Curse of the Pink Panther * (1983, David Niven, Robert Wagner, Herbert Lom, Joanna Lumley, Capucine, Ted Wass) – Classic Movie Review 8872

Director Blake Edwards’s 1983 comedy Curse of the Pink Panther is an embarrassing and bizarre attempt to squeeze another film out of a series whose beloved and irreplaceable star, Peter Sellers, was long dead.

Herbert Lom is back again as French Surété boss Chief Inspector Charles LaRousse Dreyfus, who picks the even more defective detective N.Y.P.D. Sergeant Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass) to replace the missing (and much missed)  Inspector Clouseau on the farcical French force.

Curse of the Pink Panther is full of stars who shot their little bits at the time of Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), including an obviously ill David Niven (as Sir Charles Litton), whose last film this is. Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he was dubbed by Rich Little.

Also in the cast are Joanna Lumley, Harvey Korman, Bert Kwouk, David Niven, Robert Wagner, Robert Loggia, Leslie Ash, Capucine, Roger Moore, Denise Crosby, Graham Stark, André Maranne, Peter Arne, Peter Brace, Sean Caffrey, Andrew Carr, John Cassady, Bill Nighy, Liz Smith, Arthur Howard and Molly Maureen. Roger Moore plays Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and is credited as Turk Thrust II.

Curse of the Pink Panther is written by Blake Edwards and Geoffrey Edwards. Unsurprisingly, it flopped. Costing $11,000,000, it took $4,491,986 in the US and $4,491,986 worldwide.

Geoffrey Edwards is the son of Blake Edwards and Patricia Edwards, and the stepson of Julie Andrews. Geoffrey Edwards was married to Denise Crosby (21 May 1983 – 1990, divorced).

It is followed by Son of the Pink Panther (1993), another failed attempt to revitalize the Pink Panther franchise.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8872

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