A film that combines romance, action, comedy and mystery must have been an easy sell in 1962. Writer/director Blake Edwards was on a hot streak. In 1959’s hilarious military comedy, “Operation Petticoat,” which was the largest-grossing film of its time for Universal Pictures, and in 1961’s romantic comedy, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which became the ultimate date movie for a new generation of moviegoers. Finally, 1962’s taut drama, “The Days of Wine and Roses,” established Edwards as a dramatic director. Despite Oscar nominations nearly across the board for the last two, Edwards' skillful guidance of scenes and sequences merited no accolades from his peers. Perhaps it was due to his ability to extract the best performances from his actors or that the material was always going to triumph in the hands of anyone. In hindsight, these films all owe their comedic/dramatic moments to the underrated Edwards.
The acumen of Edwards is on best early display in 1963’s “The Pink Panther.” As co-author and director, Edwards had total control over what was originally seen as an ensemble film - and became one of the first movie franchises. With an original cast boasting Ava Gardner and Peter Ustinov, “The Pink Panther” proved too difficult for the budding Mirisch Company to fund. So, with David Niven onboard as the top-billed star, “The Pink Panther” began as a jewel heist/romance/mystery. The opening sequence travels to multiple exotic settings as Edwards and co-screenwriter Maurice Richlin provide more action than exposition. We are confronted by a jewel thief who leaves behind the calling card of a white glove adorned with a “P” and scales down the building with a rope that doubles as a fuse. The picturesque cast is both handsome (Niven and Robert Wagner, nearly cast in “Tiffany’s”) and alluring. Even the animated Pink Panther in the credits curls up to models-turned-actresses Capucine and Claudia Cardinale.
Behind the scenes, Edwards was improvising with his actors, building comedic sequences that recalled the screwball days of silent films. His recasting of the hapless detective given to Ustinov fell into the hands of Peter Sellers. His Chaplinesque mixture of grace and clumsiness was the catalyst for many scenes to find a comedic peak that could balance the mystery of multiple thieves in pursuit of the world’s most expensive diamond. At his very best, Sellers makes you forget that Clouseau is hapless and more human. With an adjoining room shared by Wagner and Niven, the interactions of Capucine (as Mrs. Clouseau) produce a tableau for a lengthy scene where all of their comings and goings collide at once. All aspects of physical comedy, the camera reveals, and actors doing more than overselling the humor make “The Pink Panther” a classic even with Sellers only in support. Weirdly, after playing the comedic foil for much of the picture (getting his hand caught in a vase, spilling milk, playing violin in bed), Sellers has to play the straight role during this portion to make it believable. Niven leaps back and forth under the bed. Wagner dangles from a coat hook. Capucine gamely slides away from Sellers in her most serpentine manner. However, we need to see Sellers as funny but not dumb. So, through what looks like hours of improv and choreography, everyone is in a situation that they cannot get out of. Sellers only stops the momentum to introduce the reality of this improbable but possible situation. Edwards makes sure that Sellers, as Clouseau, is not to be fooled too easily. In his most Hitchcockian method, Edwards allows us to see almost everything. However, he never shows us that Clouseau is inattentive or less dedicated.
As Sellers made Clouseau a bumbling hero, he shone brighter than the high-wattage cast. In the perfunctory musical sequence, Edwards has Sellers on stage right to the singer Fran Jeffries. Even as he mimes conversation with the actor next to him, you know Edwards is putting him in the song somehow. You also know that with Sellers as the centerpiece of his film career would do far more than just fall and go “boom.” As adept as the cartoon Pink Panther in the opening credits, Edwards knew to conceal Sellers in this debut film to reveal him as a vehicle for more misadventures.
