The Pink Panther

Birth of Clouseau

I remember enjoying Pink Panther movies many years ago. I couldn't tell you which parts came from which movies, though. I'm on a bit of a Peter Sellers kick at the moment having recently enjoyed him in Lolita and Dr. Strangelove. I didn't recognize most of the jokes or plot points from the start of the series, The Pink Panther. The movie uses Seller's immense talent for physical comedy sporadically and has more fun setting up screwball scenarios only tangentially involving the great Clouseau. Clouseau's gags are rarely too much of a surprise, but the execution of them is so well done that the humor works.

With less little attention lavished on the great Inspector, the movie falls mostly into the capable hands of David Niven. His Charles Litton reminded me so much of Michael Caine's performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that I tought a few times that it might be Caine! The scenes with Litton, Capucine's Simone, and an extraordinarily young Robert Wagner's George are terrific as they plot and scheme. The Blake Edwards script gives them plenty of zany moments, as in the hilarious car chase.