by Daniel Johnson

Created on: February 10, 2009

With the release of THE PINK PANTHER 2, there will have been 5 Pink Panther films since the great Peter Sellers died in 1980. One was made from Sellers outtakes, 2 of them were failed reboot attempts with actors Ted Wass (as an actual original character named Clifton Sleigh) and Roberto Benigni (as Clouseau's son), and then in early 2006 a new re-imagining of the series hit the theaters featuring Steve Martin taking on the role of the world famous detective Inspector Clouseau. It was supposed to be a prequel to the Sellers movies somehow and though it wasn't a direct remake it was just called THE PINK PANTHER. It was met with horrible reviews and outrage over Martin's wrongness for the part, yet still the film was a huge success making close to $200 million and it did introduce a new generation to the clutzy character.

I just couldn't bring myself to see the film. Seeing the trailers and TV commercials was bad enough Martin's pencil thin mustache, his unconvincing accent, and his forced slapstick was unbearable in small doses so I knew watching the entire film could be akin to a nightmare. Also I just simply couldn't believe he was doing it. I grew up with the comic work of Martin as much as I did Sellers. From his stand-up to SNL to a string of still great comedies (THE JERK, THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, ALL OF ME, etc.) I savored the guy's career. Unfortunately his later film work (with the possible exception of SHOP GIRL) leaves a lot to be desired. Broad commercial crap like CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (and its sequel) and BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE typifies his current oeuvre. What I saw of his Clouseau capering looked more in line with the bland family fare of late instead of a desired throw-back to his "wild and crazy guy" days.

And then there's the case of the actual character Inspector Clouseau ("Chief Inspector!" I hear his ghost correct me). Over 5 films from 1964-1978 directed by Blake Edwards, Peter Sellers crafted one of the most unique comic creations in film history. As a definitively bumbling police detective who somehow rises in rank at the French Sret, Sellers developed a preposterous, yet still believable, overly accented voice and perfected some of the most dangerous looking physical comedy ever seen on the silver screen. 2 years after Sellers' death, as I previously mentioned, a film was assembled out of mostly unused footage called TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER. It was the first attempt to keep the series going and it featured

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>