Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) User Reviews (78)

A strange, VERY strange experience....

[Lexx-2 · 4/10 · 8 September 2004]

Peter Sellers died in late 1980, just as he was on the verge of getting another Clouseau flick off the ground. The film was to be titled Romance of the Pink Panther, and this time Sellers was writing the film, with Blake Edwards nowhere in sight. Upon Sellers' death, UA offered the film (which was originally to be helmed by Sidney Poitier, then later Clive Donner) back to Edwards. Rumor has it that the studio wanted Dudley Moore to replace Sellers. Moore and Edwards passed on the same grounds: that no actor could possibly replace could Sellers. A sensible move. Unfortunately, Edwards had other ideas....

This is the result.

There's seldom been a film that's felt as simply, utterly wrong as Trail of the Pink Panther. With this film, Edwards attempted to make an "all new" Panther escapade using deleted footage of Sellers from the previous three Panthers, with brand new scenes filmed around him to make it appear as if Sellers was really involved. For a little while, it almost works (the joins are at times seamless) despite itself. But then you see a sequence lifted wholesale from "Strikes Again" (Clouseau's mishap with a bag of groceries) and things go rapidly downhill. The Sellers footage is of course very amusing, but it's painfully obvious which Panther films the scenes were cut from (especially the "Strikes Again" footage, where a number of that film's supporting characters suddenly appear for no good plot reason) and the flimsy plot does all manner of convulsions to fit the scenes in.

Then, 40 minutes in, Clouseau vanishes, his plane having "disappeared". Suddenly, what plot there was (which was nothing hot anyway) evaporates and the film wanders into would-be Citizen Kane territory. From here on Joanna Lumley (quite lovely with a French accent) wanders in as a TV reporter determined to track down Clouseau. With her arrival, the pace grinds to a halt and so do the laughs. It's certainly nice to see some of the early Panther notables again (David Niven, Graham Stark, Capucine) along with an amusing contribution from Richard Mulligan as Clouseau's even battier father, but even this doesn't really work, outside of padding the film to a releasable running time.

Even worse is that Niven, who was gravely ill at the time, is dubbed by C-Grade impressionist Rich Little. Little can be hilarious impersonating celebrities (his Howard Cosell on Futurama is a blast) but his attempt to seriously imitate Niven is just painful, with his own accent frequently creeping in. It only gives Niven's scenes a bizarre, otherworldly quality, in a film that already feels mighty creepy. Little is also roped in to imitate the voice of Harvey Korman (more successfully) and Sellers (excruciating), which only makes things stranger.

This second half of the film mixes Lumley's interviews with Clouseau's contemporaries with heavy doses of flashback footage (from earlier Panthers), all of it so much better that the new stuff. Even when it attempts to be funny on its own, Edwards resorts to stealing these gags (as opposed to the footage) from earlier triumphs. Witness Dreyfus's barely concealed laughter during his attempt to eulogise his former nemesis...And then remember that he did the exact same thing in "Revenge"...

If there is one shining light in this misbegotten dud, its the peerless Herbert Lom. He's a truly underrated comic presence who manages to rise above the material with all his facial ticks, pratfalls and explosions of rage.

The final shot of the film, with Clouseau standing on a cliff face, looking out to sea (only to get pooped on by a seagull) manages to sum up the whole enterprise. It's a blatant stand-in (how could it be anything but?) and when he does speak (cursing the "swine seagull") it's clearly Little's voice doing a bad Sellers impression. Having passed on "Romance" because he believed no one could replace Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards only went on to prove his point.... In an even less dignified way!

Maybe the final comment should go to Edwards and his dedication at the beginning of this misguided, shambolic but possibly well-intentioned fiasco..."To Peter. The One and Only Inspector Clouseau"

Passable Panther

[SylvesterFox007 · 6/10 · 8 February 2006]

The problem with many long-running series is that after a few entries everything seems like old material. In "Trail of the Pink Panther", it literally is.

Director Blake Edwards attempts to make one more Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau movie, despite the fact that Peter Sellers died before the movie began filming. To accomplish his goal, Edwards weaves deleted scenes from previous Pink Panther films with newly filmed "plot" scenes to try to create a coherent story about Clouseau picking up the trail of the Pink Panther diamond one more time.

Halfway through the movie, Clouseau is conveniently declared missing, and a nosy reporter investigates Clouseau's life. She tracks down characters from the series and gets them to tell their stories about Clouseau, providing a clothesline to hang highlight clips from previous films on.

It's easy for anyone who's seen the other films to tell where the archive footage, even the deleted scenes, come from. All of this adds together to create an uneasy feeling of déjà vu for the viewer.

There are some original scenes in which the reporter interviews Clouseau's father, leading into some interesting (and funny) flashbacks to Clouseau's childhood. Even this, however, fails to take away from the feeling of watching the kind of "clip show" common in long-running TV shows. And when a TV show does a "clip show" episode, it's either a finale or the show's jumped the shark. (Think of the final episode of "Seinfeld." This entire movie is the Pink Panther equivalent.) While the movie could be a good overview or introduction to the series, it's simply not as enjoyable as watching the individual movies themselves and seeing the jokes in their proper context. Even the new or previously unreleased material pales in comparison to that of the earlier movies. And while a "Best of" disc is something of an enjoyable novelty, it's understandable that this movie flopped. I can't fathom why anyone would pay money to see it in theaters.

Not to say that this movie doesn't have its place. For Pink Panther completists, this movie is like a bonus DVD. But like most DVD bonus features, this movie isn't one that will be watched often. For anyone other than completists, this movie is definitely skippable.

Bad, but in a good way. Sort of.

[britishdominion · 6/10 · 5 March 2003]

In compared to movies that have a beginning, middle and an end, "Trail of the Pink Panther" barely qualifies as a real movie. On a bad day it's a crass, sluggish, desperate and entirely unnecessary entry in what was a pretty well-worn series featuring the irreplaceable Peter Sellers.

Co-writer/Director Blake Edwards, whose 80's pendulum film-making talent swings from the very great ("Victor/Victoria", "S.O.B.", "That's Life") to the deplorably awful ("Blind Date", "A Fine Mess", "Skin Deep", "Sunset" among other casualties) goes back to the well to fashion the barest of linking "plot" segments to bring to life trims and deleted scenes from the previous entries in the long-running series.

These links are rather sloppily matched/handled and pretty obviously shot: a lumpy double for Peter Sellers in long walking shots, David Niven's awful looped vocal by Rich Little (!) of all people, the trials of matching the costumes of films more than six years previous (watch those lapels, guys!).

That said, what other movie has your very last chance to see Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Clouseau at work? It is, in a weird way, a cheapjack "tribute" to the genius of Sellers and a ghostly valentine to the entire series - the very same set-ups, the former castmembers - and is best seen as such.

Feel free to turn the film off after the first 45 minutes, and then resist the urge to watch either "Curse of the Pink Panther" (1983) or "Son of the Pink Panther" (1993). But, if you're a die-hard "Panther" fan, that warning probably comes too late.

Bad idea, though not as badly executed as you might think

[Wizard-8 · 27 February 1999]

Trying to piece together a movie with a limited number of outtakes is asking for trouble. Actually, they (barely) manage to make a plot of some kind for about the first half of the movie. But when they run out of footage of the late star (even desperately at one point using a longer version of a scene that actually made the final cut in a previous Panther movie), the movie collapses with the ridiculous device of trying to finish the movie by having people relating their memories of the detective.

However, during this second half, there is one bright spot: Richard Mulligan, who plays the famous detective's father. He is *hilarious* in his scenes! And the scenes showing the past of the detective (played by different actors) were pretty amusing. You have to wonder why the movie didn't just focus on Mulligan or the idea of showing the detective in the past.

Uhh, whose idea?

[lee_eisenberg · 4/10 · 12 February 2006]

I still can't figure out why they made a Pink Panther movie after Peter Sellers died. This one features someone stealing the diamond and Insp. Clouseau getting sent to find it, only to disappear in the process. So, most of the movie features interviews with other cast members about how they met Clouseau (and featuring many of Clouseau's mishaps). At the beginning they say "To Peter, the one and only Inspector Clouseau", but I would agree with Peter Sellers's widow that "Trail of the Pink Panther" dishonored his memory. Maybe it is good for a few laughs - namely the airplane scene - but it otherwise just seems unnecessary. And then there was another Pink Panther movie after this.

Jumped-up TV special

[counterrevolutionary · 4/10 · 15 May 2003]

Cut 45 minutes of filler material and this would make a nice little hour-long network retrospective and a decent tribute to Peter Sellers. It mostly plays that way anyway, with a "plot" which is simply dropped halfway through, serving only as one of the framing devices to introduce the Sellers clips. The other framing device, a reporter's series of interviews with Clouseau's associates, is so inanely written and obviously "tribute-y" that it's shocking to remember that this was a theatrical feature film.

And that was Blake Edwards' major mistake. Some of the unused footage is amusing, but if it had been up to Sellers' usual hilarious standard, it wouldn't have gone unused. And the flashback sequences are made up of, well, flashbacks--scenes which we already saw in the previous movies. On a TV special, that would have been fine. Here, it just makes you wonder what Edwards could have been thinking.

Worth the watch.

[pmtelefon · 5/10 · 6 October 2019]

"Trail of the Pink Panther" is not as bad as people used to say. It actually has quite a few laughs. It's a nice tribute to the comedy of both Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards. The movie isn't very long but it does run out of steam after a while. "Trail of the Pink Panther" is a pretty easy watch but I wouldn't recommend anyone watching it until they've seen a few of the earlier Pink Panther movies. If someone sat down and watched this movie cold, they might not get it.

Saddening

[Dock-Ock · 4/10 · 15 May 2001]

This film would have made a triumphant documentary or T.V. Movie tribute to one of the screens geniuses, Peter Sellers. As a 100 minute comedy movie it doesn't quite work. The best scenes are the ones that feature Inspector Clouseau, other than this, and there isn't even alot of them, the film as lukewarm, being neither funny nor entertaining. However if you put to the back of your mind that this was a patchwork film made from material filmed before Sellers, and indeed Inspector Clouseau, sorry Chief Inspector Clouseau died, you may enjoy it. Edwards tries his best but the whole thing seems forced. Granted some scenes are funny and Henry Mancini's score does work, but for more fun watch another Panther movie.

Pink Panther after Peter Sellers

[Petey-10 · 7/10 · 21 November 2012]

Peter Sellers died in 1980, but more Pink Panther movies kept coming.In Blake Edwards' Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) we still see Sellers clowning as Inspector Jacques Clouseau.But his performance consists of flashbacks and outtakes from previous films.Sure the scenes with Sellers are the funniest ones in the movie.And then the ones with Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Dreyfus.Mr. Lom sadly died on September at the age of 95.It's also enjoyable to watch David Niven appearing as Sir Charles Litton.He was voiced by Rich Little because he was suffering from ALS.Joanna Lumley plays television reporter Marie Jouvet.Burt Kwouk is Cato again.Robert Loggia portrays Bruno Langlois.Harvey Korman is Professor Balls.Capucine reprises her role as Lady Litton.Richard Mulligan plays Clouseau Senior.Julie Andrews is seen as Charwoman.Some of the comedy works in this picture, as does the music by Henry Mancini.And the animated opening titles created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises is also something you like watching.

The late Peters Sellers in his late film as the inept Inspector Clouseau

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 26 June 2006]

The pink panther jewel again has been robbed and as suspect is also the famous thief named the Phantom(David Niven),botcher,bungling Inspector French Surete Jacques Clouseau is assigned to investigate it .But his plane is disappeared.His nemesis Chief Inspector Dreifus(Herbert Lom) jumps with joy.A journalist(Joanna Lumley) wants to look for him, she interviews various personages series (Burt Kwouk,Andre Maranne,Niven and Richard Mulligan as Clouseau's father)to make a television programme .

This is the last film with Peter Sellers who died during the filming and is constituted by a compilation of stock shots and outtakes from previous films added original reel.The combining old and new material is a little embarrassing and absurd.Thus appear images film as ¨Pink panther strikes again¨(again with Colin Blakely and Leonard Rossiter),¨revenge of the Pink panther¨,and struggles with Cato Fong(Burt Kwouk) what we have seen in previous films.The new filming realized evolves a costars cameo(Capucine,Niven,Graham Stark) of early Pink movies.Both shooting are linked with some hilarious and diverting moments but another ridiculous and disappointed. Opening and ending titles by Depatie and Friz Freling,they'll make the successful TV cartoon episodes.A always lively and catching music by the great Henry Mancini.This time writer,producer director Blake Edwards is limited the editing the former and some new footage and making a mediocre film. Rating : Below average.

Now, don't be mad at me, because, in my opinion, I actually loved this movie.

[jacoblee-04430 · 10/10 · 7 May 2016]

You've probably read my "Pink Panther" reboot review, but I love the Pink Panther movies and cartoons. I grew up with them. And when I heard about "Trail of the Pink Panther" getting terrible reviews, I was like, "OK, I'm surprised, but I haven't seen the movie yet." I actually thought that to myself one day before I watched it.

During the title sequence (although it was funny), I just quietly read this title: "To Peter. The One and Only Inspector Clouseau". When I saw it, I was like, "Wait a second, Peter Sellers have died?! What's going on in it?!" Then I then noticed something, a montage of Sellers as Clouseau. People were like, "Are you serious?!", but for me, I basically just let my laughs all out. I don't care what everyone says, but I enjoyed "Trail of the Pink Panther" a lot. It was basically a tribute to Sellers, which Blake Edwards did a good job with.

So, overall, this is basically the king of guilty pleasures. Watch the movie. It's hysterical and is definitely a great tribute to Sellers. So I am giving it a 10 out of 10.

Clouseau returns! Sort of...

[ShadeGrenade · 6/10 · 29 April 2010]

In the early '80's, United Artists was in serious trouble. Having lost a king's ransom on Michael Cimino's epic Western 'Heaven's Gate', the studio now faced bankruptcy. The only way for it to keep afloat was to churn out as many hits as possible. Luckily, U.A. owned two of the most profitable franchises - 'James Bond' and 'The Pink Panther'. The main problem with the latter was that Peter Sellers had died of a heart attack in 1980.

Nevertheless, the studio commissioned Blake Edwards to construct not one but two new 'Pink Panther' comedies. The first of these was 'Trail' and it was partly composed of unused material from earlier movies but mostly old clips. It begins in Lugash where ( surprise, surprise! ), the Pink Panther diamond is stolen yet again. Clouseau is called for, but for some unknown reason goes to London ( in disguise ). While there, he mysteriously disappears. Investigative reporter Marie Jouvet ( Joanna Lumley ) begins to piece together the detective's life by interviewing people from his past, such as 'Hercule' ( Graham Stark ), and 'Sir Charles Lytton' ( David Niven returning to the role he first played back in 1964 ). At this point the movie becomes a sort of 'That's Pink Panther!' as clip after clip is unveiled. To be fair, there's new footage too, such as the appearance of Clouseau's father ( Richard Mulligan ), who looks like Gepetto out of 'Pinocchio'. The flashbacks to Clouseau's childhood are amusing but marred by poor dubbing. Nudity rears its head for the first time in the series as we see two lovely girls treading grapes in a barrel. The movie ends with Clouseau's whereabouts still a mystery.

I went to see this when it was released mainly out of curiosity to see how Edwards ( or Blake 'Entertainment' Edwards as he is listed in the opening credits ) had managed to make a movie out of all these bits and pieces. Thanks to the unused footage we found out Mel Brooks' regular Harvey Korman was cast originally as 'Professor Auguste Balls' ( the owner of the shop where Clouseau gets his disguises from ) in 'Revenge Of The Pink Panther' before Graham Stark. The audience laughed heartily for the first twenty or so minutes, but then when Clouseau vanished so did the comedy. No offence to Ms.Lumley but she is no substitute for Sellers. Niven was ill when he made the movie ( he was dubbed by Rich Little ) and it shows.

As well as being a homage to the earlier pictures, 'Trail' doubles as a lead-in to 'Curse Of The Pink Panther' ( 1983 ), starring Ted Wass as 'Clifton Sleigh'. It seems a pity they could not have made a single movie combining the best elements from both. After the Sellers off-cuts, they should have brought in Wass and bypassed Lumley.

Sellers' widow Lynne Frederick went to court to stop 'Trail' from being released. U.A. won its case but it did not matter. Neither 'Trail' nor 'Curse' did well at the box office and it would be a decade before another 'Pink Panther' appeared - 'Son Of The Pink Panther' starring the incredibly unfunny Roberto Benigni as Clouseau's illegitimate son. 'Trail' is a strange movie alright. It purports to be a tribute to Sellers', but is basically a tasteless money making attempt. He deserved a better send-off.

Kinda strange

[strumpur92 · 5/10 · 29 May 2006]

First it looks okay but then it gets kinda weird i mean c'mon i watched this movie on television i thought it was very funny then in one scene clouseau tells a man to drive him to the airport listen closely and you can hear that this is not Peter Sellers' voice and then clouseau disappears and then all the people are kinda glad that he disappeared like in one sentence ....Clouseau disappears business gets better. And then suddenly it isn't about clouseau.Then finally in the end of the movie clouseau is on an island and a some guy is trying to talk him and he doesn't say it good. Just watch the first 20 minutes of the movie and then when clouseau disappears turn of the TV.

One of the weirdest movies ever made

[straker-1 · 27 November 2001]

Trail Of the Pink Panther is one of the strangest motion pictures ever made. Few movies (Game Of Death II and Plan 9 From Outer Space are perhaps the only other examples) have the dubious honour of featuring a star who died before shooting even BEGAN. As a tribute to the late great Peter Sellers, Trail is something of a failure...as an

exercise in creative editing, it is however a masterwork. Trail is a game of two halves...the Sellers half and the awful half. As is well-known, deleted scenes from the three previous Pink Panther movies (Return, Strikes Back, Revenge) were cobbled together to fake a new appearance by Sellers in this flick. To be honest, this snow job is executed with considerable skill...one could almost believe that Sellers had died midway through production. [In fact, this was almost the case; Sellers died mere weeks before shooting was due to begin on Romance Of The Pink Panther. To be made without the involvement of Blake Edwards in any manner, Romance would almost certainly have turned out to be an even bigger disaster than Trail eventually became.] I said you could almost believe it; because when the outtakes run dry, the movie loses any point or direction and wanders aimlessly for 40-odd minutes. Joanna Lumley, sporting a French accent even more hideous than Sellers', travels from place to place interviewing those who knew Clouseau. All pretence at the ostensible plot (the latest theft of the Pink Panther Diamond) goes out the window, in place of flashback clips and extremely dull comedy sequences. While Herbert Lom gives it his usual best (his attempts to conceal his joy at Clouseau's demise are as always sublimely hilarious) and the odd new scene raises a slight smile at best, the words SELLERS IS GONE, YOU MAY AS WELL SWITCH THE DVD OFF seem to flash before our eyes and cannot be ignored. Richard Mulligan's cameo as Clouseau's father is either amusing or painful, depending on your tolerance level for blatant and witless Sellers aping. But, while Peter IS there, there's plenty to enjoy. Highlights include a disastrous series of errors at an English hotel, Clouseau's fiery car lighter blunder, a painful visit to an aircraft toilet (all excised from Strikes Back) and an alternate take of the famous August Balls Costume Shop scene. Harvey Korman, who was replaced by Graham Stark as Balls in the take used, reprises his role here in new footage. David Niven, who played 'The Phantom' in the very first Panther movie, appears again alongside screen wife Capucine. Niven was dying at the time his scenes were shot, and over the violent protests of his family his lines were dubbed by impressionist Rich Little. Niven has very little to do here; he has a slightly larger part (his very last) in the follow-up, Curse Of The Pink Panther. Trail and Curse were filmed back-to-back, and in the main feature the same cast. Curse, while having a complete plot, lacks even Seller's posthumous presence to elevate the tired sight gags and double entendres Blake Edwards puts Sellers replacement Ted Wass

through. If United Artists hoped that this 'new' Sellers Panther movie would recoup some of the gigantic losses suffered as a result of Heaven's Gate, they were to be sorely disappointed. Both Trail and Curse bombed, and only Trail's curiosity value has saved it from complete oblivion. As it is, this is a weird and curiously compelling last bow from a true master of comedy. Goodbye, Peter, you crazy diamond.

The "Pink Panther" series in 96 minutes (with additional footage).

[vip_ebriega · 4/10 · 7 June 2007]

My Take: Nothing more but guest stars and reused footage to substitute for laughs.

Peter Sellers has always been famous for comedy roles that would shape the ineptitude and clumsiness of comedians to come. It all started with "The Pink Panther", in 1962 and directed by Blake Edwards. His role their inspired sequels, with some even outdoing the original. Although Sellers had played other roles, his role as inept Inspector Closeau is one of his most memorable. The power of that role pushed director Blake Edwards to do another "Panther" film, a couple of years after Sellers' death. It was "Trail of the Pink Panther".

"Trail"'s story involves the robbery of the Pink Panther diamond in Lugash (once again), but that remains unsolved even after this film ends, for the real plot is the disappearance of clumsy Inspector Closeau. Wait a minute, how can Sellers play Closeau if he passed away a couple of years ago? Simple (for Edwards), throw in deleted and archive footage from other "Panther" films, place new footage from "Pink Panther" film returnees David Niven (dubbed, due to his voice lossage), Capucine, Burt Kwouk, Herbert Lom and others and poof! We have "Trail of the Pink Panther", all set and ready to be released.

Frankly, the film works on some bits because we love "The Pink Panther", and seeing those laughs again reminds us of them. But the entire film is a rather convoluted mess, mainly for the spliced in footage. What is the movie about really? Closeau or the Pink Panther? As if it mattered much. The film just lags a bit it recycles (literally) every laugh in the film.

What Edwards has done here is not a film, it's just a fast way to watch the entire "Panther" series. It should have been called "The "Pink Panther" series in 96 minutes." (with additional footage).

Rating: ** out of 5.

The Pink Panther without Peter Sellers

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 22 February 2018]

Peter Sellers died in 1980, but Blake Edwards made two more installments of the Pink Panther series without him, both of which were a little hard to watch for those who missed him. In Trail of the Pink Panther, the film used archival footage from previous films, so Peter Sellers is still seen in the movie. Depending on your point of view, that's either comforting or even sadder. In the next film, Curse of the Pink Panther, Peter was completely absent from the film.

Other old standbys from the original series were in this seventh installment, including David Niven, Herbert Lom, Capucine, and Burt Kwouk. The plot tries to make sense of Peter's lack of sufficient screen time by explaining that he's gone missing, and everyone's out to find him.

It's up to you whether you want to see this one to support the famous slapstick series, or if you'd rather only watch the Peter Sellers ones. David Niven was ill during the making of the movie, so if it will upset you to see him without his usual vigor, you might want to just stick to the original. But, if slapstick is the name of your game, and you can appreciate the spirit of the series, go for it!

What Ed Wood did with Bela Lugosi's final footage in Plan 9 From Outer Space was more of a movie than this is.

[Ben_Cheshire · 1/10 · 22 July 2004]

The final surviving footage of Peter Sellers is played, then there's this "Inspector Clouseau has gone missing" thing, which is played out not with a missing persons search but with a TV reporter preparing a special on him, doing some strangely irrelevent interviews with Panther stock characters. Each of these interviews are merely excuses to play clips from past Panther movies.

It starts out as a curiosity - seeing Sellers that one last time. This pleasure is hampered by the fact that Sellers was really struggling - he was close to death, after all. Once he "goes missing," it turns into a labour of love, with past Panther characters serving as the mouthpiece of Blake Edwards, getting very sentimental about Peter Sellers, through discussing the missing Clouseau.

But then it gets decidedly ridiculous, and after a while you feel very cheated - Edwards has booked bums on seats in theatres without giving us any kind of movie at all. Sorry, but stringing clips of actual movies together with some really poor, unfunny and poorly acted linking material does not equal a movie.

1/10. I don't even classify it as a movie.

Starts out fine, but loses steam fast

[Vampenguin · 6/10 · 15 April 2006]

*Very Minor Spoilers. Nothing that you wouldn't read on the back of the box though*

After hearing the story behind this film, I was truly expecting an awful movie. Though it is by no means amazing and is easily the worst of the Sellers Panther movies, it wasn't all that bad. The opening, filled with archive footage of Sellers, was classic Pink Panther comedy, and had me rolling in my seat. The burning office was definitely a highlight. Once Clouseau's plane disappeared, however...so did most of the humour of this movie. The interviews were flat and boring, the plot was completely dropped, and nothing seemed to have a point. The clips from older Pink Panther films were usually hilarious, but nothing a Panther fan such as myself hasn't seen before. The only redeeming part of this section of the film was the scene with Clouseau's father. Though not nearly as funny as most anything in the other movies, Nana the dog was pretty amusing. Overall, stick with the other Sellers movies, you wont regret it. If you do watch it, be sure to stick around during the credits for a hilarious assortment of clips from through the series.

6.5/10

Bits from the cutting room floor

[mlv · 1/10 · 7 December 2002]

This film is made up of bits and pieces of film that they found on the cutting room floor, that didn't belong in their first movie, and don't belong in this one. Add to that the lack of any plot to hang the clips on, and this makes for more film that belongs on the cutting room floor.

A good memory of other films

[reisen55 · 6/10 · 13 August 2012]

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.

Like beating the proverbial corpse of Peter Sellers

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 8 July 2006]

Some movie executives deserve to burn in movie Hell for their actions. This is DEFINITELY the case with those who chose to make this film and the followup, THE CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER. In THE CURSE, it's really just a movie clip film--with outtakes and clips from Peter Sellers' other Panther films. In the case of this film, it's bringing in a plucky female cop and having her interview all the living characters they could muster from the previous films and stitch that into a new movie! To make matters worse, David Niven (who starred in the very first Panther movie) is back despite the fact that he's almost dead! In fact, he was so weak and sickly that his voice needed to be dubbed! This is a sad and pathetic way to continue a series--just let it die, fellas!

Even after his death Clouzeau haunts us

[Dr_Coulardeau · 10/10 · 28 July 2010]

Everything is special about these films, all of them even the postmortem one. The plot is not interesting. It is as empty as empty can be since it is not a thriller but a comedy and it does not pretend to be a thriller. As comedies these films are all of them absolutely superb. The gags, the antics, the absurd funny events are all just as laughable as you may both imagine and hope. And yet these films are a lot more than just comedies. They are in a way very dramatic, but on the side. Chief Inspector Clouzeau is by far one of the best characters I have ever seen in that line and consistent enough to last four films plus a post mortem. The character is so illogical in his logic that you cannot but laugh and laugh and laugh again: he is pathetic. He is an anti-Sherlock-Holmes with the simple logic of doing exactly the reverse of what standard logic would tell you should do. He is an anti-Hercule-Poirot since he is in no way calm and collected. He is looking for trouble, he is creating trouble because trouble brings the wolf out of the wood and then he gets what he wants, the wolf itself generally in an overkill or cosmic catastrophe. In fact Hercule is his assistant. You could think of Colombo and his very special trench coat and sloppiness, but even Colombo is short when compared with Inspector Clouzeau. There used to be a female private eye on TV with a black panther. But she can't compare since our panther is pink, like the famous elephants. Amos Burke is no equal to our hero because Amos was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Murphy is no catch either because that one is beyond the line of standard police work and has to do with plotting and networking and the gangsterism of the next generation that only aims at killing and certainly not at making their bystanders laugh. He can in no way be compared to Miss Marple or whatever other famous private dilettante detective. He is his own and no one else's. But the films without Peter Sellers would not be even worth watching. Peter Sellers himself in his faces, in his antics, in his way of speaking a type of Frenglish that even the characters in "Allo Allo" did not match in spite of all their efforts, in every single element of his acting and behaving he is funny and hilarious, and at the same time touching and sensitive. He has a heart, in spite of all. The music is a marvel and a miracle of film music. It is so perfect that they could not even try to get away from it. The animated credits with the real Pink Panther are in their own style masterpieces. There is no deeper analysis you can do because these films are not deep, and yet. Why is our society so thrilled by such funny comedies making fun of the French policeman, of the French gendarme, of the French detective and inspector? Because I guess in France making fun of their national Chickens has become a national Olympic sport, even in advertising. They have been compared to all kinds of animals and what's more every Frenchy finds that funny, except maybe the Minister of Interior who is responsible for security. But the day when the French Froggies are not able to laugh, or croak, at their cops or coppers, the world will really be finished, incinerated and disposed of. Let's never dream of such a bad ending to the present thriller our lives are.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

Trail of the Pink Panther was an uneven mix of old Sellers outtakes and new linking scenes

[tavm · 6/10 · 6 February 2009]

"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...

A jumbled mess

[sjjoe · 3/10 · 7 September 1999]

For the first half of the film, as it actually attempts to make some sort of a story involving the theft of the Pink Panther, this movie almost works. However, when there are no more outtakes, or even scenes to steal, from the other films, the movie fades quickly as the entire story shifts to a memoir of Clouseau's life.

Some have noted that they found Richard Mulligan to be hysterical. I thought the role was boring and very unfunny. Joanna Lumley, on the other hand, was a treat. She did not have much to work with, but made the best of it.

I saw this film after I saw 'Curse', and I was shocked at the number of scenes played out in 'Curse' that were in this film. In some ways, 'Curse' is almost the same film as this one, with Ted Wass playing the Joanna Lumley character.

Again, if you need to see the whole series, then watch the film, but it is nowhere near any of its predecessors.