was funny, even from an objective point of view- which is amazing, given that comedy is probably the most subjective of genres. Edwards was clever enough to discern that key element in the original, and not only expand upon it for the sequels, but fine tune it as he did so. There are the exceptions, of course, like the `Stars Wars' saga, the `Indiana Jones' movies and, it goes without saying, the `Panther' films. ![]() Merely expanding the part that worked before doesn't insure success usually, in fact, quite the opposite is true, as without fail it becomes a matter of overkill (The Penguin was no Joker, and those participating in `The Return of the Seven' weren't so `magnificent' after all). Often a sequel fails because the filmmaker has attempted to capitalize on an element of the original that seemingly made it good, only to discover that what the poet once said is true: You can never go home again. From the day it premiered, it was readily apparent that what really made it a go was Sellers and Edwards and his team have to be given credit for recognizing it immediately. Consequently, though funny, the hilarity level of this one is comparatively low, though it does have it's moments, the best of which involve Clouseau. And can anyone remember a time before Henry Mancini's familiar theme existed? Being the first, of course, makes this the prototype, and though it's a good movie, it's obvious that the formula for success which the following films in the series employed had not yet been honed to perfection. it also introduced His Royal Pinkness, the Panther himself, to the format of the feature length motion picture. This film is memorable for a number of reasons, primarily for being the first in a tremendously successful (and funny) series which would ultimately showcase one of the world's favorite cinematic policemen, the bumbling Jacques Clouseau (Sellers). The film was shot in Cortina d'Ampezzo and Rome (Italy), Paris (France) and Los Angeles (USA).The one that started it all and set `Clouseau' on the path to becoming Chief Inspector, `The Pink Panther,' directed by Blake Edwards, stars David Niven and Peter Sellers. The cartoon panther has subsequently appeared in the same manner in several sequels to this film and eventually his own TV series The Pink Panther Show (1969). Interesting facts : Although the film's title actually refers to a diamond, the credits are presented in a cartoon sequence featuring a pink panther who interacts with the lettering in various ways, spinning letters around, unscrambling words, inserting extra credits for himself, and so on. ![]()
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