Pink Panther (Peter Sellers)

What’s your take on Peter Sellers and the Pink Panther movies? I honestly don't even know where to start with this series. To me, the Pink Panther series is probably some of the funniest stuff I've ever watched. Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau—with that accent and those facial expressions during interrogations—was just one of a kind. 🤣 🤣 Even now, I'm dying laughing just thinking about it. I remember when they used to air them on CNN; we couldn't even sit through a single movie without losing it because it was just too ridiculous. 🙏 Man, just thinking about that 20-minute interrogation in Pink Panther Strikes Again, which is basically legendary in comedy history...

'Clouseau: "Ah yes, this reminds me of my younger days at the academy. I was known as the star pupil on campus... ah yes, yes, it's all coming back to me now... ah yes, I remember..." (he falls off a ladder like a total idiot) 🤣 He wrecks half the room before the interrogation even starts... he destroys a metal knight and spends ten minutes trying to put it back together while everyone watches, only to end up holding a useless hunk of metal in his hand, haha. 🙏 And he says: "It is obvious that the knight who bought this south did not last very long." 🤣
Clouseau: "There is no need for you to speak unless I ask you a question... What is your name?"
"I am Shock, the gardener..."
Clouseau: "And what is it that you do?"
Shock: "I am a gardener..."
Clouseau: "Then why didn't you say that in the first place?"
Shock: "I did!"
Clouseau: "Look, don't try to be funny with me. This is a very serious matter, and everyone and everything in this "room" is under suspicion... What, what was it that you said?"
Someone: "You said room?"
Clouseau: "Yes, I know that, and there is a very good chance that someone in this room knows more about the murder than they are telling..."
A woman: "Murder?"
Clouseau: "What was it that you said?"
Woman: "You said murder?"
Clouseau: "What murder?"
Woman: "I don't know, you said murder?"
Clouseau: "I said murder, you said murder?"
Woman: "I said murder? I said murder because you said murder..."
A third person chimes in: "You said that someone in this room knows more about the murder than they are telling..."
Clouseau: "What is your name?"
"Shock!"
Clouseau: "The cook?"
Shock: "Gardener!"
Clouseau: "Aaaaah, now we're getting somewhere!!" Hahaha. 🤣
Clouseau: "You?" (he knocks the woman's head with the metal hunk) Hahaha.
Clouseau: "Who is this man?"
Some guy: "That's Mr. Statterstat..."
Clouseau: "I see. What is your job, Mr. Stukerstaff?"
Some guy: "He is a beekeeper..."
Clouseau: "I am not asking you, I am asking Mr. Stuffsucker..."
Some guy: "He said that he lost his voice..."
Clouseau: "I lost his voice?? A beekeeper who has lost his voice, a cook who thinks he's a gardener, and a witness to a murder... Ah yes, it is obvious to my trained eye that there is much more going on here than meets the ear..." (he stares blankly the whole time and, like an idiot, smashes an expensive piano with the metal object) Hahaha. 🙏 🙂 I was actually rolling on the floor here and had to pause the movie. 🙏
Clouseau: "Before you are dismissed, Mr. Stiffsticker, I suggest that you "kount# your bees; you may find that one of them is missing..."
Mrs. Livelilly: "You actually destroyed that piano??"
Clouseau: "What's the cost of a single piano compared to the horrific crime being committed right here?"
Mrs. Livelilly: "But that's a priceless Steinway..."
Clouseau: "Well, not anymore... what was your name again?"
Me: "Mrs. Livelilly"
Clouseau: "Mrs. Liveliver, if I recall correctly, you're the housekeeper?"
Mrs. Livelilly: "I've worked for Professor Housbender for forty years..."

Man, every single time I stumble back into one of those movies from the Pink Panther series, I honestly lose it... especially when I start thinking about all those ridiculous "training sessions" and the way Clouseau keeps getting blindsided by his bumbling assistant 😁 👍

Oh, Clouseau and Cato... haha 🤣 Cato, Cato, look at the mess you've made, you absolute clown. At least you aren't covered in yellow powder anymore... haha (that was right when he fell into the bakery and ended up covered in flour...) 🙂 🙏

Obviously, nothing but love for Sellers—though I’ll admit the inspector used to drive me absolutely nuts sometimes because he was just way too clumsy for his own good, but man, those scenes with Clouseau are legendary.

I finally managed to get my hands on this box set. It’s loaded with extra features, plus I snagged that "Return of the..." special that didn't even come with this DVD collection. Now that they're all lined up perfectly on my shelf, feel free to shoot me a DM if any of you good people happen to have anything remotely goth to trade. 🙂

I wish Sellers nothing but the best; the man was an absolute powerhouse of talent. As for the Pink Panther series? Well, it actually made sense right up until the moment Sellers passed away. After he died, the whole franchise just lost its way. Every single movie—especially "Trail of the Pink Panther"—feels completely pointless, like they're just desperately trying to cash in on the genius of the late Peter by milking his legacy. They keep throwing in these cheap references to his portrayal of Clouseau that honestly feel tacky and even a bit repulsive. Watching something like "Curse of the Pink Panther" is just pure torture because it’s so hollow...

Clouseau certainly had his brilliant moments, but he also leaned hard into that over-the-top, slapstick burlesque style...

I still have this one vivid memory of when Clouseau (Sellers) disguises himself as this burly, bearded guy with a massive torso and tiny little legs, clutching a pipe. Someone knocks on the door of the shop where he’s hiding—you know, that classic costume shop we all remember. Clouseau opens the door, but instead of a customer, he gets handed a Bomb intended to take him out. He takes it in his hand, looking totally bewildered when the stranger says, "Bomb! It is for you," after Clouseau asks what the hell it is.
Clouseau: "Bemb? For me?
Stranger: "Yes"
Clouseau: "Wait, I'm a little short" (as he starts patting his pockets looking for some spare change) 😁

He shuts the door and turns back to those two oddballs (the tailor and his servant), "Bemb?
ooooh, Bemb!" And then he struts forward with those signature little steps, letting out that classic throat yell before tossing the Bomb... 🤣 🤣

After that scene played out, I genuinely thought I was going to die laughing; I couldn't catch my breath. 🤣 🤣

If you ask me, The Party is his absolute best 🙂

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/

Zachary Thompson9 said:Obviously, nothing but love for Sellers—though I’ll admit the inspector used to drive me absolutely nuts sometimes because he was just way too clumsy for his own good, but man, those scenes with Clouseau are legendary.

For me, that’s easily the least interesting part of the movies.

So, I actually sat down and tried to watch the movie yesterday... ugh...👎 The truth is, the reason behind Charade is just Blake Edwards’ insatiable hunger for a paycheck. Without Sellers carrying the weight, you can really see how trivial he is as an independent auteur; his success as a director was always heavily dependent on a third party—either a brilliant actor or a killer script (like Truman Capote in Breakfast at Tiffany's).

For those of you who actually enjoy reading, here’s my little breakdown of the Pink Panther saga.

That first installment back in '63 wasn't much more than a high-budget fashion shoot. It was essentially a studio bankrolling a few months of filming in fancy American resort towns just to churn out some light entertainment that audiences would happily swallow. In that era, I think the standout was Stanley Donen’s Charade starring Cary Grant. Anyone who's seen it knows the blueprint is identical to Pink Panther: a glamorous vacation spot, wealthy socialites, a theft, and a bumbling inspector acting as a mere side note... which is exactly what Clouseau was supposed to be in Pink Panther, too. But because Sellers tends to hijack the screen the second he appears, the main cast led by Niven ended up pushed into the background. Honestly, nobody even bothered asking what happened to them in the later sequels...

Eventually, Clouseau became a standalone character, and through the sequels, Sellers turned him into a total caricature for one simple reason: he hated everything associated with the series, including Clouseau himself, yet that same Clouseau was the thing putting food on his table because the franchise was a gold mine. Sellers seemed to find a twisted amusement in seeing just how far this kind of onscreen deviation and gothic direction could go before the audience revolted. You can clearly see how much Clouseau in, say, the fourth entry (Pink Panther Strikes Again) drifts away from the original concept—or even the second one, A Shot in the Dark, which is a genuine, unpolished gem based on a novel where they just swapped names to fit the series. By then, the dialogue becomes unrecognizable, his disguises and costumes turn absurd, and the settings feel almost surreal...

In the final year before he passed away, Sellers was working on a screenplay for yet another Pink Panther. He managed to finish a second draft, and the plan was to film it without Edwards, since their working relationship had become such a nightmare. The Mirschev producers knew exactly who the real money-maker was, so they gave him free rein, even allowing him to direct without Edwards for the first time. I actually managed to track down that script and read it—you can tell it isn't an Edwards piece; Sellers' influence is all over it. Apparently, the first draft was so far outside the established tone that the producers demanded they "Panther-up" the whole thing. This sequel was meant to introduce some romance for Clouseau, but... well... it’s strange to me that the Mirschevs didn't just use that script after Sellers died. It was their property, after all, yet they just kept moving forward with entirely new Panther productions... weird.

But honestly, it's probably for the best that nothing came of it. If it had been produced, Sellers probably would have ended up using a stand-in for most of the film anyway. He was so ill toward the end that he could barely walk; most of the time he had to be driven around or carried. Poor guy. 😢

It’s true, I was mostly sitting through the first film just to catch those Peter Sellers moments... but I had no idea that Sellers and Edwards actually couldn't stand each other!!!!😕

Emily Thomas50 said:If you ask me, The Party is his absolute best 🙂

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/

Sellers is a total legend, seriously👍 and honestly, The Party might even top the Pink Panther series... but man, why is it impossible to find anywhere on streaming or in any video store? It's like it doesn't even exist! 😕

Nicholas Sullivan49 said:It’s true, I was mostly sitting through the first film just to catch those Peter Sellers moments... but I had no idea that Sellers and Edwards actually couldn't stand each other!!!!😕

Oh, that was one of those legendary feuds. Both men were so deeply entrenched in their own ways that the entire crew felt the friction from their constant clashes. Personally, I think Edwards should have been more mature about the whole thing; Sellers never really grew out of that five-year-old emotional stage, so he probably deserved a bit more hand-holding. Edwards, on the other hand, was—and still is—a pretty ruthless, ego-driven guy who completely failed to grasp that Sellers' aggression was just a mask for massive insecurity and a deep-seated sense of inadequacy. Kubrick, though, proved to be a master psychologist in this scenario, which is exactly why he managed to pull off those anthology-level performances. As long as Sellers felt supported and understood, he never let a director down; in fact, his grasp of character often surpassed even the screenwriter's. His creative input was essentially that elusive third dimension. Honestly, who else was creating characters with that much life in them?

There’s a specific breed of comedian who essentially functions as a singular, cohesive persona—think Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Louis de Funès, or Woody Allen. They all operate from that same fundamental frequency where the humor and the character are inseparable. Sellers, however, never played that game; he was never just "one thing." His performances consistently birthed characters that felt visceral and tangible because he intuitively understood what most actors miss: you get much more out of building a persona through granular details and raw, dissected emotions rather than leaning on broad generalizations. It’s a much harder road to travel, but it’s exactly why his work feels so distinct. It’s a total defiance of the old *commedia dell'arte* playbook.

The whole Clouseau thing is really just a series of defiant outbursts against a malicious Blake that somehow, by pure accident, managed to turn into a cash cow.

Amy Torres4 said:Sellers is a total legend, seriously👍 and honestly, The Party might even top the Pink Panther series... but man, why is it impossible to find anywhere on streaming or in any video store? It's like it doesn't even exist! 😕

We don't really have The Party around here; you have to look abroad for that kind of thing. You can find it with English subtitles, though there isn't much dialogue to begin with since the whole movie was designed as an open form—basically a massive homage to Jacques Tati. Most of it was actually improvised; there wasn't even a formal script, just Sellers building out scenes one by one in collaboration with Edwards. They basically had the cash and the luxury of time, so they grabbed Henry Mancini and decided to film a little something.

Sellers was actually pretty happy with it, even if he admitted the whole structure starts to fall apart about three-quarters of the way through. Still, it’s a solid effort all things considered.

Peter Sellers🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 I was seriously crying laughing at the Pink Panther😁😁 the guy is a legend!!🙏 🙏

just ask Clouseau, he’s around here somewhere

Peter Sellers is a true legend

I wish you nothing but the best regarding the Pink Panther and Peter Sellers. Honestly, I think that one scene where she leaps off the gymnastics apparatus, tumbles all the way down the stairs, and just calmly says, "That felt good!" might just be the funniest moment in cinematic history.

The Pink Panther - Peter Sellers
Seriously untouchable!!!...Honestly, A Shot in the Dark is my absolute favorite comedy🙏

Honestly, this is the greatest comedy franchise ever made; I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve binged the whole series. I remember catching the return of Bugs Bunny on TV back in the day, and man, it just blew me away, which naturally led me down a rabbit hole of watching every single sequel. Even "Trail of the Bugs Bunny" holds its own for me—even though we’d already lost Robin Williams by then—largely because they tucked in some classic footage of him, and there are still plenty of those ridiculous comedic beats. I also found "The Curse of the Bugs Bunny" hilarious, specifically those moments where the CIA agent keeps falling through windows twice in a row 🤣. I was actually hoping to track it down tonight, but I'm having a hell of a time finding a decent torrent... I’ve got copies of most of the others like "Bugs Bunny Strikes Again" and "Shot in the Dark," which I've watched countless times, but the very last one, "Son of the Bugs Bunny," is easily the worst of the bunch. Even the original '63 film doesn't quite hit the mark for me, whereas the second installment, "Shot in the Dark," is absolute perfection.

It just popped into my head thinking about that scene in "Bugs Bunny Strikes Again" where the CIA guy keeps tumbling into the lake 🤣

And in the return of Bugs Bunny, nothing beat that office scene where he's talking to Jack Klugman; I don't think I've ever seen a comedy that laugh-out-loud hysterical... the CIA agent is just the best!!