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Peter Sellers, David Niven, Herbert Lom, Richard Mulligan, Joanna Lumley ... see more see more... , Capucine , Robert Loggia , Harvey Korman , Burt Kwouk , Graham Stark , Peter Arne , Andre Maranne , Ronald Fraser , Leonard Rossiter , Harold Berens , Colin Blakely , Denise Crosby , William Hootkins , Arthur Howard , Harold Kasket , Marne Maitland , Madlena Nedeva , Daniel Peacock , Danny Schiller , Liz Smith , Marc Smith , Dudley Sutton , Robert Wagner , Gary Whelan , Joe Praml , John Allen Cassady , Weston Gavin , Kathleen Saint John

Two years after the death of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards tried to exhume his corpse in this pastiche of clips and out-takes from the old Pink Panther films. The plot concerns the legendary "Pink Pant... read more read more...her" diamond which is once more stolen. Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is again enlisted to find the stolen bauble. When he follows the trail of the diamond to another country, he leaves on an airplane that is soon reported missing. Television reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) then sets out to interview old acquaintances and associates of Clouseau, including Lady Litton (Capucine), Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and Sir Charles Litton (David Niven), who recall their experiences with the bumbling inspector. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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43% liked it

7,684 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

12 critics

PG, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Blake Edwards

Release Date: December 17, 1982

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DVD Release Date: July 26, 2005

Stats: 284 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (284)

  • EightThirty
    August 26, 2007
    EightThirty
    It should been called Trail of the STINK Panther...LOL!!!
  • rodriguesmatthew
    April 6, 2010
    rodriguesmatthew
    This film was a big cut and paste movie. When Peter Sellers died, this film should have ended there. The Pink Panther movies never cussed until this one. There were a lot of questionable scenes. I normally love Pink Panther movies, but this was not very good. The trail is the wor... read morest in the pink panther seris.

    Story: C-
    Acting: B-
    Direction: D
    Visuals: C
    Overall: C-

    *1/2 out of 4 stars
  • SunilJawahir
    July 23, 2008
    SunilJawahir
    I think it's disgusting to make a "sequel" in which Clouseau is "missing" when he reality they used clips from previous movies because Peter Sellers was dead.
  • threefolddado
    July 8, 2008
    threefolddado
    Or how to milk previous footage for everything its worth.
  • kenscheck
    March 27, 2012
    kenscheck
    Despite having died a year and a half before shooting began, Peter Sellers appears in this film via outtakes and alternate takes from the previous films in the series. Other characters appear in new footage to link the Sellers material together...but the Sellers stuff is all use... read moreless physical humor with no real plot, because saying anything would showcase that he is not in this new movie, but talking about stuff in the previous films. Every time Sellers is on screen you try and remember what the actual plot is or why anything is happening. It is a bad idea to use unused footage from the previous films to bring his character back one last time...but the execution is even worse. Niven returns, but is sadly dubbed by Rich Little since he was quite sick at the time of shooting. It tried to be a tribute to Sellers and the series...but it was more of a detriment. This film gets a little too blue as well, the comedy never relied and nudity or foul language before this, I don't know why they waited for the tribute of the series to soil their image (I'm not against this kind of humor, but it doesn't fit here). Shame they couldn't have let well enough alone, I guess Blake Edwards just had no better ideas cooked up by this point.
  • placeinthesun455
    December 17, 2009
    placeinthesun455
    I compare Peter Sellers' performance in this film to that of Bela Lugosi from Plan 9 from Outer Space...Trail of the Pink Panther, almost starring Peter Sellers. when Sellers passed away, so too should have this franchise. it ceased being truly funny after about half-way throug... read moreh the third film. what we have here is not a film--it's a clip show with a very loosely-plotted story for filler. nothing new, nothing exciting, just the same old jokes and gags that make you laugh more out of pity and fond memories than actual humour.
  • FangsFirst
    December 21, 2007
    FangsFirst
    The last Clouseau film to involve Peter Sellers in any way, this one was pretty widely panned on release, winning Sellers' widow a lawsuit for being an "insult" to Sellers memory, despite the fact that Blake Edwards (still directing) dedicated it to him as the "one and only" Insp... read moreector Clouseau. I think that's a bit on the harsh side, as long as one acknowledges the truth of the film's nature, though. Sellers' part consists entirely of outtakes, deleted scenes and recycled footage.

    We start first with bits and pieces of previous films we've never seen--Clouseau lighting his pipe in his office, first acquiring his Quasimodo disguise and so on, as well as an alternate take of his return home with groceries that goes awry, as witnessed by his neighbor. He's assigned to track down the latest theft of the Pink Panther diamond, with Dreyfus (Herbert Lom, of course) naturally protesting it. He is sent to Lugash, and after an assassination attempt (while he has had a few on him, there juuuuust might be a different explanation this time...) and his plane disappears en route. Reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) begins interviewing people like his former assistant Hercule LaJoy (Graham Stark, reprising his role from A Shot in the Dark), Cato (Burt Kwouk, as usual) discussing his strange employment, and The Phantom (David Niven, returning with an impressionist substituting for his heavily weakened voice). Robert Loggia also makes a second appearance in the series, but as a different mobster than he was in Revenge of the Pink Panther.

    What sort of completes the "Oops, too late!" feeling of the film is a strange, more psychedelic title sequence than I recall previously appearing in the series, this time made "in the style of" DePatie-Freleng by Art Leonardi (responsible for some of the late 60's Panther cartoons, actually). Nothing wrong with it--or with the performances of the supporting cast, or really with the writing. However, it brings to mind--this might bend a few minds, for which I apologize--episodes of one of the two anime series I've ever watched, Hokuto No Ken (aka Fist of the North Star) where periodically a character would be remembered after death by an episode consisting entirely of flashbacks with a small wrap-around. In that case it was a budget issue, pumping up the number of episodes to allow for a longer series and to keep things moving week to week without having to create new animation, but it always felt like a bit of a rip-off, whatever good there might have been done in recalling the acts of that character--much like there is some good in reviewing the work of the brilliant Sellers, but done only in bare portions here, with an even greater portion of the film than the last one devoted to the rest of the cast.

    It's not a bad way to remember Clouseau, though, and I do think that his widow went a bit far, and it's not a bad way to close out the set I bought it in, though certainly it would have been better to include Return of the Pink Panther. I would not recommend it outside of this though--a completist watch alone, I think.
  • joshponville
    May 21, 2007
    joshponville
    R.I.P. Peter Sellers. I think he died during the making of this movie. and oh yea, fuck Steve Martin for that stomach churning screw job he did of playing in the new Pink Panther
  • zepp007
    April 11, 2007
    zepp007
    What a great way to piss on Peter Sellers legacy... let's make a movie with old stock footage of him as Inspector Clouseau. Awful rubbish. Even Herbert Lom couldn't save this turkey.
  • dazzlingdizzyduzzy
    March 3, 2007
    dazzlingdizzyduzzy
    FUNN-Y one of the funniest movies. Sorry stupid Steve Martin but you suck and THATS an understatement....

View All Trail of the Pink Panther Reviews

Critic Reviews

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

A weak link in the brilliant series. Full Review

Christopher Null
January 25, 2006
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Think of it as the cinematic version of a sitcom clip show. Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
April 16, 2005
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

wait, what?

Rob Thomas
January 20, 2005
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

A horrible idea, badly executed.

Widgett Walls
November 5, 2004
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com

Ugh. Takes cinematic desperation to a whole new level.

Bill Chambers
March 16, 2004
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central

The glaring opportunism of the enterprise discourages an apologia of any kind Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
February 4, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Trail of the Pink Panther will appeal to slapstick fans of this comedy series. Full Review

Bob Bloom
August 30, 2002
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

The series was on its last legs with this offering.

Jeffrey Westhoff
July 26, 2002
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Actually funny when Peter Sellers is on screen, even if they are outtakes.

Scott Weinberg
October 10, 2001
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Cinematic graverobbing at its most unsavory. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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  • I directed the movie Trail of the Pink Panther starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, David Niven and Harvey Korman. Who am I?  Answer »
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