Son of the Pink Panther

Son of the Pink Panther
Directed by	Blake Edwards
Produced by	Tony Adams
Screenplay by	Blake Edwards Madeline Sunshine Steve Sunshine
Story by	Blake Edwards
Based on	Characters by Blake Edwards Maurice Richlin
Starring	Roberto Benigni Herbert Lom Claudia Cardinale
Music by	Henry Mancini
Cinematography	Dick Bush
Editing by	Robert Pergament
Studio	Filmauro
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer United Artists
Release date(s)	August 27, 1993 (1993-08-27)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$2,438,031

Son of the Pink Panther (1993) is the ninth entry in the 30-year-old The Pink Panther film series. 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. The film was the final film for Blake Edwards, and he retired from the movies afterwards. It opened to poor box office and bitter reviews from critics who felt the Pink Panther movies ran their course.

Plot

Princess Yasmin of Lugash (Debrah Farentino) is abducted in French territorial waters to force her father to abdicate and allow her disgraced stepmother's lover, a military general with terrorist ties to an unfriendly neighboring kingdom to claim the throne. Police Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is tasked with solving the case of the kidnapped princess. While investigating her disappearance in the South of France, he has a run-in with the kidnappers, and a local gendarme, Jacques Gambrelli (Roberto Benigni). Gambrelli opens the trunk of the kidnapper's van and unknowingly spies the Princess who he believes is the driver's sister en route to the hospital. During the investigation, Dreyfus learns that Gambrelli is in fact the illegitimate son of the late Inspector Jacques Clouseau, which leads to the injured (by Gambrelli) Dreyfus sending the clutzy cop off to rescue the princess and prove himself his father's true heir.

Cast

• Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, illegitimate son of Inspector Clouseau
• Herbert Lom as Commissioner Charles Dreyfus
• Burt Kwouk as Cato Fong
• Robert Davi as Hans Zarba, the main antagonist
• Claudia Cardinale as Maria Gambrelli
• Shabana Azmi as The Queen
• Debrah Farentino as Princess Yasmin
• Graham Stark as Professor Auguste Balls
• Nicoletta Braschi as Jacqueline Gambrelli

Claudia Cardinale played the Princess in the original Pink Panther film. Here she returns as Maria Gambrelli, the part played by Elke Sommer in A Shot in the Dark.

Production

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 Benigni—a popular Italian comedian who had yet to be discovered in America—to continue on where Sellers had left off. Son of the Pink Panther failed to generate critical or commercial success, the loss of Sellers proving once again to be too great. (This is the only Pink Panther movie to date to go straight to video in Britain.) Benigni was not Edwards' first choice for the role. Kevin Kline, Rowan Atkinson, Gérard Depardieu and Tim Curry were all considered before Benigni won the role.

Aftermath

This was the last Panther film to be directed by Blake Edwards; it was also Edwards' final film. The series was rebooted in 2006 with the release of The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau and Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus. The Pink Panther 2 saw Kline's Dreyfus replaced by John Cleese.

Soundtrack

Perhaps appropriately, this was the final film scored by Henry Mancini (he makes a cameo 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.

1. The Pink Panther Theme - arranged and performed by Bobby McFerrin (3:10)
2. Son of the Pink Panther (1:33)
3. The Snatch (2:22)
4. God Bless Clouseau - music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse (2:01)
5. Samba de Jacques (2:24)
6. The Gambrelli Theme (2:23)
7. The Bike Chase (1:52)
8. The Dreamy Princess (3:58)
9. Riot at Omar's (2:40)
10. Mama and Dreyfus (1:43)
11. Rendez-vous with Cato (1:53)
12. The King's Palace (1:47)
13. The Showdown (3:31)
14. The Pink Panther Theme (tenor sax solo: Phil Todd) (4:18)

Kroyer Films created the opening and closing titles for the film starring the animated Pink Panther and Clouseau Junior characters.

Reception

The Radio Times Guide To Films gave the film only 1 Star out of 5. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 18% based on 17 reviews. Roberto Benigni's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star.

External links

• Son of the Pink Panther at the Internet Movie Database
• Son of the Pink Panther at Rotten Tomatoes