Sick Product of a Sick System

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Don't listen to the negative reviews

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I had the pleasure of watching this in the MGM Screening room in Manhattan, a good friend of mine more or less conned his way into the film review business in college and was often invited to these special screenings. Also saw the not so good A VIEW TO A KILL and SPACEBALLS in this room. TRAIL is really a memoir to the older films and it is not good, particularly to compare Sellers, a delicate comedian, trying to over-sell Harvey Korman in the Balls scene ... an exact duplicate of the REVENGE scene which plays much much better!!! Korman and Sellers did not mix well, though one wishes Korman was supported by Tim Conway. But I will never forget David Niven commenting that we shall never forget "the old man in the street." Well, everybody CHEERED as we cut to that wonderful scene in the first Panther, the car chase, in the square at night. Again, a memoir to the other films. Edwards tried to do something with nothing which never works well at all.

I genuinely wanted to like this film. I love the Pink Panther movies, and the animated TV series, but this was really quite shameless. Not to imagine quite strange, not only in its idea which is a rather bad one admittedly but in its execution.It is supposedly a tribute to the late Peter Sellers. I admit it his presence in this film as Inspector Clousseau actually saves this movie from being any worse than it was, but he deserved much better than this. Herbert Lom is sort of fun too, and Henry Mancini's original music is marvellous. However that is the only praise I can give.Blake Edwards is talented but I found it difficult to believe he directed this, it didn't feel like his style of directing. The film looks rather dated too, while the plot is a shambles and the sight gags and script are really quite poor even for a Pink Panther film. In regard to the latter reason, the outtakes are unremarkable at best and the new footage is dismally unfunny. Also, the pace is pedestrian, despite people saying that the 1963 Pink Panther movie is the dullest entry, and I have heard people say that, I think this entry is the dullest. Other than Sellers and Lom, the other acting is rather poor. Joanna Lumley grates, Robert Loggia is wasted and David Niven's voice is dubbed terribly. I understand Niven was ill, but really they either should've used his real voice or not used him at all.All in all, a shameless mess. 3/10 Bethany Cox

"To Peter, the one and only Inspector Clouseau" Well, the late Sellers is certainly the essential Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau. That dedication provided by director Blake Edwards was certainly heartfelt and the outtakes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again provide some "new" hilarity for Sellers fans especially during the "massage/message" scene and the beginning Harvey Korman as Auguste Balls one. And seeing Joanna Lumley as a French reporter interview Clouseau's former partner Hercule Lovejoy (Graham Stark in a very touching performance) as well as now marrieds Sir Charles and Lady Simone Litton (David Niven and Capucine) brought some closure to those characters though I did wonder how Charles could remember that old man trying to cross the street in The original Pink Panther when he was in such a hurry in those chase scenes. And both Burt Kwouk as Cato and especially Herbert Lom as now-reinstated Chief Inspector Dreyfus continue to provide their own earned laughs whenever they're on screen. And adding Richard Mulligan as Jacques' father was another stroke of genius for director Edwards. But the subplot concerning Robert Loggia's gangster from Revenge of the Pink Panther didn't really go anywhere though the way he seems to both admire and detest Lumley was amusing. And those scenes from Clouseau's earlier life with other actors portraying him as a younger boy and man were painful to watch. What's even more painful was hearing someone else impersonate Sellers' Clouseau voice at the end. As for the Marvel Productions (which took over Depatie-Freleng Enterprises) animated sequence, it was partially amusing with the now-dated Pac Man reference though it was nice to once again hear Henry Mancini's now iconic Pink Panther theme again. As if to illustrate the beginning dedication, the end credits sequence contains various memorably funny Peter Sellers scenes from all five of his Panther movies starting with his first one when, spinning a globe, he says, "We must find that woman" before placing his hand on the still-moving globe and falling down! So with all Sellers footage used up, you'd think this would indeed be the end of Pink Panther series. You'd be wrong. Next up, Curse of the Pink Panther...

When Peter Sellers died in 1980 he was planning on another Clouseau film. He probably hated the idea, although he was writing the script. Sellers knew that his signature role for all time would be the stumble-bum French Inspector, but he hated how it hid his performances in, say, DR. STRANGELOVE or BEING THERE from the memory of the public. For as other actors caught in repeat performances of the same part (think of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes or Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates) have said, those repeat roles are just going through the same paces again and again, and don't help stretch the performers talents.What is odd about TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER is that it is a posthumous resurrection of Sellers due to Blake Edwards, who should have known far better than to do this. Some dead actors have managed to reappear after they died in films, like Jean Harlow in SARATOGA, but usually they were shooting the film when they got sick and died. In TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER Edwards decided to use outtakes and some cut sequences to build up a plot for a new film. Supposedly, for the third time in the series, the actual "Pink Panther", the stone that Claudia Cardinale was struggling to hold onto in the first film, is the center of a robbery - a successful one. Clousseau is sent to solve the robbery. But his plane apparently crashes into the sea. Is the great detective dead or not? Joanne Lumley plays French television journalist Marie Jouvet. She is assigned to investigate the disappearance of Clousseau and who might be behind it. There are many potential characters: Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom, twitching again), the head of the French Mafia (Robert Loggia) - still struggling from their defeat by Clousseau in 1978, and even Sir Charles and now Lady Lytton (David Niven and Capuchine, reunited for this second film). Cato (Burt Kwouk) and Clousseau's old assistant Hercule Lajoy (Graham Stark) are interviewed. And the clips and outtakes are added in a sad attempt to give unity to the mess. For it was a real mess.Basically, Sellers was (in 1982) seemingly irreplaceable in the role. The public identified him with the French detective who mispronounced the English pronunciation of "monkey" as "minkey". The public watching the film could only consider it a curiosity at best. They might stretch it into an attempt at honoring a great comic actor. But they probably also thought it shabby, which it was. The other films preceding it had benefited from the energy of Sellers characterization (rather subtle one, by the way: people tend to forget that clumsy and arrogant as Clousseau was, he was a brilliant detective - listen to his conversation with Lajoy in a sequence from A SHOT IN THE DARK regarding the suspect Maria Gambrelli - we know Clousseau is in love with her, but he points out very sharply she had no motive for the murder she has been accused of). The sequences with Sellers at work had his energy, but the gaps appeared when Lumley or rest of the cast struggled with the vapid plot.The actors are not doing badly. Best is Richard Mulligan as the elderly father of Clousseau (who would like to make time with the reporter), and Lom of course. Stark is an old scene stealing pro (look at his subsequent work in VICTOR/VICTORIA as a snide and suspicious waiter). Here he is Lajoy enjoying his retirement. He shares an easy sequence with Lumley (one wishes there was more to it). She is quite good too, but her role is confused by the script (her best sequence is not with Loggia - a sad lost opportunity by two good performers - but just before when she realizes her taxi driver is being forced to kidnap her). She also has a moment confronting Lom (who can't give a damn about finding Clousseau) where she mimics his twitching eye.But why they trotted out Niven again is beyond me. He was within a year or so of his death, from Lou Gehrig's disease. He no longer had that wonderful gentleman's voice of his, so Rich Little was dubbing for him. You listen and you realize it is not Niven. That is just doubly sad.It could have been different in two ways. In 1982 the roles of both Clousseau and Sir Charles Lytton were not totally sewed up by Sellers and Niven. A film called INSPECTOR CLOUSSEAU had been made in the middle 1960s starring Alan Arkin, who might have been available to attempt the role again. And in the early 1970s, the third Pink Panther film had resurrected Sir Charles and Lady Lytton with the jewel robber being played by Christopher Plummer. A bit of recasting would have been needed. If they had done it (presumably if the performers were available or when they were) more time might have been spent on the script. Sadly that was not the case here.Edwards would make another "Pink Panther" film after this, which did less box office than this one did. Then, wisely, he went onto other projects. They never did find Jacques Clousseau in these last two films. The last two films were so terrible they did not deserve to merit the recovery of Insp. Clousseau. Now, aside from an occasional viewing on television both are forgotten (as is Arkin's one attempt at the role). However, Steve Martin took over the role a few years ago, with Kevin Klein taking over Lom's role as Dreyfus. Martin will shortly be seen in a sequel to his first "Pink Panther" film. Good luck to him - he has big shoes to fill.