Favourite Phantom

[Dreyfus]

Who was your favourtie Phantom?

Mine has to be the one and only David Niven, even though he was not at his best in the later films he was still great in TPP.

Christopher Plummer was good but not as good as Niven.

[Clouseau]

i agree... while Christopher Plummer did a fine job in RetOTPP, David Niven is...well...David Niven... and sure, Niven was so sick the majority of his lines in Trail and Curse had to be dubbed by Rich Little, but like you said, he did a fantastic job in TPP63, and even at the end of Curse, he still oozed class and sophistication!

[Cato]

Well, it's got to be David Niven, hasn't it? I mean Plummer's not bad, but he just doesn't come close to matching Niven's class, charm and comic abilities...

[georgelytton]

David Niven, absolutely.

I'll go as far as to say that David was the only one who played him. What do I mean?

I mean to say, that Christopher Plummer's character in ROTPP is not really Sir Charles Litton, but George using the name Sir Charles Litton. His complete demeanor and mannerisms clearly dictate a much more frivolous character, more cunning and, well, cruel (poor fingers...) than the Sir Charles we know - not to mention how impossibly young Sir Charles is in the movie.

So, I here say that I believe, that George Litton didn't appear only in TPP and COFTPP, but also ROTPP, played by Christopher Plummer!

What do you say?

[Clouseau]

that's an interesting theory, George! kinda takes care of the whole issue of Simone vs. Claudine, too, except for one little snag, which is that everyone from Claudine to Clouseau to Col. Sharkey recognizes him and calls him Sir Charles...

the only other explanation i can think of is that Return could possibly be set much earlier than the rest of the series... and that might almost work, except that Clouseau didn't know Sir Charles was the Phantom before TPP63... so i guess this is just another one of those oddities about the series that doesn't make much sense...

[georgelytton]

Its no less contrived than saying he's actually Sir Charles.

I can prove its valid: Colonel Sharky, by that time, probably never even knew how Sir Charles looked like - so its easy to believe its him, by asking people like, say, the Fat man.

To add, George's name could very well be George Charles Lytton, thus one other reason to use that name. Another reason would be, he's hunted after for frauds (like in the original PANTHER). Claudine knows him as Charles only, and never met his real uncle (David Niven) either. So thats a reason for her to believe him. George knows he has to act, before the authorities can even link him with his uncle, thus blowing up his cover. Thus his motivations for going after the thief.

And for Clouseau... Well, I don't tell that, do I? That man in an answer himself.

[Cato]

Hmmm, a lovely theory, george. But, personally, I certainly wouldn't read as much into it as all that, I'm afraid.

It's surely just a case that after an eleven year gap between ASITD and the new PP film they were going to make - in the shape TROTPP, of course - the filmmakers decided that they couldn't cast a, by then, pretty old David Niven as Sir Charles once more, especially as they had written him as a more physiclally dynamic, athletic chap. Plus, given that they'd written Sir Charles in the script as essentially a 'younger' man, they'd need someone who'd appear pretty trendy when surrounded by the pleasantries of good Seventies living - expensive clothes with flares, walking about to more Seventies-like music than in the Sixties PP films etc etc.

So they simply cast a pretty well-suited Christopher Plummer in the role. And I think that's that really, my friend...

[georgelytton]

Don't disagree with all that... But the character himself acts more like George Lytton, don't you think?

Besides, that way, it adds to his importance to the series. I mean, Niven's Lytton does mention in CURSE that Clouseau thought that George took over after Sir Charles retired. Maybe RETURN is where he bases it...

[pinkadilly]

i think the guy in Return was cooler. theres no way the other guy couldvedone that part!

[in-the-pink]

I voted for Plummer because he's more active, and more believable as a master theif. Niven could probably out-finese Plummer, but I wouldn't depend on Niven's ability to escape from too many close calls a la the heist at the beginning of Return of the Pink Panther! (Though, granted, Plummer didn't make that particular escape, either, but at least he seemed more like he would have been able to do it!)

[fargus]

Both are good in the role of Sir Charles Lytton, "The Phantom".

[matthew]

I know this is a different film but he was good in the guns of navarone and escape to athena and he was reniunited with Claudia Cardinal for that one ;D