Think pink !

Another old favourite on cable TV: so lets have another look at the original PINK PANTHER, an enduring comedy favourite from 1963, that year of great movies we like, such as CHARADE, THE BIRDS, THE LEOPARD, THE SERVANT, TOM JONES, BILLY LIAR .... THE PINK PANTHER, like COME SEPTEMBER (1961) and CHARADE is a glossy entertainment that should be compulsory viewing every few years. Its follow-up A SHOT IN THE DARK in 1964 was all Clouseau and was reasonably ok, but I never felt the need to see any of the other ones, and certainly not that remake ...

The trademark of The Phantom, a renowned jewel thief, is a glove left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau, an expert on The Phantom's exploits, feels sure that he knows where The Phantom will strike next and leaves Paris for Switzerland, where the famous Lugashi jewel 'The Pink Panther' is going to be. However, he does not know who The Phantom really is, or for that matter who anyone else really is...

The fun here is seeing that cast going through their paces. Sellers walks away with the film, Clouseau was meant to be a subsidiary character - Niven and Wagner are fine as the real jewel thief and his young accomplice. Claudia Cardinale as Princess Dahla is wonderful in one of her first English roles - she was also in Fellini's 8 and a half, and Visconti's THE LEOPARD that year. Then there is Capucine, doing slapstick with her haughty glamour and wearing Dior. The long bedroom scene with her and Sellers was marvellous on the big screen, as was the long fancy dress party and those cars whizzing around before the very funny courtroom trial at the end, as Clouseau has to explain how his wife can save so much from the housekeeping to pay for her furs .... 

The whole look of the film captures that early Sixites vibe perfectly, at the ski resort of Cortina D'Ampezzo as Brenda De Banzie gushes over the princess and Fran Jeffries sings that "Meglio Stasera" ("It had better be tonight") to the apres-ski crowd. It is one of Blake Edwards' hits and one of  Henry Mancini's best scores. 1965's WHATS NEW PUSSYCAT? from Clive Donner was more of the same, capturing the mid '60s nicely as again Peter Sellers was chasing Capucine, while O'Toole and Romy and the others grooved to a Burt Bacharach soundtrack ...  Like those early Bonds, THE PINK PANTHER is essential early Sixties.