Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of his deleted scenes and outtakes from previous films. Although the Sellers estate sued United Artists and the unauthorized use of the footage was ruled illegal, the film was allowed to be released.[3] The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau– and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.
When the famous Pink Panther diamond is stolen again from Lugash, Chief Inspector Clouseau is called on the case despite protests by Chief Inspector Dreyfus. While on the case, Clouseau is pursued by the Mafia. Clouseau first goes to London to interrogate Sir Charles Litton (having forgotten that he lives in Southern France). Traveling to the airport, he accidentally blows up his car trying to fix a pop-out lighter, but mistakenly believes it an assassination attempt, and disguises himself in a heavy cast on the flight, which causes complications in the air and on land. He then is led to an awkward introduction to the Scotland Yard detectives at Heathrow Airport. Meanwhile, Dreyfus learns from Scotland Yard that Libyan terrorists have marked Clouseau for assassination, but permits him to continue. At the hotel, Clouseau has a miscommunication with the hotel clerk and gets knocked out a window several times, trying to get his message from Dreyfus.
Clouseau's flight disappears over the ocean en route to Lugash, and Marie Jouvet, a television reporter covering the story, sets out to interview those who knew him best. Among the people she interviews are Dreyfus; Hercule Lajoy; Cato Fong; and former jewel thief Sir Charles Litton, who is married to Clouseau's ex-wife Lady Simone.
All of these interview scenes provide flashbacks to scenes of earlier Pink Panther films (The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and Revenge of the Pink Panther); but Jouvet also interviews Clouseau's father, at his winery in the south of France, providing glimpses of Clouseau's childhood, and his early career during college, nearly leading him to commit suicide after a girl of his dreams marries another person, and in the French Resistance involving him failing to detonate a bridge full of crossing Nazis. Jouvet also questions Mafia don Bruno Langlois, a mafia boss antagonist who would appear in the next film, and tries to file a complaint against him with Chief Inspector Dreyfus; but Dreyfus refuses to press charges.
The film ends with Jouvet hoping that Clouseau might be alive somewhere, as she states: "Did Inspector Clouseau really perish in the sea, as reported? Or for reasons as yet unknown, is he out there someplace, plotting his next move, waiting to reveal himself when the time is right? I am reluctant to believe that misfortune has really struck down such a great man." Clouseau[4] is seen glancing over a seaside cliff, when a seagull flies over and defecates on the sleeve of his coat. The words "Swine seagull!" are heard in the distinctive exaggerated French accent of Clouseau.
The next shot shows the animated Pink Panther in trench coat and trilby hat, revealed to be in place of Clouseau watching the sunset; he turns around to face the camera and flashes his coat open, but his trench coat reveals a montage of clips of Peter Sellers from his five Pink Panther films as a tribute to him, while the end credits roll.
Capucine as Lady Simone Litton. Capucine reprises her role from the first film; Catherine Schell played Lady Claudine Litton in the third film
Graham Stark as Hercule Lajoy. Stark, who previously portrayed various characters throughout the films such as Pepi in the third film, a hotel receptionist in the fourth film and Auguste Balls in the fifth film, reprises his role from A Shot in the Dark
Harvey Korman as Prof. Auguste Balls. Korman replaces Graham Stark, who played Balls in the fifth film and who reprises his role as Hercule Lajoy from A Shot in the Dark
Sellers died in late July 1980, a year and a half before production began. After Sellers died, UA tried to get Dudley Moore to take on Clouseau in the Sellers-penned Romance of the Pink Panther. Moore refused to do it without Edwards directing and was willing to play Clouseau only one time as a tribute to Sellers (knowing Romance was to have ended the series, according from a Los Angeles Times interview with Moore in 1980). UA wanted the series to continue, but Edwards refused to cast another actor as Clouseau, possibly recalling the negative reception that Inspector Clouseau (1968) suffered upon release. The production featured Alan Arkin in the title role and was made without the involvement of Edwards and Sellers.
David Niven appears in the film, reprising his role of Sir Charles Lytton, which he first played in the original The Pink Panther of 1963. His new footage was filmed at Victorine Studios in Nice, with the Château de Bellet and the Château Castellaras standing in for his French Riviera estate.[3] Niven was in the early stages of ALS, and his voice subsequently proved too weak to loop his own dialogue during post-production; as a result, his lines were dubbed by impressionist Rich Little. Other returning series regulars include Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, Graham Stark as Hercule LaJoy (last seen in the 1964 Pink Panther film A Shot in the Dark), Burt Kwouk as Clouseau's faithful man servant Cato and André Maranne as Sgt. François Chevalier. Trail featured the animated opening and closing credits, animated by Richard Williams. Director Blake Edwards dedicated the film to Sellers, "the one and only Inspector Clouseau."
Despite the dedication, Sellers's widow Lynne Frederick filed a $3 million lawsuit against the film's producers and MGM/UA, claiming that the film diminished Sellers's reputation, and was awarded over $1 million in damages.[5] Despite this, however, there was a practical reason behind Frederick's suing of Edwards. Her primary objection was that Sellers had actually vetoed the use of outtakes from earlier Panthers in his lifetime and that his estate should have had the right to control the use of outtakes after his death. The reason the question of outtakes being used had come up in Sellers's lifetime was that Edwards had shot and edited a two hour version of Strikes Again, hoping to recapture the zany spectacle of The Great Race, with Dreyfus as the melodramatic villain in the fashion of Jack Lemmon's Professor Fate. United Artists vetoed this long version and the film was drastically cut from two hours to just over an hour and a half. There have been rumors that a three hour cut existed as well, but no evidence of any additional scenes not included in either film has ever emerged to support these claims. A London court subsequently ruled that the use of footage was illegal and awarded Frederick $1.475 million in damages, but declined to bar the release of the film.[3]
After Arthur made Dudley Moore a huge star, he was unwilling to talk about committing to a film series. MGM/UA wanted a transition film if Edwards was to introduce a new character as the series' star. Using outtakes was, according to Edwards, a brilliant idea (shooting scripts for Return, Strikes Again, and Revenge demonstrate a great amount of comedic material from the three films that was left on the cutting room floor). Edwards had originally hoped to construct a Citizen Kane-esque narrative, with Clouseau having gone missing at the very beginning of the story, whilst the memories of the supporting characters would showcase the deleted or unused content. Unfortunately, MGM/UA refused to pay ITC the fee they were asking for the use of the Return outtakes, and Edwards fell behind schedule on shooting Trail/Curse (MGM/UA also ended up cutting both films' budgets considerably), with the result being that Trail failed to live up to its potential.
Edwards's wife, Julie Andrews, has an unbilled cameo as a cleaning lady, dressed as her friend Carol Burnett's charwoman character.
Soundtrack
Unusually the soundtrack album by Henry Mancini featured a compilation of themes from other Pink Panther movies, with only "Trail Of The Pink Panther (Main Title)" and "The Easy Life In Paris" being from the film itself. The other tracks included "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera)" (from The Pink Panther), the title theme from A Shot in the Dark, "The Return Of The Pink Panther (Parts I And II)" and "The Greatest Gift" (from The Return of the Pink Panther), "Come To Me", "The Inspector Clouseau Theme" and "Bier Fest Polka" (from The Pink Panther Strikes Again), and "Simone", "After the Shower" and "Hong Kong Fireworks" (from Revenge of the Pink Panther).
The film was a critical failure. Although the film was marketed as a tribute to Sellers, the sequel was universally disdained. On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 4.30/10.[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]
It was released for Christmas 1982 and grossed only $9 million – $27,294,248.70 in 2022 dollars ($1,341,695 on opening weekend in 800 theaters; $3,247,458 on opening week) against its $6 million budget.[2] In contrast, the previous film in the series, Revenge of the Pink Panther, had made over $49 million.[8] Nonetheless, it was soon followed by a further Pink Panther film, Curse of the Pink Panther, which was shot concurrently with Trail. That film did not feature Peter Sellers at all (with the exception of some archival voice work, for which he was not given credit) and instead featured Ted Wass as Clouseau's replacement Clifton Sleigh. The latter film was also a critical and commercial disaster.
Related Research Articles
Blake Edwards was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical The Pink Panther series. Clouseau's immense ego, eccentricity, exaggerated French accent, and prominent mustache are all a parody of Hercule Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in the 1968 film Inspector Clouseau and, in a cameo, by Roger Moore in the 1983 film Curse of the Pink Panther. In the 2006 reboot and its 2009 sequel, Clouseau is portrayed by Steve Martin. Clouseau's likeness also appears in the Pink Panther animated cartoon shorts and segments, where he is known as simply "the Inspector".
The Pink Panther is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the film The Pink Panther in 1963. The role of Clouseau was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers. Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books, video games and animated series.
Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he also proved a skilled comic actor in The Pink Panther franchise, playing the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in seven films.
The Inspector is an American series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comically battling against a rogues' gallery of internationally styled villains.
A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards in Panavision. Produced as a standalone sequel to The Pink Panther, it is the second installment in the eponymous film series, with Peter Sellers reprising his role as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté.
Graham William Stark was an English comedian, actor, writer and director.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again is a 1976 comedy film. The fifth film in The Pink Panther series, its plot begins three years after the conclusion of The Return of the Pink Panther. Unused footage from the film was later included in Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), released after Peter Sellers's death.
The Return of the Pink Panther is a 1975 comedy film and the fourth film in The Pink Panther series. The film stars Peter Sellers returning to the role of Inspector Clouseau for the first time since A Shot in the Dark (1964), after having declined to reprise the role in Inspector Clouseau (1968).
The Pink Panther is a series of films featuring the fictional Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, that began in 1963.
Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of The Pink Panther series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Peter Sellers. Whereas the previous film Trail of the Pink Panther made use of unused footage of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and starred Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet, Curse attempted to relaunch the series with a new lead, Ted Wass, as inept American detective Clifton Sleigh, assigned to find the missing Inspector Clouseau.
Son of the Pink Panther is a 1993 comedy film. It is the ninth and final installment of the original The Pink Panther film series starting from the 1963 film. Directed by Blake Edwards, it stars Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son. Also in this film are Panther regulars Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. It was the final film for both director Blake Edwards and composer Henry Mancini; Mancini died on June 14, 1994, and Edwards retired from film-making in 1995.
My Best Fiend is a 1999 German documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog, about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski. It was released on DVD in 2000 by Anchor Bay.
The Pink Panther is a 2006 American comedy-mystery film and a reboot of The Pink Panther franchise, marking the tenth installment in the series. It is also the first Pink Panther film to be released since Son of the Pink Panther in 1993. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is assigned to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, stars Steve Martin as Clouseau and also co-stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles.
The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and distributed by United Artists. It was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards. It is the first installment in The Pink Panther franchise. Its story follows Inspector Jacques Clouseau as he travels from Rome to Cortina d'Ampezzo to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he is able to steal a priceless diamond known as "The Pink Panther". The film stars David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine and Claudia Cardinale.
André Maranne was a French-born British actor best known for playing roles in English-language films beginning in the mid-1950s.
Inspector Clouseau is a 1968 British comedy film, and the third installment in The Pink Panther film series. It was directed by Bud Yorkin, written by brothers Frank Waldman and Tom Waldman and stars Alan Arkin as the title character. It was filmed by Mirisch Films at the MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood and in Europe.
Revenge of the Pink Panther is a 1978 comedy film. It is the sixth film in The Pink Panther comedy film series. Released in 1978, it is the final on-set performance of Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. It was also the last installment in the series that was distributed solely by United Artists; the company was absorbed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer three years after the film's release.
The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series. The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. In the film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout a daring burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade's inactivity.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
