Inspector Clouseau | |
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Directed by | Bud Yorkin |
Produced by | Lewis J. Rachmil |
Screenplay by | Frank Waldman Tom Waldman |
Based on |
Characters: Blake Edwards Maurice Richlin |
Starring | Alan Arkin |
Music by | Ken Thorne |
Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson |
Edited by | John Victor-Smith |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | n/a |
Box office | n/a |
Inspector Clouseau is a 1968 United Artists feature film. It was directed by Bud Yorkin, written by Frank Waldman and Tom Waldman and stars Alan Arkin as Inspector Clouseau. It was filmed by Mirisch Films at the MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood and in Europe.
Screenwriter Frank Waldman would later co-write The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther, and Trail of the Pink Panther. Tom Waldman would co-write Trail with Frank.
Inspector Clouseau does not feature Peter Sellers as Clouseau, was not directed by Blake Edwards, and did not have a score by Henry Mancini. All three were involved at that time with the film The Party. The Mirisch Company wanted to proceed with this film, so when Sellers and Edwards declined to participate, Mirisch decided to proceed without them. The film languished in obscurity and although it has been released to home video on VHS and DVD, was not included in 2004's Pink Panther Collection but was later added to the Ultimate collection released in 2008.
The film received mostly negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office.
An organized crime wave strikes across Europe. Suspecting a mole within Scotland Yard, the Prime Minister brings Clouseau in to solve the case. Clouseau foils two assassination attempts but is subsequently kidnapped. The gang uses him to make masks of his face which they later use to commit a series of daring bank robberies across Switzerland. Eventually, Clouseau foils the plot and unmasks the traitor within the Yard.