The Pink Panther (1963)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The pink panther
Original title The Pink Panther
The pink panther.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1963
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Blake Edwards
script Maurice Richlin
Blake Edwards
production Dick Crockett
Martin Jurow
music Henry Mancini
camera Philip H. Lathrop
cut Ralph E. Winters
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
A shot in the dark

The Pink Panther (original title The Pink Panther) is a crime comedy directed by Blake Edwards in 1963 , which was followed by a number of other Pink Panther films and an animated series of the same name . The film launch in German cinemas was on December 19, 1963.

action

The focus of the film is a larger than average diamond , which is called the "Pink Panther" due to its pink shimmer and a small shadow in the middle that resembles a jumping panther , and an English master thief called "The Phantom" behind the the British nobleman Sir Charles Lytton is hiding.

Before the story begins, the characters are introduced. First the phantom, who steals jewelery and jewelery by a master hand and manages to escape the police again and again. Then Sir Charles' nephew, George Lytton, who pretended to be studying in the United States to his uncle, but who is actually a crook too. There is also Inspector Clouseau's wife, Simone, who is actually the Phantom's ally and lover. And finally, the idiot inspector Jacques Clouseau, who made it his life's work to finally put an end to the phantom.

The protagonists meet in the Italian winter sports resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo . The Princess of Lugasch, Dala, spends her winter vacation there. Sir Charles is there to take the opportunity to steal the diamond. Inspector Clouseau is present, accompanied by his wife, to catch the phantom if necessary. Surprisingly, Sir Charles' nephew also arrives to get involved.

Sir Charles stages a kidnapping of the princess's dog in order to gain her trust by heroically pursuing the perpetrator. By pretending to have an injured leg, the plan works. He even manages to get the normally abstinent princess drunk. He falls in love with her. His lover Simone notices this and sees her relationship with Sir Charles disturbed.

After a few setbacks, an investigation into the rental car that was used in the dog abduction revealed that the accomplice in this coup was in the service of Sir Charles Lytton and therefore only he could be the phantom; however, he can flee at the last second.

Finally, a new opportunity arises when the diamond is kept in a stately villa in Rome. During a costume party, at which Inspector Clouseau and the police force are also present in disguise, Sir Charles and George Lytton (coincidentally in the same gorilla costume ) set about stealing the diamond. When they finally opened the safe, however, the diamond is gone.

After a wild chase, both Lyttons are arrested and a trial awaits them. Madame Clouseau, who wants to help her lover out of her predicament, turns to Princess Dala with the truth. She already suspects that the princess herself stole the diamond, on the one hand to collect the insurance sum of half a million US dollars and on the other hand to prevent the diamond from being returned to the people of Lugasch. (The diamond was once given to the king who gave it to his daughter. After the abolition of the monarchy, the people asked for the diamond back.)

Princess Dala finally agrees to subjugate the precious Stein Inspector Clouseau. The Lyttons are now free - and Clouseau is arrested on suspicion of being the phantom.

criticism

The film received mostly positive reviews, earning a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews.

"The lively, elegantly staged crook comedy became famous not least because of its animated title opening credits, which later became a TV cartoon series in Germany: 'Paulchen Panther' ."

“(...) with a playful Peter Sellers, the caricature of a detective (...). (Rating: 3 out of 4 possible stars - very good ) "

- Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in the dictionary "Films on TV"

Awards

  • Henry Mancini was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 in the category Best Music, Score - Substantially Original .
  • In 1988 the film won an ASCAP Award in the Most Performed Feature Film Standards category .
  • Peter Sellers was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy and was nominated for Best British Actor for BAFTA .
  • The film reached 2nd place in the Laurel Award in the Best Comedy category .
  • Henry Mancini's music was also nominated for a Grammy .
  • Henry Mancini's score was ranked 20th in the American Film Institute 's list of the 25 best scores for a hundred years.
  • In 2010, The Pink Panther was included in the National Film Registry as a "US film that is particularly worth preserving ."

backgrounds

  • The opening credits of the film led to the well-known animated series about the Pink Panther, which was shown in Germany under the title The Pink Panther (unofficially also Paulchen Panther ).
  • The character of Inspector Clouseau, which was originally only an extended supporting role, was so well received by the audience that Blake Edwards, after questioning Peter Sellers, decided to dedicate more films to the quirky and clumsy Inspector. Edwards also rewrote the screenplay for Ein Schuß im Dunkeln into a Clouseau film and later developed further scripts - after the death of Peter Sellers, sequels that only worked with excerpts and outtakes from earlier films.
  • Originally, the role of Inspector Clouseau was intended for Peter Ustinov , who canceled shortly before filming began. Thereupon the then internationally unknown Peter Sellers was offered the role, who agreed for a fee of 90,000 British pounds.
  • The role of Inspector Clouseau was the international breakthrough for Peter Sellers.
  • The theme song The Pink Panther Theme , which Henry Mancini composed and recorded with his orchestra , also became famous . The saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson .
  • The first German television broadcast of the film was on March 1, 1975 at 8:15 p.m. on ZDF .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for The Pink Panther . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2004 (PDF; test number: 31 263 V / DVD).
  2. The Pink Panther at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  3. The Pink Panther. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on Television" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 686
  5. List of the 25 best film scores (American Film Institute), accessed May 3, 2012
  6. Library of Congress press release , December 28, 2010 (accessed January 1, 2011)
  7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057413/trivia Trivia on The Pink Panther (1963) on www.imdb.com