MovieChat Forums > The Pink Panther (1964) Discussion > So many things wrong with this film

So many things wrong with this film

posted 16 years ago by AmericanMovieFan
17 replies | jump to latest

I know it's sometimes ballsy and original and actually quite satisfying to watch the bad guy get away with it, but at the expense of that innocent detective? Wow. I'm speechless. All those people just randomly decide "gee, the Phantom is quite the talker, lets frame some other schmo so we can keep socializing with him.

Possibly the most demoralizing ending ever. Leads me to believe human beings have no soul.

But the french actress who played the princess was hot. That's all this POS had going for it. Well, that and the final 30 minutes of the film with the bed room hijinks scene and the big party at the end. But everything before that, including the ending, blew.

GRADE for the 3 or 4 scenes towards the end: A GRADE for everything else: F

OVERALL: C

Brian Peppers is my Homeboy

[–] Eric-1226 16 years ago

Agreed, it was overall "C" for Corny (by today's standards, anyway). But I will always remember the muscial number by Capucine, where she sang (actually, lip-synched) "Meglio Stasera." That deserved a grade A.

"A little old lady got mutilated late last night… Werewolves of London again."

[–] exatera 12 years ago

I wonder how Capucine could have sung the song when her character, Madame Clouseau, was sitting in the audience with her husband??

[–] warren_houghton 12 years ago

Yeah, that was Fran Jeffries doing the song. The babe in black that appeared to be singing it in the movie was the actual singer. She apparently also sang the song at the beginning of 'Shot in the Dark.'

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

I don't think this movie is corny, even by today's standards. It's very enjoyable. Nice to see people interacting without the use of cell phones and texting, among other things. David Niven was very sexy. Robert Wagner reminded me a bit of Jim Hutton. The women were simply beautiful. The music was really top-notch. Henry Mancini sure could compose music!

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] bartf-4 16 years ago

Boy, two guys who get it really wrong.

The Princess was played by an Italian acreess, Claudia Cardinale.

The song was sung by Fran Jeffries

Its hard to blame younger people for not understanding character driven films when they are exposed to so few new ones.

[–] ruinawish 16 years ago

You do realise this was a comedy right? You've seemingly approached it as if it were a really deep, thoughtful movie, one of soul and morality.

Regarding Closeau's arrest, you're supposed to respond with "oh, poor fellow", rather than "THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! I DEMAND THE SCREENWRITERS BE EXECUTED!"

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Instant fail words: overrated, major flaw, plot hole

[–] PillowRock 16 years ago

Regarding Closeau's arrest, you're supposed to respond with "oh, poor fellow", rather than "THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! I DEMAND THE SCREENWRITERS BE EXECUTED!"

Besides, it's explicitly stated that he won't be imprisoned for long, or left with the long term stigma of conviction. Charles and George fully intend to keep on with Phantom robberies. And those will effectively clear Clouseau of having been the Phantom.

[–] zboycoolcat 15 years ago

I would like to piont out that the ending did not come before the party.

[–] indigol 15 years ago

Human beings aren't prefect and The Pink Panther (1963) portrays this quite well.

The after the final party "chase" scene is IMO the least important element due to its length. The rest fit well with displaying the range of humanity.

.

[–] user-153 15 years ago

You should change you name from 'AmericanMovieFan' to 'DoesNotGetIt'.

How can you so completely miss the point? Are you being deliberately obtuse?

[–] thbryn 14 years ago

The film is dated but remember it's almost 50yo. It has more pluses than minuses. With all the notice Claudia gets I think Capucine is the one to watch.

[–] pontifikator 14 years ago

> But the french actress who played the princess was hot.

As others have pointed out, Princess Dahla was played by Claudia Cardinale, who is not French.

The interesting thing about the ending is that Clouseau takes on the role of the Pink Panther, confessing that it wasn't easy getting away with all those robberies. Note that he was mobbed at the end by all those women, and that he's holding a bouquet of flowers given him by the wife or mother of one of his escorting cops. I had the impression Clouseau saw a better life ahead of him.

My difficulty was that Princess Dahla would give up the diamond _and_ Sir Charles so that Madame Clouseau could have Sir Charles. shrug - it was a Blake Edwards comedy, so it has to be happy, right?

I think "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam was an order of magnitude more demoralizing, and several other films come to mind that were demoralizing. To each his/her own. Clouseau was a clown, so we expect him to get bashed.

[–] skiddoo 12 years ago

Maybe the princess can get the Phantom to steal it back as his next caper that clears Clouseau. In this movie universe that shouldn't be too hard. :)

I agree, this is a happy ending for Clouseau.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

Okay, maybe the ending wasn't the best, but it's still a movie which I really love.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER