Revenge of the Pink Panther
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| Revenge of the Pink Panther | |
|---|---|
 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 |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Herbert Lom Dyan Cannon Robert Webber |
| Music by | Henry Mancini Lon Satton (songwriter) |
| Cinematography | Ernest Day |
| Editing by | Alan Jones |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 19, 1978 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | U.K. / U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Pink Panther Strikes Again |
| Followed by | Trail of the Pink Panther |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series and last with Peter Sellers, though a later film in the series (Trail of the Pink Panther) used Sellers footage compiled from previous Panther movies.
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[edit] Plot
A French businessman-mobster named Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber) is making a deal with a New York Mafia for a multimillion Franc drug-deal, but New York suspects Douvier of growing too old and no longer strong enough to handle it. Douvier, along with his secretary and paramour, Simone LeGree (Dyan Cannon) attempts to prove his strength by assassinating the most famous person in France, the one believed to be the best: Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers).
Douvier's first attempt fails, but that night, Douvier anonymously calls Clouseau and poses as an informant to tell him the whereabouts of a criminal known as the French Connection. Despite being warned by Cato, his manservant, Clouseau drives toward the location, but is carjacked by a transvestite named Claude Rousseau. Fortunately for Clouseau, Rousseau drives into the trap, and is killed by Douvier's men. Now everyone believes Clouseau has finally met his end.
Clouseau's "death" makes several changes. His mad boss, Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is deemed sane, and is to be released from the Mental Asylum; Douvier's plans continue.
In Rousseau's clothes, Clouseau is taken to the mental asylum, but he escapes by sneaking into Dreyfus' room. Dreyfus faints at the sight of Clouseau, whom he believed dead, and Clouseau disguises himself as Dreyfus, driving home.
Back home, Clouseau finds Cato, who is relieved to see him alive, and the two plan their revenge on whoever ordered the hit.
Meanwhile, after his wife threatens him with a divorce, Douvier tells Simone that their courtship must end. Angry, Simone storms out of Douvier's office, giving an impression that she is going to blackmail Douvier. Douvier asks his men to have Simone killed at Le Club Phut that very night.
That same night, after Clouseau is told by an informant about the Le Club Phut plan, Clouseau and Cato go to investigate, and accidentally save Simone from being murdered by Douvier's assassins. At Simone's flat, Clouseau tells Simone that he is the "Deceased Inspector Clouseau"; while Simone denies it, the assassins enter. Clouseau and Simone escape into the flat below, in which lives Dreyfus. Dreyfus faints again while the two depart.
Simone tells Clouseau of Douvier's plans to meet with the New York Mafia Godfather, Julio Scallini, in Hong Kong, and Clouseau sees this as a chance for his revenge. Clouseau, Cato, and Simone travel from Paris to Hong Kong on a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar flight courtesy of Cathay Pacific Airlines. Disguised variously as an archaic Chinese and as a crime don, Clouseau, Cato and Simone tail Douvier to Hong Kong, unaware that Dreyfus is also after Douvier.
Clouseau disguises himself as Scallini while Simone stalls the real Scallini, so that Clouseau can uncover Douvier's plans, but the plan goes terribly wrong, and a car chase begins.
Eventually, everyone crashes, and a shoot-out in a firework warehouse leads to the arrests of Douvier and Scallini. Clouseau and Dreyfus are awarded for bringing down the mobsters, although Dreyfus still has a hard time accepting Clouseau as a comrade.
[edit] Trivia
- The Pink Panther theme - and much of the soundtrack from this entry in the series - draw heavily from the "disco" elements of the late 1970s, the theme being reworked to include a more dancy bassline, electric piano & guitar solo.
- 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 without Sellers were derided by fans and critics, who believed the series should have stopped after Sellers died.
- The opening titles in the film were desigined by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, who had been involved with the series since the animated titles of the original 1963 film, The Pink Panther. They later went on to produce the animated television series The All-New Pink Panther Show.
- This film ignores events from The Pink Panther Strikes Again as Dreyfus is again released from the mental institution. It is never explained how he could have survived his onscreen demise, or why he would be restored to his former police position after having threatened the world.
[edit] The Romance Of The Pink Panther
The 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
