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A review by slippy_underfoot
The Real Pink Panther: Stories Behind the Classic Films by Robert Sellers
4.0
The Real Pink Panther by Robert Sellers (UK release Jan 30) is a look at the making of the classic Peter Sellers comedies, and the various related projects which came afterwards. Robert Sellers (no relation), whose book the Secret Life of Ealing Studios book I really enjoyed, is a prolific author of film books, and they are packed with first-hand interviews and a lots of secondary-research.
With such a long career behind him he’s been able to enjoy the privilege of interviewing series regulars like Herbert Lom, Bert Kwouk and Graham Stark before they passed away, and also spent time with other crew and cast members - Robert Wagner, Dyan Cannon, Catherine Schell, Mike Grady, etc - to get a really vivid and personal sense of what it was like to work with two such mercurial personalities as Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers.
Having bonded well during the shooting of the first film in 1963, their relationship became a rocky, ultimately toxic, one, each feeling that the success of the films was due to their individual genius. Exhausting, exhilarating and frustrating by turns, we really get an idea of what it’s like to work on a film where you never know whether the star or the director are going to turn up, or stay around if they do, knowing that the magic which they can spin when in sync is worth the pain.
The Pink Panther franchise ran for so long, weathering (or not) the loss of its star, with attempted reboots in the 80s and 90s, and full-blown remakes in the early 2000s that it really stands as a microcosm of Hollywood movie making over a forty year period. The passion, the greed, the madness, the joy, it’s all here.
The narrative does lose some energy towards the end simply because when it comes to the Steve Martin remakes everyone was lovely, and there were no troubles; tea and biscuits all round, thank you vicar.
The Peter Sellers years, and the immediate aftermath of his death are where the real verve and tragedy of this story lies.
Great stuff.
With such a long career behind him he’s been able to enjoy the privilege of interviewing series regulars like Herbert Lom, Bert Kwouk and Graham Stark before they passed away, and also spent time with other crew and cast members - Robert Wagner, Dyan Cannon, Catherine Schell, Mike Grady, etc - to get a really vivid and personal sense of what it was like to work with two such mercurial personalities as Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers.
Having bonded well during the shooting of the first film in 1963, their relationship became a rocky, ultimately toxic, one, each feeling that the success of the films was due to their individual genius. Exhausting, exhilarating and frustrating by turns, we really get an idea of what it’s like to work on a film where you never know whether the star or the director are going to turn up, or stay around if they do, knowing that the magic which they can spin when in sync is worth the pain.
The Pink Panther franchise ran for so long, weathering (or not) the loss of its star, with attempted reboots in the 80s and 90s, and full-blown remakes in the early 2000s that it really stands as a microcosm of Hollywood movie making over a forty year period. The passion, the greed, the madness, the joy, it’s all here.
The narrative does lose some energy towards the end simply because when it comes to the Steve Martin remakes everyone was lovely, and there were no troubles; tea and biscuits all round, thank you vicar.
The Peter Sellers years, and the immediate aftermath of his death are where the real verve and tragedy of this story lies.
Great stuff.