New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

When one is talking about "the pink panther", it may actually be necessary to define what one means by that phrase. Is it simply the film series whose various installments and incarnations now number in the double digits and stretch (thus far) from 1963 to just earlier this year? Is it the animal-shaped flaw in the titular jewel, or simply a catch-all nickname for the diamond itself? Perhaps it is the cartoon character, created explicitly for the opening credits of the first Pink Panther film and appearing in most of the sequels and reboots (as well as several cartoon series and numerous shorts since then). Looking to the titles of the films only adds to the confusion as various ones seem to reference some or all of the above and/or one of the two main characters who appear in nearly all of the movies (more on them in a minute).

To weave a final strand into this web of confusion, the Chapter Two of this film series is the only one (in the official canon) that does not contain the words "pink panther" in its title, and though it has very little indeed to do with its immediate predecessor, it is most responsible for establishing the recurring supporting characters, sight gags, and tone of black comic anarchy that the rest of the movies (up through the 1980s at least) would follow as their template. In writing this week's installment, I will do my best to stay focused on the second film. This is not a column on franchises and I intend to keep it that way. However, the history of The Pink Panther and the often quite openly cynical attempts to keep the series alive render it unique in my eyes and I hope I can be allowed some leeway in weaving this twisted and twisting tale while still keeping my aim true.

A Shot in the Dark was released in 1964 mere months after The Pink Panther proved to be a surprise international success, but successful in ways its creators could not have anticipated. Writer/producer/director Blake Edwards' initial intent was to follow the exploits of thief/nobleman Sir Charles Lytton (played by David Niven) through various heists across multiple continents and exotic locales. The 1963 Pink Panther is by and large a breezy relic of the early 1960s subgenre of frothy and mostly clean sex comedies set abroad and featuring a glamorous international cast. The film was rated G then and remains fairly tame today. I am not even sure if there is much in the way of innuendo, though there is a lot of door slamming and people diving under the bed before they are caught in the wrong hotel room.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Lytton being the star character of the series. The world fell instead for Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the French policeman put in charge of the investigation of a series of robberies for which he (rightly) believes Lytton to be responsible. What Clouseau doesn't suspect is that his wife is Lytton's lover and accomplice. As embodied by Peter Sellers, Clouseau is a breath of the apocalypse in an otherwise genteel air. Stymied by coat racks, fireplaces, violins and couches, he is a walking klutz but never less than sure of himself, his brilliance or the fidelity of his beautiful wife (played by Cappucine). There are long stretches of The Pink Panther (one nearly 30 minutes!) where Clouseau is not onscreen and many others where Sellers seems to be restrained and one needs to be reminded that he was merely a supporting player (even though second billed) to Niven. Since a lot of this first Pink Panther is lethargically paced - a prime example being the interminable sequence where Lytton attempts to woo the woman from whom he hopes to steal the diamond - the Clouseau sequences are a welcome intervention.

Continued:       1       2       3       4