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	~~{{short description\|1982 comedy film by Blake Edwards}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = Trail of the Pink Panther~~
	\| image = Trail of the Pink Panther poster.jpg		\| image = Trail of the Pink Panther poster.jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster

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	{{Pink Panther}}		{{Pink Panther}}
	~~{{Blake Edwards}}~~

	[[Category:1980s police comedy films]]		[[Category:1980s police comedy films]]

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Production

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	== Production ==		== Production ==
	~~{{More citations needed section\|date=March 2014}}~~
	Sellers died in late July 1980, a year and a half before production began, and his performance was constructed from deleted scenes from ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]''. [[David Niven]] appears in the film, reprising his role of Sir Charles Lytton, which he first played in the original ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)\|The Pink Panther]]'' of 1963. Niven was in the early stages of [[ALS]], and his voice subsequently proved too weak to [[Dubbing (filmmaking)#Automated Dialogue Replacement .2F post-sync\|loop]] his own dialogue during post-production; as a result, his lines were dubbed by impressionist [[Rich Little]].		Sellers died in late July 1980, a year and a half before production began, and his performance was constructed from deleted scenes from ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]''. [[David Niven]] appears in the film, reprising his role of Sir Charles Lytton, which he first played in the original ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)\|The Pink Panther]]'' of 1963. Niven was in the early stages of [[ALS]], and his voice subsequently proved too weak to [[Dubbing (filmmaking)#Automated Dialogue Replacement .2F post-sync\|loop]] his own dialogue during post-production; as a result, his lines were dubbed by impressionist [[Rich Little]].

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	{{Pink Panther}}		{{Pink Panther}}
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	~~{{Portal bar\|Film\|1980s}}~~

	[[Category:1980s police comedy films]]		[[Category:1980s police comedy films]]

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Cast

New page

{{short description|1982 comedy film by Blake Edwards}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Trail of the Pink Panther
| image = Trail of the Pink Panther poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Blake Edwards]]
| producer = Blake Edwards [[Tony Adams (producer)|Tony Adams]] '''Animation:''' [[Marvel Productions]]
| screenplay = [[Frank Waldman]] [[Tom Waldman]] Blake Edwards Geoffrey Edwards
| story = Blake Edwards
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Peter Sellers]]
* [[David Niven]]
* [[Herbert Lom]]
* [[Richard Mulligan]]
* [[Joanna Lumley]]
* [[Capucine]]
* [[Robert Loggia]]
* [[Harvey Korman]]
}}
| music = [[Henry Mancini]]
| cinematography = [[Dick Bush]]
| editing = Alan Jones
| studio = {{plainlist|
* [[United Artists]]
* [[Blake Edwards|Blake Edwards Entertainment]]
* Titan Productions
}}
| distributor = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM/UA Entertainment Company]] (United States) [[United International Pictures]] (International)
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1982|12|17}}
| runtime = 96 minutes
| country = United Kingdom United States
| language = English
| budget = $6 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084814/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus|title=Trail of the Pink Panther|website=[[IMDb]]|date=17 December 1982}}</ref>
| gross = $9.1 million<ref name="mojo">[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1131906561/weekend/ Box Office Information for ''Trail of the Pink Panther.''] [[Box Office Mojo]]. Retrieved 22 August 2012.</ref>
}}
'''''Trail of the Pink Panther''''' is a 1982 [[comedy film]] directed by [[Blake Edwards]] and starring [[Peter Sellers]]. It is the seventh film in ''[[The Pink Panther]]'' series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as [[Inspector Clouseau]]. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of scenes from previous films (many of them deleted scenes). The newly shot material in the film stars [[Joanna Lumley]] as journalist Marie Jouveat searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.

== Plot ==
When the famous Pink Panther [[diamond]] is stolen again from Lugash, Chief Inspector Clouseau ([[Peter Sellers]]) is called on the case despite protests by Chief Inspector Dreyfus ([[Herbert Lom]]). While on the case, Clouseau is pursued by the Mafia. Clouseau first goes to London to interrogate Sir Charles Litton (having forgotten that he lives in the South of France). Traveling to the airport, he accidentally blows up his car trying to fix a pop-out lighter, but mistakenly believes it an assassination attempt, and disguises himself in a heavy cast on the flight, which causes complications in the air and on land. He then is led to an awkward introduction to the Scotland Yard detectives at Heathrow. Meanwhile, Dreyfus learns from Scotland Yard that Libyan terrorists have marked Clouseau for assassination, but permits him to continue. At the hotel, Clouseau has a miscommunication with the hotel clerk ([[Harold Berens]]) and gets knocked out a window several times, trying to get his message from Dreyfus.

Clouseau's flight disappears over the ocean ''en route'' to Lugash, and Marie Jouvet ([[Joanna Lumley]]), a television reporter covering the story, sets out to interview those who knew him best. Among the people she interviews are Dreyfus; Hercule Lajoy ([[Graham Stark]]); Cato Fong ([[Burt Kwouk]]); and former jewel thief Sir Charles Litton ([[David Niven]]) who is married to Clouseau's ex-wife Lady Simone ([[Capucine]]).

All of these interview scenes provides flashbacks to scenes of earlier Pink Panther films (''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|The Pink Panther]]'', ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'', ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'', ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]'', and ''[[Revenge of the Pink Panther]]''); but Jouvet also interviews Clouseau's father ([[Richard Mulligan]]), at his winery in the south of France, providing glimpses of Clouseau's childhood (wherein he is played by Lucca Mezzofanti), and his early career during college, nearly leading him to commit suicide after a girl of his dreams marries another person, especially in the [[French Resistance]] (in which he is played by [[Daniel Peacock]]) involving him failing to detonate a bridge full of crossing Nazis. Jouvet also questions Mafia don Bruno Langlois ([[Robert Loggia]]), a mafia boss antagonist who would appear in [[Curse of the Pink Panther|the next film]], and tries to file a complaint against Langlois with Chief Inspector Dreyfus; but Dreyfus refuses to press charges.

The film ends with Marie hoping that Clouseau might be alive somewhere, as she states: "Did Inspector Clouseau really perish in the sea, as reported? Or for reasons as yet unknown, is he out there someplace, plotting his next move, waiting to reveal himself when the time is right? I am reluctant to believe that misfortune has really struck down such a great man." Clouseau (played by John Taylor, who doubled Sellers in ''[[The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu]]'' (1980).)<ref>{{cite book|title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers|last=Lewis|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Lewis|page=634|publisher=Arrow books|year=2004|isbn=0-09-974700-6}}</ref> is seen glancing over a seaside cliff, when a seagull flies over and defecates on the sleeve of his coat. The words "Swine seagull!" are heard in the distinctive exaggerated French accent of Clouseau.

The next shot shows the animated Pink Panther in trench coat and trilby hat, revealed to be in place of Clouseau watching the sunset; he turns around to face the camera and flashes his coat open, but his trench coat reveals a montage of funny clips of [[Peter Sellers]] from his five ''Pink Panther'' films as a tribute to him, while the end credits roll.

== Cast ==
* [[Joanna Lumley]] as Marie Jouvet
* [[Herbert Lom]] as Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus
* [[David Niven]] as Sir Charles Litton (voiced by [[Rich Little]])
* [[André Maranne]] as François
* [[Robert Loggia]] as Bruno Langois
* [[Richard Mulligan]] as Monsieur Clouseau
* [[Burt Kwouk]] as Cato Fong
* [[Capucine]] as Lady Simone Litton
* [[Graham Stark]] as Hercule Lajoy
* [[Ronald Fraser (actor)|Ronald Fraser]] as Dr Longet
* [[Colin Blakely]] as Alec Drummond
* [[Peter Arne]] as Col. Bufoni
* [[Harold Kasket]] as President of Lugash
* [[Daniel Peacock]] as Clouseau age 18
* [[Lucca Mezzofanti]] as Clouseau age 8
* [[Denise Crosby]] as Denise, Bruno's moll

=== Previously unseen footage only ===
* [[Peter Sellers]] as [[Inspector Clouseau|Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau]]
* [[Harvey Korman]] as Prof. Auguste Balls
* [[Leonard Rossiter]] as Superintendent Quinlan
* [[Dudley Sutton]] as Inspector McLaren
* [[Marne Maitland]] as Deputy Commissioner Lasorde
* [[Liz Smith (actress)|Liz Smith]] as Martha
* [[Harold Berens]] as Hotel Clerk
* [[Claire Davenport]] as Hotel Maid

=== Previously seen footage only ===
* [[Robert Wagner]] as George Litton
* [[Claudia Cardinale]] as Princess Dala
* [[Colin Gordon]] as Tucker

== Production ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2014}}
Sellers died in late July 1980, a year and a half before production began, and his performance was constructed from deleted scenes from ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]''. [[David Niven]] appears in the film, reprising his role of Sir Charles Lytton, which he first played in the original ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|The Pink Panther]]'' of 1963. Niven was in the early stages of [[ALS]], and his voice subsequently proved too weak to [[Dubbing (filmmaking)#Automated Dialogue Replacement .2F post-sync|loop]] his own dialogue during post-production; as a result, his lines were dubbed by impressionist [[Rich Little]].

Returning series regulars include [[Herbert Lom]] as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, [[Graham Stark]] as Hercule LaJoy (last seen in the 1964 Pink Panther film ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]''), [[Burt Kwouk]] as Clouseau's faithful man servant Cato and [[André Maranne]] as Sgt. François Chevalier. ''Trail'' featured the animated opening and closing credits, animated by [[Marvel Productions]] and written and directed by Art Leonardi. Director [[Blake Edwards]] dedicated the film to Sellers, "the one and only Inspector Clouseau."

Despite the dedication, Sellers's widow [[Lynne Frederick]] filed a $3 million lawsuit against the film's producers and MGM/UA, claiming that the film diminished Sellers's reputation, and was awarded over $1 million in damages.<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/people/905/000022839/ Blake Edwards]</ref> Despite this, however, there was a practical reason behind Frederick's suing of Edwards. Her primary objection was that Sellers had actually vetoed the use of outtakes from earlier ''Panthers'' in his lifetime and that his estate should have had the right to control the use of outtakes after his death. The reason the question of outtakes being used had come up in Sellers's lifetime was that Edwards had shot and edited a three-hour version of ''Strikes Again'', hoping to recapture the zany spectacle of ''[[The Great Race]]'', with Dreyfus as the melodramatic villain in the fashion of Jack Lemmon's Professor Fate. [[United Artists]] vetoed this long version and the film was drastically cut from three hours to just over an hour and a half.

After Sellers died, UA tried to get [[Dudley Moore]] to take on Clouseau in the Sellers-penned ''[[The Pink Panther|Romance of the Pink Panther]]''. Moore refused to do it without Edwards directing and was willing to play Clouseau only one time as a tribute to Sellers (knowing ''Romance'' was to have ended the series, according from a ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' interview with Moore in 1980). UA wanted the series to continue, but Edwards refused to cast another actor as Clouseau, possibly recalling the negative reception that ''[[Inspector Clouseau (film)|Inspector Clouseau]]'' (1968) suffered upon release. The production featured [[Alan Arkin]] in the title role, and was without the involvement of Edwards and Sellers.

After ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]'' made Moore a huge star, he was unwilling to talk about committing to a film series. MGM/UA wanted a transition film if Edwards was to introduce a new character as the series' star. Using outtakes was, according to Edwards, a brilliant idea (shooting scripts for ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther|Return]]'', ''Strikes Again'', and ''Revenge'' demonstrate a great amount of comedic material from the three films that was left on the cutting room floor). Edwards had originally hoped to construct a ''[[Citizen Kane]]''-esque narrative, with Clouseau having gone missing at the very beginning of the story, whilst the memories of the supporting characters would showcase the deleted or unused content. Unfortunately, MGM/UA refused to pay ITC the fee they were asking for the use of the ''Return'' outtakes, and Edwards fell behind schedule on shooting ''Trail''/''Curse'' (MGM/UA also ended up cutting both films' budgets considerably), with the result being that ''Trail'' failed to live up to its potential.

Edwards's wife, [[Julie Andrews]], has an unbilled cameo as a cleaning lady, dressed as her friend [[Carol Burnett]]'s charwoman character.

== Soundtrack ==
Unusually the soundtrack album by [[Henry Mancini]] featured a compilation of themes from other Pink Panther movies, with only "Trail Of The Pink Panther (Main Title)" and "The Easy Life In Paris" being from the film itself. The other tracks included "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera)" (from ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|The Pink Panther]]''), the title theme from ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'', "The Return Of The Pink Panther (Parts I And II)" and "The Greatest Gift" (from ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]''), "Come To Me", "The Inspector Clouseau Theme" and "Bier Fest Polka" (from ''[[The Pink Panther Strikes Again]]''), and "Simone", "After the Shower" and "Hong Kong Fireworks" (from ''[[Revenge of the Pink Panther]]'').

The [[soundtrack album]] for the film was released by [[Liberty Records]] (LT-51139).

== Critical and commercial reception ==
The film was a critical failure. Although the film was marketed as a tribute to Sellers, the sequel was universally disdained. On [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 4.30/10.<ref>{{Citation |title=Trail of the Pink Panther |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trail_of_the_pink_panther |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |language=en |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{Citation |title=Trail of the Pink Panther Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/trail-of-the-pink-panther |publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>

It was released for Christmas 1982 and grossed only $9 million – $22,971,889.12 in 2017 dollars ($1,341,695 on opening weekend in 800 theaters; $3,247,458 on opening week) against its $6 million budget.<ref name="mojo" /> In contrast, the previous film in the series, ''[[Revenge of the Pink Panther]]'', had made over $49 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3429729793/|title=Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)|work=boxofficemojo.com}}</ref> Nonetheless, it was soon followed by a further ''Pink Panther'' film, ''[[Curse of the Pink Panther]]'', which was shot concurrently with ''Trail''. That film did not feature Peter Sellers at all (with the exception of some archival voice work, for which he was not given credit) and instead featured [[Ted Wass (actor)|Ted Wass]] as Clouseau's replacement Clifton Sleigh. The latter film was also a critical and commercial disaster.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0084814}}
* {{tcmdb title|93779}}
* {{Amg movie|50710}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|trail_of_the_pink_panther}}

{{Pink Panther}}
{{Blake Edwards}}

{{Portal bar|Film|1980s}}

[[Category:1980s police comedy films]]
[[Category:1982 films]]
[[Category:American comedy films]]
[[Category:American sequel films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:British sequel films]]
[[Category:Compilation films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Blake Edwards]]
[[Category:Films scored by Henry Mancini]]
[[Category:Films set in 1982]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Blake Edwards]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:The Pink Panther films]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:1982 comedy films]]
[[Category:American films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]

Trail of the Pink Panther - Revision history

Kurt at 01:32, 9 February 2023

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