tavm Review of Curse of the Pink Panther

Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

Curse of the Pink Panther was pretty entertaining despite no Sellers and the fate of his character here

[6/10 · 7 February 2009]

Filmed right after Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther continues the storyline of finding both Chief Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther diamond. Since Dreyfus, however, would rather Clouseau was never found, he has someone from jail tell him how to fix it so a HAL-like computer finds the opposite of best detective in the world. That opposite would be Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass) from New York City. Meanwhile, a Countess Chandra (Joanna Lumley in her second consecutive Panther role) has the diamond and, it seems, an affair with a certain police detective...All right, I'll just say this right now: I didn't like the way Clouseau ended up in this movie being an accomplice to the Pink Panther theft and changing his face as well. I can't believe this is the way he would have behaved considering his sworn oath to upload the law (or luw). Having said that, I was very amused when he ended up looking like Roger Moore and how perfect was he when he did the Clouseau voice! Okay, moving on-I wasn't crazy about Sleigh when they first showed him disguising as a hooker in New York. Then he showed up at a Chicago airport during a windy storm with his umbrella almost swept up in it and I laughed a little. What got me on his side was that hilarious scene with an inflatable woman provided by Balls (Harvey Korman again) taking place at an outside French restaurant with once again another hilarious performance by the versatile Graham Stark as a bored waiter who can't keep his eyes off of the doll and Sleigh's attempts at blowing her up. There was also a hilarious fight scene between Clifton, some gangsters led by Robert Loggia, and a woman he just met named Juleta Shane-real name Julie Morgan (Leslie Ash) who later tries to bed Sleigh. Oh, and Korman was only fitfully amusing as Balls here though I did like the way he said "ca-ca". And besides David Niven and Capucine, it was nice to see Robert Wagner also show up as Niven's nephew George Lytton who's also from The original Pink Panther. One more appearance I was pleasantly surprised by was that of Pat Corley-best known to me as Phil the bartender on "Murphy Brown"-as Sleigh's frustrated superior in New York. He sounded different here but I recognized him just the same. Herbert Lom as Dreyfus still provides some laughs but Burt Kwouk as Cato was mostly wasted here especially when he wrestles with the American Sleigh at the now-Clouseau Museum apartment. So I guess overall, I really enjoyed Curse of the Pink Panther despite the absence of Sellers and what Edwards did with his character. Oh, and I wasn't crazy about the animated beginning credit sequence from Marvel Productions this time around though as always, the Henry Mancini theme is way cool. One more note: This was Niven's final film appearance as well as the final Panther stint for Andre Maranne as Sgt. Francois Duval. Since this movie bombed (or buumbed), you'd think Edwards was through with the Pink Panther series once and for all. Once again, you'd be wrong. P.S. Edwards' stepdaughter Emma Walton is an angry hooker here and his son Geoffrey (who also co-wrote the screenplay) is the voice of the computer Aldous. Next up, Son of the Pink Panther...