The PINK PANTHER Thread

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  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    @PrinceKamalKhan Nice to find someone in agreement ;)

    I would admit the original Panther is the more stylish of them but rarely have I laughed so hard with a film than with Revenge.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    1. A Shot In The Dark (1964)
    2. The Return Of The Pink Panther (1975)
    3. The Pink Panther (1963)
    4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
    5. Revenge Of The Pink Panther (1978)
    6. Pink Panther (2006)
    7. Trail Of The Pink Panther (1982)
    8. Curse Of The Pink panther (1983)
    9. Son Of The Pink Panther (1993)

    If anyone is interested, and hasn't seen them, there's a good retrospective on the orininal and rebooted series on youtube.

  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Thanks for posting that link, @MajorDSmythe ! I enjoyed watching that series of reviews. There were a lot of gaps in my Panther knowledge which have now been filled in.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,904
    Agree @MajorDSmythe those were gold and I binged them. It made me want to go back to the films and revisit them.
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    @PrinceKamalKhan Nice to find someone in agreement ;)

    I would admit the original Panther is the more stylish of them but rarely have I laughed so hard with a film than with Revenge.

    @GoldenGun Revenge certainly has the most American feel of the original Blake Edwards Panther films which is not necessarily either a compliment or a criticism, just an objective description of it with Dyan Cannon and Robert Webber prominent among the supporting cast members. But I found it the funniest and thought Miss Cannon made a fun leading lady for Sellers to work with. I like how the finale in Hong Kong recalls What's Up Doc?
    1. A Shot In The Dark (1964)

    @MajorDSmythe Why oh why I am not surprised that the one with Elke would be your favorite, Major? ;)

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    @MajorDSmythe Why oh why I am not surprised that the one with Elke would be your favorite, Major? ;)

    Guilty, i'm affraid.

    It's also an early one, so the humour was still fresh, the introduction of Dreyfus (and his decent into madnes, winking and all), as well as Cato. But... yes, there's also early-mid 60's Elke... so another reason.

    giphy.gif

    ;)
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    edited May 2020 Posts: 23,102
    Peter Sellers - A State of Comic Ecstacy (2020)

    Highly recommend watching this documentary if you have not seen it. It really does not put the late Lynne Frederick in a good light at all.
  • Posts: 6,682
    Birdleson wrote: »
    So, no one has any info on the teaser?
    I could have sworn I already posted this elsewhere, but here it goes again just in case: The Pink Panther Film Collection by Shout Factory includes a "rare teaser trailer" for Revenge of the Pink Panther. It might be the one you mention.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    Posts: 8,655
    I've only seen the first Pink Panther movie, not least because I didn't find any of the others as a Blu-ray collection (Region B). And I had never seen any of the films until about five or six years ago. Unfortunately, in spite of a few good scenes, I was quite underwhelmed and disappointed because the movie wasn't half as funny and anarchic and enjoyable as I had expected, given that it had Sellers and Niven and Claudia Cardinale, was directed by Blake Edwards who made some of my favourite comedies (Breakfast at Tiffany's and especially Victor/Victoria), and had a score by Mancini. One could say it bored me.

    I read several times that A Shot in the Dark is the best of them all. I'd give that one a try for reconsideration of the series, but won't if I don't find a Blu-ray disk.
  • DoctorNoDoctorNo USA-Maryland
    Posts: 754
    I grew up loving Peter Sellers and still do...

    The Pink Panther is a perfect film. The script, cast, locations, and that soundtrack! One of my all time favorites up there on the shelf with Barry’s for me. I also have grown to love Capucine in this movie... she was a French model turned actress and is not only a credible actor but really good at light comedy. She seems genuinely amused by Sellers at points and it’s endearing. (Love her in North to Alaska too, which I came to late and is now a favorite... very Americana, like Walt Disney level). I think Niven is at his best here too... and then there’s Sellers turning superstar.

    Shot in the Dark is the best sequel ever, well second only to the Empire Strikes Back.

    I was disappointed by Inspector Clouseau when I caught on tv randomly as a kid... didn’t even know it existed. I also love Arkin in Russians Are Coming but he’s not Sellers and they shouldn’t have tried without him.

    I love the 70s Panther movies but more in a nostalgia way I guess... Revenge I think was my favorite in terms of just straight laughing and I think Sellers and Cannon are great together. The ending comes a little too quick and slapsticky. Return is great but I always found a little slow and the laughs a little too far and few, but still good overall. Strikes I like but don’t love, it’s the most cartoony start to finish.

    I wish they skipped every other movie after Revenge. Never heard Romance was a thing so that’s sad it didn’t happen, but at least there are 5 great movies overall and 2 classics!
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    The website "The AV Club" has a regular column, Run the Series. A couple of years ago their writer Jesse Hassenger did a writeup of the Pink Panther series (although he opted not to cover the Steve Martin reboot). It's a pretty good article and mostly right on, and the readers comments section is even better.

    You can check it out HERE: www.avclub.com/the-pink-panther-series
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Looks like the inevitable "Pink Panther" reboot will be hitting the fan in the foreseeable future!

    "In a twist for the franchise, the Pink Panther will be integral to the movie’s storyline as the imaginary friend to a “smooth operating” inspector...."

    You can check out the full article HERE: www.cinemablend.com/news/
  • Posts: 1,879
    Looks like the inevitable "Pink Panther" reboot will be hitting the fan in the foreseeable future!

    "In a twist for the franchise, the Pink Panther will be integral to the movie’s storyline as the imaginary friend to a “smooth operating” inspector...."

    You can check out the full article HERE: www.cinemablend.com/news/
    Why can't they just take a hint and leave well enough alone? I am curious as to who will be Clouseau.

    I got a chuckle out of the story saying it's got talent from two of the year's biggest hits, Sonic the Hedgehog and Bad Boys for Life. Considering all the movies that didn't come out due to the pandemic that's kind of dubious praise.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 23,102
    They will probably get Melissa McCarthy to play Clouseau I am not even joking.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    They will probably get Melissa McCarthy to play Clouseau I am not even joking.

    I can go one worse than McCarthy, Amy Schumer.
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Okay, here’s a free million-dollar idea to whoever owns the rights to the Pink. First of all, there is no more Inspector Clouseau. The new series is all about the Pink Panther. A brief prolog explains the expanded back story:

    In ancient days before man, there were Gods. There was a god for all reasons, a god for all seasons. One of those gods was the Trickster (sometimes identified as e.g. Kokopelli, Cupid, Loki, etc.) The Trickster would often come down from the Ethereal Plain to the Earthly Plain and walk in the forest in the form of a pink panther.

    Why a pink panther? Strangely colored animals are a hallmark of mythology: a blue ox, a white buffalo, white elephants, pink elephants… so, he was a pink panther.

    As the Pink Panther, the Trickster was always messing with the other animals. He tweaked the elephant’s nose. He taught the signifying monkey how to signify. And he told a joke to the hyenas that was so funny they laugh about it still.

    The other animals got fed up with his hijinks and they prayed to the other gods for deliverance from the Pink Panther. And the other gods heard their prayers.

    Because the other gods were also fed up with the Trickster’s antics. They only needed an excuse to put the kibosh on him. So they summoned him back to Valhalla/Olympus/Heaven, and as he was transitioning from the corporeal realm to the spiritual realm they snatched him up and imprisoned him into a diamond. And the diamond fell to earth and was lost for a long time…

    But not forever! Man arose and found the diamond. The ancient Egyptians worshipped it (insert shots of the Pink Panther in hieroglyphic form), but they lost it to the Greeks. It made its way into Persia and became a part of the Peacock Throne. But it was always cursed with the spirit of the Trickster. Whoever owned it—or even came into close contact with it, such as Inspector Clouseau—would suffer from slipping on a banana peel, or an exploding cigar, or a pie in the face.

    How can we be sure this is the same diamond after thousands of years? It is easy to recognize: held up to the light, you can still see the Trickster imprisoned within, in the form of a pink panther, crouched and ready to spring.

    Flash forward to 1937. The diamond has been lost for centuries, but the Nazis are close to finding it. They plan to gift it to the King of England, so that the King slips on a banana peel or something. But the Americans intercept a Nazi cable and figure out the scheme, and they hire an archeologist adventurer of their own to find the diamond first—so that we can gift it to Hitler, and it will be Hitler who gets the pie in the face.

    RAIDERS OF THE PINK PANTHER.

    In the final scene, Hitler opens a birthday present and finds a fabulous diamond. Boy, is he surprised and impressed! He turns to thank the giver—only to get accidentally kicked hard in the nards by a goose-stepping soldier! FADE OUT. THE END.

    The Pink Panther will return in CULT OF THE PINK PANTHER. A clan of Ninjas worship the Trickster and travel the world causing mayhem in his honor. But an epic April Fool’s prank goes wrong and causes Nixon to win the election of 1968….
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    The AV Club recently recommended “A Shot in the Dark” as a superior comedy sequel. Here’s the link to their write-up:
    https://film.avclub.com/it-wasn-t-until-the-second-pink-panther-that-inspector-1846451541
  • Posts: 6,682
    I don't get tired of watching this. It's mesmerizing.

    LsAw45v.gif
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    John McLusky:

    Rcaa7c2e00885e52d97b7588aa4999309?rik=F%2fdqNJinywOTKQ&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.comic-art-gallery.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2fjohn-mclusky-the-pink-panther.jpg&ehk=PXsdc%2fToYPaxiR8jGt%2f4bpA7Y%2f67RIs08KLPAFIThQE%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    That's awesome!!!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Steve Martin says that Only Murders In The Building may be his last role:
    the Hulu whodunnit will be the first and last time the 76-year-old stars in a TV show.

    Read the article at The AV Club, and scroll through the discussion section for commentary on his career, including THIS LINK to a rare positive appraisal of 2009's The Pink Panther 2:

    "It is possible that this is the best Pink Panther film since 1964’s A Shot in the Dark. which isn’t as shocking as it sounds if you look at the state of Pink Panther films from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s."

    I'm not sure I agree with that, but it could be an interesting discussion if anyone wants to chime in...?
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 23,102
    Steve Martin says that Only Murders In The Building may be his last role:
    the Hulu whodunnit will be the first and last time the 76-year-old stars in a TV show.

    Read the article at The AV Club, and scroll through the discussion section for commentary on his career, including THIS LINK to a rare positive appraisal of 2009's The Pink Panther 2:

    "It is possible that this is the best Pink Panther film since 1964’s A Shot in the Dark. which isn’t as shocking as it sounds if you look at the state of Pink Panther films from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s."

    I'm not sure I agree with that, but it could be an interesting discussion if anyone wants to chime in...?

    I am a big fan of Only Murders In The Building the first season was excellent, I am only 2 episodes into Season 2, I was hoping there would be a Season 3 the cast work so well together.

    To start with I thought Steve Martin's first Pink Panther film was much better than his second. I would rank all the Peter Sellers films above what followed (The films made when Sellers was alive.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited August 2022 Posts: 6,758
    Steve Martin says that Only Murders In The Building may be his last role:
    the Hulu whodunnit will be the first and last time the 76-year-old stars in a TV show.

    Read the article at The AV Club, and scroll through the discussion section for commentary on his career, including THIS LINK to a rare positive appraisal of 2009's The Pink Panther 2:

    "It is possible that this is the best Pink Panther film since 1964’s A Shot in the Dark. which isn’t as shocking as it sounds if you look at the state of Pink Panther films from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s."

    I'm not sure I agree with that, but it could be an interesting discussion if anyone wants to chime in...?

    Don’t agree at all, I love all the 70’s Pink Panther films, I actually prefer both Return and Strikes Again to ASITD.

    Even if PP2 is an entry that you like, surely it doesn’t beat any of the Sellers films though, does it?

    @Fire_and_Ice_Returns so yes, I agree with you on the Sellers films. I’d actually even take Trail over anything non-Sellers.
  • Posts: 6,682
    I think the main films to carry on the Pink Panther tradition these days are the Johnny English films.
  • edited August 2022 Posts: 440
    I always thought the key to doing a Pink Panther reboot would be to update the character of Clouseau to reflect modern detective stories.

    The original conception of the character was always intended to be a sort of pisstake on that kind of suave European crime solver seen in so much of mid-20th century fiction.

    That's why, while I thought Martin's take was fine, it ultimately didn't work as well as it could have because it was a comedic spin on an archetype that didn't really exist anymore.

    So a more modern approach might be a parodic take on all the intensely depressed rumpled detectives with traumatic backstories that make up every crime drama now.


    Also, someone finally uploaded that rare Bond-spoof trailer from Revenge.

  • Posts: 6,682
    Someone finally uploaded that rare Bond-spoof trailer from Revenge.

    Great, thanks for sharing! Tagging @Birdleson.

    I love how everything in the gunbarrel is reversed. The circles move from right to left, Clouseau from left to right, the pattern on the gunbarrel is mirrored, the pink "blood" flows upwards.
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    My Cousin completely fell for it and yelled, "New James Bond." But I remember thinking, "it's pink, and we are not due for a Bond film."
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I haven t seen this before. That was damn funny.
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