Son of the Pink Panther is a 1993 comedy film. It is the ninth and final installment of the original The Pink Panther film series starting from the 1963 film. Directed by Blake Edwards, it stars Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son. Also in this film are Panther regulars Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. It was the final film for both director Blake Edwards and composer Henry Mancini; Mancini died on June 14, 1994, and Edwards retired from film-making two years later in 1995.
Plot
Princess Yasmin of Lugash is abducted in French territorial waters off the coast of Nice by terrorists led by mercenary Hans in order to force her father to abdicate and allow her disgraced stepmother's lover, a military general with terrorist ties to a neighboring kingdom, to claim the throne. Police Commissioner Dreyfus is tasked with solving the case of Yasmin's disappearance. While investigating in the South of France, he has a run-in with the kidnappers and local gendarme Jacques Gambrelli. Gambrelli opens the doors of the kidnapper's van and unknowingly spots the Princess who he believes is the driver's sister en route to the hospital.
Not wanting any witnesses, Hans sends his henchmen to kill Gambrelli. Dreyfus follows Gambrelli to the hospital and observes him. The bumbling Gambrelli eventually gets his bicycle stuck in a wet cement sidewalk outside the hospital. Hans' henchmen spot Gambrelli, but Dreyfus intervenes and saves him. He then takes Gambrelli to his home where he lives with his mother Maria whom Dreyfus recognizes as a suspect in a murder case 30 years ago. Maria says Gambrelli is actually the illegitimate son of the late Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Hans' men attempt to plant a bomb under the Gambrelli house, which leads to Dreyfus becoming injured instead and sent to the hospital.
While Maria decides to stay beside the injured Dreyfus to see him recover, Gambrelli learns of his origins from them. He decides to rescue Princess Yasmin and prove himself his father's true heir and legacy. At the hospital, Gambrelli recognizes one of the henchmen. The henchman wants a doctor for Hans, who was injured after Yasmin attempted to escape. Impersonating a doctor, Gambrelli gains access to the terrorists' hideout and attempts to treat the injured Hans. Jacques accidentally stabs himself in the cheek with a needle filled with Novocaine and gets locked up with the princess.
Hans decides to move his safe house to Lugash and sends his men to kill Gambrelli by placing him in a van and rolling it down a steep road off a cliff. However, Gambrelli manages to escape. Seeking help, Gambrelli travels to Paris to look up Clouseau's old friends and meets his late father's former manservant Cato Fong who directs him to Inspector Clouseau's former costumer Professor Auguste Balls. The Professor makes new disguises for themselves to travel to Lugash and rescue Princess Yasmin. Gambrelli and Cato fly to Lugash. At a local restaurant, they meet a government agent who reveals the location of Hans' new hideout, a castle located outside the Lugash capital city.
Aided by the Lugash Army and Cato, Gambrelli enters the castle, defeats the terrorists and rescues Princess Yasmin.
At France, Gambrelli is promoted to detective and transfers to Paris' metro police force as an Inspector. He attends the wedding of Maria and Dreyfus who have gotten engaged during their time together in the hospital. During the reception, Maria tells Dreyfus that she in fact had twins from her one-time tryst with Inspector Clouseau. To Dreyfus' shock, Gambrelli's twin sister Jacqueline appears there and turns out to be just a clumsy and dim-witted as her brother.
At a ceremony in Lugash, King Haroak and Princess Yasmin award Inspector Gambrelli with a special medal for his heroic rescue. The event is attended by Maria, Dreyfus, Cato, Prof. Balls and Jacqueline. However, his clumsy antics disrupt the proceedings. The film ends with Gambrelli saying, "That felt good!" before it freeze frames. The animated Pink Panther walks across the screen, when the cartoon Gambrelli suddenly cuts away his own head and it drops onto the Panther’s foot, enraging him and chases him into fading blackness.
This was the first Pink Panther film in a decade, following two unsuccessful attempts to continue the series following the death of Peter Sellers, who originated the character of Clouseau. Considered a relaunch of the series, the plan was for Roberto Benigni—a popular Italian comedian who had yet to be discovered in America—to continue on where Sellers had left off.[citation needed] However, Benigni was not Edwards' first choice for the role. Kevin Kline was attached for a while.[citation needed] He was a fan of the series and loved Edwards' work but decided after reading the script that the project just wouldn't work. Kline and Edwards were to work together on a project called Luck (not an Edwards script) that William Morris packaged as a replacement project for the duo, but after this film flopped the project fizzled. Kline would also later play Dreyfus in the 2006 remake, and was initially considered for the part of Clouseau.[citation needed]
Rowan Atkinson was also offered the part, but declined (his star having risen considerably in the ensuing decade since Curse of the Pink Panther was offered to him).[citation needed] Atkinson loved Sellers' work and the Panther films, but was sure no one could replace Sellers. Gérard Depardieu was the next casting choice for Clouseau's son and was announced in the trades.[citation needed][2] When Giancarlo Parretti took control of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM-Pathé Communications withdrew financing from the project and Edwards sued the studio in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.[2] When Alan Ladd, Jr. came aboard, MGM settled out of court with Edwards. Ladd greenlit the film but Depardieu was now doing Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise and was no longer available. After the controversy over his rape remarks to an American journalist, MGM was also having second thoughts about Depardieu's suitability for a family-friendly comedy series.[citation needed]
Edwards then wanted Roberto Benigni after viewing Down by Law and Johnny Stecchino. While Benigni deliberated over the script, Tim Curry was kept in the wings as a potential back-up.[citation needed]Bronson Pinchot wanted the role, but MGM passed (probably because Blame it on the Bellboy tanked).[citation needed] There is early concept art for the theatrical poster showing Curry's moustachioed, frizzy-haired Gambrelli in cartoon form (in the baby carriage or pram that Benigni's cartoon visage would inherit).[citation needed] Curry also talked to the press about his desire for the role.
Securing Benigni in late 1991 found the film much-needed third party financing from Aurelio De Laurentiis (Dino's nephew). The film's budget of $28 million came partly from MGM (then under Alan Ladd Jr.) and with $13.8 million from Aurelio De Laurentiis' company, Filmauro. Filming started 8 June 1992 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and production finished 4 months later, taking place in Pinewood Studios and the country of Jordan. During the film's final battle, the soldiers were played by real-life Jordanian Special Operation Forces paratroopers.[2]Kroyer Films made the animated Pink Panther character and the animated persona of Clouseau Jr. in a live action sequence for the intro. The opening Pink Panther sequence cost an estimated $1 million.[1]
Soundtrack
Perhaps appropriately, this was the final film scored by Henry Mancini (he makes a cameo appearance of himself in the opening titles, giving his baton to the Panther who conducts the film's variation of the Theme). The soundtrack album was released by Milan Records.
The Pink Panther Theme - arranged and performed by Bobby McFerrin (3:10)
Son of the Pink Panther (1:33)
The Snatch (2:22)
God Bless Clouseau - music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse (2:01)
Samba de Jacques (2:24)
The Gambrelli Theme (2:23)
The Bike Chase (1:52)
The Dreamy Princess (3:58)
Riot at Omar's (2:40)
Mama and Dreyfus (1:43)
Rendez-vous with Cato (1:53)
The King's Palace (1:47)
The Showdown (3:31)
The Pink Panther Theme (tenor sax solo: Phil Todd) (4:18)
Reception
Son of the Pink Panther failed to generate critical or commercial success. The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film only 1 star out of 5. On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 6% based on 34 reviews, with an average score of 3.40/10. The website's consensus reads, "Roberto Benigni is an undeniably gifted physical comic, but the misguided Son of [the] Pink Panther betrays his energetic efforts with a painfully unfunny script".[3] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "C+" on scale of A+ to F.[4] Benigni's harsh performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star.
In its release in the United States and Canada it only grossed $2.4 million.[5] However, the film was a top hit in Italy with a gross of $18 million and becoming the highest-grossing Italian blockbuster ever, despite tanking atrociously everywhere else.[6]
Before the film's release, Adams confirmed that he and MGM planned to release more sequels to the film with Benigni reprising his role as Gambrelli. These were cancelled due to the film's poor reception.[2] In 1996, MGM approached Robin Williams and Jim Carrey about the series. MGM would cut a deal for a reboot with Edwards (allowing the film to proceed without his participation) in 1997. The series was rebooted in 2006 with the release of The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau and Kevin Kline (previously considered for the role of Clouseau) as Charles Dreyfus. The Pink Panther 2 saw Kline's Dreyfus replaced by John Cleese.
This is the last film of the original iteration of the Pink Panther franchise. This was the last film to be directed by Edwards, who also co-wrote and produced all the previous Pink Panther films except for Inspector Clouseau. It is also the last film to be scored by Henry Mancini.
References
^ abNat Segaloff, Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media 2013 p 93-94
