SYNOPSIS

Set in a fashionable resort in the Italian Alps, the story of The Pink Panther centers on the attempt by Sir Charles Lytton to steal a magnificent gem from the visiting Princess Dahla. Unknown to others, Lytton is actually the legendary Phantom, a notorious thief adored by women and envied by men. For years, French Inspector Clouseau has been hot on the trail of the Phantom, who always manages to elude capture at the last minute. That's because his mistress and accomplice is Clouseau's wife, and the bungling inspector is too dim to conceive of such a ploy. Complicating matters is Lytton's American-born nephew George, a collegiate playboy who secretly aspires to follow in his uncle's footsteps, and Dahla's own efforts to conceal the jewel for legal reasons. When the gem is stolen by two thieves disguised as gorillas, Clouseau closes in on his prey. Thinking he's caught the crook at last, the detective finds the tables turned on him when the case goes to trial.

Director: Blake Edwards

Producers: Martin Jurow, Walter Mirisch (uncredited)

Screenplay: Maurice Richlin, Blake Edwards

Cinematography: Philip Lathrop

Editing: Ralph E. Winters

Art Direction: Fernando Carrere

Original Music: Henry Mancini
Cast: David Niven (Sir Charles Lytton), Peter Sellers (Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Robert Wagner (George Lytton), Capucine (Simone Clouseau), Claudia Cardinale (Princess Dahla)

Why THE PINK PANTHER is Essential

In a career cut short by his early death in 1980 at the age of 54, Peter Sellers created a handful of unforgettable characters: Clare Quilty in Lolita (1962); the triple play of Captain Mandrake, President Muffley, and the title character in Dr. Strangelove (1964); and his acting triumph as Chance the Gardener in Being There (1979). But the character he played most and the one he is probably most closely associated with in the minds of many audiences was the bumbling French detective Inspector Clouseau. The part has also been played by Alan Arkin and Steve Martin, neither of them slouches when it comes to comedy, and later installments in the long-running series attempted to fill the deceased Sellers's shoes with actors Ted Wass and Roberto Benigni as characters taking off from the Clouseau schtick, but no one has ever matched Peter Sellers in the role. What makes his performance so iconic is not simply the verbal and physical gaffes but his absolute commitment to retain his dignity even at his most buffoonish.

Sellers relished collaborating with director Blake Edwards to develop Clouseau's distinctive look, sound, and style in the character's first appearance in The Pink Panther. Always gifted at portraying characters of widely ranging ages, personalities, and ethnicities, Sellers here was able to stretch his skills in physical comedy. The slapstick aspects of the role would be expanded even more in future entries in the Panther series, a dangerous proposition for a man with a serious heart condition but always a delight for audiences.

Despite his positive energy while working on this film, Sellers publicly repudiated it soon after its completion. After a series of mostly box office duds in the late 60s and early 70s, he came back to the role in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), a decision that would turn out to be both a blessing and a curse for him. A delight to work with when he was challenged by a role, he became increasingly difficult to handle as Clouseau. With the worldwide success of the series, it became the one job that sustained him financially, but he resented having to portray the comic caricature over and over when he would have preferred to be a handsome, suave leading man. It was only with Being There that he would at last achieve the respect he sought as an actor rather than merely a comic player with a genius gift for mimicry.

Because we think of this now as Sellers's movie, it's easy to forget that this is essentially an ensemble comedy with an all-star cast, something for which director and co-writer (with Maurice Richlin) Blake Edwards had a knack (The Great Race, 1965; What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, 1966; S.O.B., 1981). David Niven, who expected to capitalize on his character in The Pink Panther, is top-billed as a sophisticated society swain who leads a double life as an ace jewel thief. He's joined by international beauties Claudia Cardinale and Capucine and American leading man Robert Wagner, all doing their best to get noticed behind Sellers's comic turn, which grew in scope with each new idea and bit of business he and Edwards cooked up. Despite the bitterness that would mark their later relationship, this stands as one of cinema's most inspired collaborations between a director and actor.

What may be most interesting about the movie, however, is how it illustrates not only the often difficult and complicated relationships between certain stars and their frequent directors (think of Errol Flynn and Michael Curtiz back in the 1930s) but also the traps that box office success can lead to. Edwards started his career dabbling in a range of genres and styles, and Sellers's great ambition was to become a romantic, attractive leading man, but throughout the late 70s, the Panther series was their best and often only path to success. It put a serious strain on their relationship and on the movies themselves.

The Pink Panther is a pleasant enough romp, a sex farce in which none of the characters ever get to have sex, a detective story in which the detective introduces not the expected rational solution but more and more chaos. Still, it's no great comedy milestone. Yet commercial success led its collaborators to return to it again and again. By most critical standards, the subsequent films in the series (after A Shot in the Dark, 1964) were largely a case of diminishing returns, but their popularity with audiences kept Edwards and Sellers on the Panther treadmill for years, to the point where Edwards (before experiencing a rebirth with 10, 1979, and Victor Victoria, 1982) ran the series against all odds, even using old footage of his star after Sellers's death. The film's true milestone, then, may be as the introduction to a cautionary tale characteristic of Hollywood.

By Rob Nixon