Movies - Trail of the Pink Panther

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	Movies - Trail of the Pink Panther

Trail of the Pink Panther was a 1982 movie starring Peter Sellers. It was the seventh film in the Pink Panther series. Sellers' involvement was via flashbacks and unused footage from previous Pink Panther films, since he had died before production of this film began. Although marketed as a tribute to Sellers, the movie was widely panned, although a follow-up, Curse of the Pink Panther
soon followed since part of that film was shot concurrently with this one. David Niven makes a cameo appearance in this film, but due to ill health his voice was considered too weak and so he was overdubbed by impressionist Rich Little. Other returning actors include Herbert Lom as Dreyfus, Graham Stark as Hercule (from A Shot in the Dark
), and Burt Kwouk as Cato.

This was the last Pink Panther project that Peter Sellers had played the same lead role for Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Plot

The story involves Clouseau being called in to investigate the latest theft of the Pink Panther diamond. Sellers' appearances in the first half of the film seem mostly to be taken from deleted scenes shot for The Pink Panther Strikes Again
. In one scene Clouseau is heavily bandaged, making it impossible to tell if he is actually played by Sellers, while some other scenes include dialogue that is clearly dubbed (badly) by another actor.

En route Clouseau disappears, and Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley), a journalist investigating his disappearance, sets out to discover his background by interviewing people with whom he was involved over the years. This provides ample opportunities for flashbacks to favourite scenes from the earlier films. Jouvet also interviews Clouseau's father (a heavily disguised Richard Mulligan), which provides glimpses of Clouseau's childhood, where he is played by Lucca Mezzofanti, and his early career in the French Resistance in which he is played by Daniel Peacock.

The film ends with Jouvet concluding that Clouseau must be alive. Clouseau (played by a double) is glimpsed standing on a seaside cliff being pooped upon by a seagull, and a montage of Sellers' performances plays alongside the closing credits.

Trivia

Filmed at the same time as Curse of the Pink Panther
.
Alan Arkin
, who played Clouseau in 1968's Inspector Clouseau has an uncredited cameo as a younger Clouseau.
David Niven
was near death from motor neurone disease at the time of shooting. His voice is dubbed over with Rich Little
.

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