| Revenge of the Pink Panther | |
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 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Blake Edwards Tony Adams Ken Wales |
| Written by | Blake Edwards Frank Waldman Ron Clark[disambiguation needed] |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Herbert Lom Dyan Cannon Robert Webber |
| Music by | Henry Mancini Leslie Bricusse (songwriter) |
| Cinematography | Ernest Day |
| Editing by | Alan Jones |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | July 19, 1978 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom/ United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Pink Panther Strikes Again |
| Followed by | Trail of the Pink Panther |
Revenge of the Pink Panther is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series. Released in 1978, Revenge of was the last entry featuring series star Peter Sellers, who died in 1980. Director Blake Edwards would attempt to keep the series alive with Trail of the Pink Panther by utilizing unused footage of Sellers from previous Panther movies. The opening credits were animated by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
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Plot
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This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2008) |
A French businessman/mobster named Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber) is making a deal with a New York Mafia for a multimillion-Franc drug-smuggling operation, whose officers suspect Douvier of being too old and no longer strong enough to handle it. Douvier therefore attempts to prove his strength by assassinating Chief Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers).
Douvier's attempt to blow Clouseau up with a bomb fails, and the subsequent attempt by a Chinese martial artist called Mr. Chong (an uncredited appearance by the Founder of American Kenpo, Ed Parker) is thwarted when Clouseau accidentally knocks him out of a window, believing him to be his (Clouseau's) valet Cato, who had orders to keep his employer alert by means of random attacks. That night, Douvier anonymously calls Clouseau and poses as an informant to tell him the whereabouts of an important criminal involved in the French Connection. Despite being warned by Cato, Clouseau drives toward the location, but his car and clothes are stolen at gunpoint by a transvestite criminal named Claude Russo. Russo drives into the trap and is killed by Douvier's men. Subsequently, the majority of people believe Clouseau to be dead.
As a result of this assumption, Clouseau's mad boss, ex-Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), is deemed sane, and is to be released from the Mental Asylum to try and crack the case, while Douvier's plans continue.
In Russo's clothes, Clouseau is taken to the mental asylum (a scene featuring a cameo by Andrew Sachs, whose character apparently believes himself to be Hercule Poirot), but escapes into Dreyfus' room. Dreyfus faints at the sight of Clouseau, whom he believed dead, whereupon Clouseau disguises himself as Dreyfus and is driven home in a car by operative François.
At home, Clouseau finds Cato, who (despite having turned Clouseau's apartment into a Chinese-themed brothel) is relieved to see him alive. Having settled Clouseau's initial anger at Cato, the two plan their revenge on the person who ordered Clouseau's assassination, taking advantage of the belief that Clouseau is dead to conduct their investigations.
Dreyfus, led to believe that the man he saw was Claude Russo, is assigned to read a eulogy at Clouseau's funeral. His objections are overridden by political necessity when it is revealed that the speech was composed by the police chief's wife, who apparently is able to dismiss Dreyfus if he refuses to recite. During the recital, Dreyfus is unable to control his laughter at the statements he is obliged to speak, but conceals his amusement by giving the impression that he is weeping rather than laughing. When Clouseau surreptitiously reveals himself among the attendants of the funeral, Dreyfus faints into the burial pit moments before the master of ceremonies completes his oration.
Shortly after his wife threatens him with a divorce, Douvier, needing her respectability and her silence pertaining to his crimes, tells his secretary/paramour Simone LeGree (Dyan Cannon) that their courtship must end. Angry, Simone storms out of Douvier's office, giving an impression that she may blackmail Douvier. Douvier therefore gives orders to have Simone killed at a nightclub called Le Club Phut (a play on the word "clubfoot").
Having been told by a seafaring informant (Alfie Bass) of the possibility of trouble at the nightclub, Clouseau and Cato investigate and accidentally save Simone from being murdered by Douvier's assassins. Clouseau and Cato are separated, because Simone has not noticed Cato and is eager to take Clouseau (whom she considers her savior) home. At Simone's flat, Clouseau tells Simone that he is the supposedly dead Chief Inspector; although Simone denies it- both of them being more than slightly drunk- he eventually convinces her of the truth, prompting her to reveal that Douvier ordered Clouseau's assassination as part of his attempt to impress the American Godfather. When the assassins enter, having tracked them down, Clouseau and Simone escape into the flat below, in which lives Dreyfus. Dreyfus overhears Simone telling Clouseau of Douvier's plans to meet with the New York Mafia Godfather, Julio Scallini, in Hong Kong, but again faints when he sees Clouseau.
Clouseau, Cato, and Simone travel from Paris to Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific Lockheed Tristar. Disguised as an archaic Chinese under the name "Mr. Low Key", Clouseau, Cato, and Simone tail Douvier to Hong Kong, unaware that Dreyfus is also after Douvier.
Clouseau impersonates Scallini while Simone distracts the real Scallini, so that Clouseau can uncover Douvier's plans. He succeeds, but the plan goes awry when Clouseau's disguise is exposed. A car chase begins, terminating in a crash. Here, Dreyfus recognizes Clouseau, loses his mind again, and tries to kill him with a Colt Python service revolver, chasing him into a firework warehouse. There, Clouseau eludes Dreyfus, who when trying to hunt him sets the fireworks alight. The resulting explosions, which in turn trigger a chaotic gunfight between all the characters. This leads to the arrests of Douvier and Scallini. Clouseau is awarded for their arrest by the President of France. Thereafter, he and Simone spend an evening together, and talk about their histories.
Cast
- Peter Sellers - Chief Inspector Clouseau
- Herbert Lom - Chief Inspector Dreyfus
- Dyan Cannon - Simone
- Robert Webber - Douvier
- Paul Stewart - Scallini
- Burt Kwouk - Cato
Theme music
The theme music, and much of the soundtrack from this entry in the series, draw heavily from the "disco" trends of the late 1970s. The theme itself was reworked to include a more dancy bassline, electric piano, and guitar solo.
Opening animation
The opening animated titles in the film were designed by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, who had been involved with the series since the animated titles of the original 1963 film, The Pink Panther. It was the first time since Inspector Clouseau in 1964 that DePatie-Freleng animated the opening titles of a Pink Panther film (Return and Strikes Again having been done by Richard Williams' Studio). They later went on to produce the animated television series The All-New Pink Panther Show. Trail and Curse would be animated by the retitled Marvel Productions.
Miscellany
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2008) |
- Was the last Panther movie to be a box office success until the MGM reboot in 2006 starring Steve Martin as Jacques Clouseau. The sequels made without Sellers were derided by fans and critics, who believed the series should have stopped when Sellers died.
- In this film we get a glimpse of Clouseau's special car, the "Silver Hornet". The name of the car is a reference to the 'Green Hornet' character/TV show, much like Cato's name. The car is in fact a Citroën 2CV exhibiting some added features including plastic wings on each side. The "Silver Hornet" is quite useless as it breaks down whenever it is used.
- This is the fourth Pink Panther movie that has nothing to do with the Pink Panther jewel.
- Actress Sue Lloyd, who plays Claude Russo, was in effect a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Blake Edwards would later direct a whole film based around this concept.
- In the trailer the narrator calls Clouseau Inspector Andre Clouseau rather than Jacques Clouseau, it could be possible that Andre could be his middle name.
- Hercule LaJoy from A Shot in the Dark makes a small appearance as the Commissioner's secretary, but was not played by Graham Stark, who portrayed costume artist Prof. Auguste Balls.
- When the fire sprinkler goes off in the room Clouseau has just left, it was a real sprinkler actually activated (hence the red glass bulb that breaks open just before water sprays out).
- Andrew Sachs (the "Poirot" inmate), Andre Maranne (Françios) and Steve Plytas (Douvier's board member) previously co-starred in an episode of Fawlty Towers, Gourmet Night. While Sachs was a regular, playing the memorable Manuel, Maranne and Plytas guest starred in this particular episode as Andre the master chef and his alcoholic apprentice Kurt, respectively. John Cleese, who appeared in Fawlty Towers, would later play Dreyfus in the sequel to the 2006 remake.
- Dreyfuss, despite his apparent demise in the previous film, appears here with no explanation given and no reference to the events of that film.
Romance of the Pink Panther
Romance of the Pink Panther is a Pink Panther film Sellers was working on, and willing to make without Edwards, before Sellers' fatal heart attack. It was documented in the book Peter Sellers - A Celebration.
External links
- Revenge of the Pink Panther at the Internet Movie Database
- Revenge of the Pink Panther at the TCM Movie Database
- Revenge of the Pink Panther at Allmovie
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