|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 24, 2006 14:27:46 GMT
If you do a Google search for screenplays, you will find sites that sell scripts including ROMANCE. The revised draft is more common, but the first draft is in circulation, too. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but as far as I know the scripts are the property of the studio. Whether the sites that sell them have made some arrangement, I cannot say, but I can't sell them if I have no means of paying the authors, their estates, or the rightful owners some sort of royalty. Glad you found the information I supplied helpful.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 22, 2006 15:08:18 GMT
I own both drafts of the screenplay for starters and I spent time researching microfiche files of The New York Times, The LA Times, and The Hollywood Reporter to see what was reported at the time of the film's development. You are welcome to use the information. As a courtesy mention this board as your source. I try to mention when I'm using content I first posted at ezboard's Panther site or on the now-defunct BlakeEdwards.com.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 21:23:11 GMT
There were two Sellers-Moloney drafts for Romance. The first from December 1979 and the rewrite from July 1980. The differences were chiefly in their conclusions. The first draft would have seen Clouseau promoted to Commissioner--a surprise ending for Dreyfus who, after acting as a private investigator in this film rejoins the Surete as Chief Inspector at the end only to find Clouseau as his boss. The rewrite has Clouseau retire from the Surete. He marries Anastasia. Cato attacks from the choir loft after they exchange vows and walk down the aisle. Dreyfus does not rejoin the force, but is headed for another relapse as the script concludes with him hurling voodoo darts at a photo of Clouseau. Interestingly, the good cop gone bad aspect of Curse originated here with Clouseau marrying Anastasia knowing she will not repent from her life of crime as The Frog or Froog as Clouseau would have said.
While Sidney Poitier was attached to direct the film first, he backed out before the first draft was completed. Clive Donner signed on in December 1979 and was preparing to discuss further rewrites with Sellers at the time of his death in July 1980. The production was to have been based entirely at Studio de Boulogne in Paris where Sellers shot his Fu Manchu spoof. Donner's wife, Jocelyn Rickards was already working on production designs and costume designs when the project was cancelled. Danny Rissner, a United Artists executive throughout the 70s and early 80s would have produced with Sellers' wife, Lynne Frederick as Executive Producer (as she was on the Fu Manchu comedy). Mr. Rissner told me he was opposed to the idea of replacing Sellers and would not have produced the film without him. He stated the Dudley Moore decision and the later choice to hand the series over for Edwards to refashion for a new character came after his departure. Honorary Goon, Max Geldray would have co-starred in the film as the Shah of Iran-like Mahuma of Alfatoon. Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, Graham Stark, Andre Maranne, Douglas Wilmer, Danny Schiller, and composer Henry Mancini would have returned. The script notes Richard Williams would design the titles. According to Michael Sellers, Pamela Stephenson would have played the love interest. Following her role in History of the World, Part One, this might have given her a fighting chance in Hollywood. A great loss and a treasure that exists only as a screenplay circulating among collectors today.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 21:06:59 GMT
The final word on the Lugash monarchy.
As stated in Trail, the Kurfili were the ruling family of Lugash for centuries. The script and novelization of the original Panther note that after Dala's father died, the general seized power and forced her into exile. Ownership of the Pink Panther was settled in the World Court and it was restored to the people of Lugash. The general was General Wadafi, as stated in Return. He placed a puppet religious leader, the Shah of Lugash in place to offer the people a sense of continuity with their culture and tradition while ruling the country as a military dictator himself. Wadafi was succeeded by General Haleesh who elected himself president as noted in Trail/Curse. Dala returned to reclaim the throne as the rightful ruler of Lugash. She married King Haroak of the neighboring nation of Darfur (he had previously been married to an American and had a daughter, Yasmin attending school in the US...Australia in the script). The couple seperated shortly thereafter, but never divorced as Haroak took residence in the palace in Lugash while Dala stayed behind at his former residence in Darfur (note the King's reference to not having been together in Darfur for ten years in Son). Dala had taken up with Darfur's General Fahd Jaffar who had his eye on the throne of both Darfur and Lugash as royal consort. The lonely princess became a lonely middle-aged queen always looking for a forceful, dominant male to replace her father. Neither Sir Charles, Haroak, or Jaffar could measure up to the man that gave his little girl a white pony and the Pink Panther as gifts. General Jaffar conspired with terrorist Uncle Idris to kidnap Yasmin and force Haroak to abdicate. Aware of his estranged wife's lover, Haroak told her he would not abdicate if his successor was to be a military man. Of course, Jaffar was also carrying on with Rima the bellydancer at Omar's Oasis run by Omar Muffid, Colonel Al Durai's contact. Al Durai was the head of Lugash's secret service for Haroak (succeeding Return's Colonel Sharki and Trail/Curse's Colonel, later General Bufoni). Rima was also having an affair with Waffiyah, the lesbian bouncer at Omar's Oasis. Of course, Gambrelli was able (with a bit of help from the UN Special Forces and Cato) to round up the bad guys and rescue the Princess. Dala was forced into exile permanently while Jaffar was executed. Haroak maintained the throne of Lugash.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 20:46:32 GMT
As to the real continuity issues, this is my take which I will argue is as close to canon as anyone can get:
As stated in the dialogue in the original Panther, as soon as The Phantom struck again in South America, the Inspector would be cleared and released from prison. He was cleared and returned, humiliated to the Surete (don't forget his actions in Cortina and Rome were during his vacation, he was not acting for the Surete but on his own hunch or heunch). Since Simone left him for Sir Charles, they divorced soon after and he hired Cato to fulfill the household duties as a newly single man accustomed or unwilling to do them himself.
Commissioner Dreyfus suffered a nervous breakdown at the end of A Shot in the Dark (no one knew he had inadvertently murdered people). He returned to the Surete after a leave of absence and occupied the lower position of Chief Inspector starting in Return. Note the contrast between the successful bureaucrat with wife and mistress at the start of A Shot in the Dark with the henpecked, unhappily married Dreyfus of Return and Trail/Curse. Three years do occur between Return and Strikes Again. Since Strikes Again occurs during the Ford Administration, it is likely Return is set in the early 70s.
Incidentally, Dreyfus' wife left him after his breakdown and stay in the asylum after Return, but they reconciled by the time of Trail/Curse once he reestablished his career and reclaimed some grip on his sanity.
Dreyfus was not vaporized at the end of Strikes Again. Hugo Fassbinder's work was in the field of manipulating vortices of electromagnetic aberrations. He did not atomize the UN building, he merely sent it to another dimension (this was evident in the original screenplay, the novelization, and the William Gleason stage play). Since Fassbinder remained in our dimension in the film (but not, incidentally in the script, book, or play), he easily reversed the process and restored the UN building, Dreyfus, and the castle. Dreyfus returned to the asylum before being reinstated as Chief Inspector in Revenge.
The fact that Dreyfus does not recognize Maria in Son is not odd considering it had been at least 30 years since they had seen one another.
Inspector Clouseau (1968) follows the Gambrelli case because that was the case that established Clouseau as a success and led to him being called in to help Scotland Yard. Cato does not appear because there are no scenes in Clouseau's apartment.
Sir Charles and Simone split up shortly after the events of the original film, likely to avoid implicating one another. Sir Charles married Claudine four years before the events of Return (in the late 60s) and gave up a life of crime. The late Colonel Sharki was blamed for stealing the diamond for political reasons as stated in Return. Claudine did not go to prison, but did see her marriage end (she did nearly get her husband killed, after all). He eventually wound up with his true love, Simone. They later married. Simone was eager to ignore Sir Charles' ex-wife and the possible scandal during her interview with Marie Jouvet in Trail when she completes Marie's sentence by simply saying she married the man of her dreams.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 20:12:48 GMT
Sir Charles' surname was spelled Lytton in the original Pink Panther screenplay, press kit, and novelization. The spelling was changed to Litton thereafter. The Inspector's manservant is not as clear cut. The credits to A Shot in the Dark list the spelling as Kato, but the screenplay lists Cato which would be the accepted spelling thereafter. Revenge and Trail/Curse as well as the unfilmed Romance of the Pink Panther give Cato the surname Fong while the screenplay to Son of the Pink Panther lists his name as Fred Cato, a Goonish reference if ever there was one.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 20:08:40 GMT
First off, there is a common misconception that A SHOT IN THE DARK was filmed first. This is an error even MGM has made in recent years. A quick glance at back issues of Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times reveals The Pink Panther was ready for production in November 1962 when Peter Ustinov pulled out. Sellers was onboard in January 1963 when shooting began. A Shot in the Dark went into production in the Fall of 1963. The Pink Panther was first screened in September 1963 for a sneak preview reported in The Hollywood Reporter. It opened in parts of Europe in December 1963, the UK in January 1964, and the US in April 1964. A Shot in the Dark opened in June 1964. Nothing sat on the shelf and A Shot in the Dark was definitely filmed second.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 24, 2006 14:42:21 GMT
Peter Sellers was not going to have a role in THE FERRET. The closest thing to a Sellers-Edwards-Moore collaboration was the alternate opening sequence to "10" where Sellers and Dyan Cannon appeared as themselves at George Webber's birthday party. The scene was reshot because it was felt the celebrity appearances were too distracting for the start of a film. THE FERRET would not have involved Peter Sellers for two reasons. First, he was too big a star to play second fiddle in a Dudley Moore vehicle (this wasn't going to be an all-star comedy like MURDER BY DEATH) and second, Edwards was eager to show he could be successful in a Panther-like comedy without Peter just as Peter was eager to show he didn't need Edwards with ROMANCE OF THE PINK PANTHER. Finally, if you watch the trailer to REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER on DVD, you will hear the announcer refer to Sellers as Chief Inspector Andre Clouseau not once, but twice. It was a lamentable error that slipped through due to the mass exodus of UA's entire staff of executives to form Orion Pictures in 1978. The newly hired replacments did their best under extremely difficult situations. There is an excellent book and documentary called FINAL CUT about this era for the studio.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 21:53:28 GMT
There is a great deal of confusion over The Ferret. When Arthur Krim and his executives left United Artists after many years in 1978 (to make way for Andy Albeck and Steven Bach and their monumental bungles like Heaven's Gate and referring to Sellers as "Andre Clouseau" in Revenge's trailer), they formed Orion Pictures on the Warner lot. Blake Edwards was among the first to sign deals with Orion as a show of solidarity for the men who had backed his films for fifteen years. Sellers made his own deal with Orion for the Panther-like Fu Manchu spoof just as he worked with Walter Mirisch on the Panther-like Prisoner of Zenda sendup for Universal in 1978.
The Orion deal was terminated after Edwards wrapped production on "10" over marketing and distribution disputes and the mini-studio's lukewarm reception to Edwards' controversial S.O.B. script. The casualty in the termination of their agreement was The Ferret, a Dudley Moore comedy in the same vein as The Pink Panther. Hanna-Barbera were developing the animated titles which were to be marketed in the same fashion as the Panther.
The Ferret would have seen Moore playing a classical pianist and amateur inventor who learns the father he thought dead is actually a special agent for the UN known as The Ferret. Their reunion is cut short when he is assassinated. When a crime wave strikes the world in the aftermath of The Ferret's death, his less capable son is determined to take on his father's identity and avenge him (a concept that survived in the liner notes to Son of the Pink Panther's soundtrack CD, but not the film). Moore's Ferret is not a bumbler like Clouseau, but an average guy forced to succeed in extraordinary situations. He does, in spite of himself, thanks to determination, his inventor skills, and sheer good fortune.
Orion cut the budget for the film just before shooting was to begin in the Summer of 1979. The project was delayed and eventually cancelled. Edwards shopped it around, but shelved it as Moore's star rose even further after the success of both "10" and Arthur (and his subsequent unwillingness to commit to a series).
Edwards was approached by a former United Artists executive who had set up a television production company, Centrepoint Productions in 1983 for concepts for a series. He suggested The Ferret. A demonstation film was shot, not a broadcast-quality pilot as often reported. Terry Marcel (Edwards' assistant on Strikes Again, Revenge, Trail, and Curse) directed. Steve Guttenberg played Sam Valenti, the Ferret role intended for Dudley Moore. Robert Loggia and Edwards' daughter, Jennifer Edwards co-starred. The format for the intended series was an expensive hour-long comedy without a laugh track to be shot on location in Europe and the US. The format and budget were too much for NBC and any other network or cable outlet and the project died.
Somewhere along the line, the rumor circulated that The Ferret was an official spinoff of The Pink Panther and that Sellers would have guest-starred as Clouseau following the events of Romance. The otherwise faultless Ed Sikov even reported this bit of internet misinformation in Mr. Strangelove. This is, unfortunately, a fabrication on the part of confused and likely hopeful fans who didn't want to let Clouseau die. The official word is the only incarnations of the character were the proposed Orion film and the television demonstration project submitted to NBC in 1984.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Feb 26, 2007 16:24:20 GMT
That's just it, I don't know. Army Archerd spoke with Robert Wagner at Cannes in 1992. Blake Edwards was being feted with a ten-film retrospective and, naturally, there was also a press conference to kick-off production on SON OF THE PINK PANTHER. Army Archerd asked Mr. Wagner if he was in the new film. Mr. Wagner responded that he was in, then out, then back in, and now he's out again, but that Mr. Edwards is going to use him for the sequel. At the press conference for SON, Mr. Edwards noted the intended sequel would be a family affair with both Roberto Benigni and offscreen wife, Nicoletta Braschi co-starring as the Clouseau siblings. Daily Variety headlined the piece DAUGHTER OF THE PINK PANTHER? Sadly, this came to nought. Mr. Wagner also appeared on an episode of the short-lived Julie Andrews sitcom, JULIE around this time. The show was produced and directed by Mr. Edwards and created by his SON OF THE PINK PANTHER co-writers Madeline and Steven Sunshine. Yet another what might have been I'm afraid.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 18:29:05 GMT
The intrigue involves the nations of Lugash and Darfur. Uncle Idris is a Darfur-based terrorist who hired soldier of fortune, Hans Zarba to kidnap Princess Yasmin to force King Haroak to abdicate and allow the Queen's (and Rima's) lover, General Fahd Jaffar take control of the country. The Queen has been in exile in Darfur for ten years since they separated. The wire tapping indicates King Haroak and Colonel Al Durai are aware of the Queen plotting with Jaffar and Uncle Idris to remove him from the throne.
Edwards had intended for Elke Sommer to reprise her role as Maria Gambrelli. She told the audience at the Cinemateque's Panther festival a few years ago that she declined to do the film without Peter. I suggest that Claudia Cardinale might have been intended to reprise her role as Dala. Had Dala ended her exile and claimed the throne as Queen of Lugash, she could have forged a powerful alliance by marrying King Haroak of Darfur and joining their kingdoms. This fits the established Panther continuity and would explain the cloak and dagger going on behind the scenes. The only circulating draft of SON's script is missing a great deal of scenes (including the ones Robert Wagner mentioned to Army Archerd in 1992) so we may never know for sure.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Jul 10, 2007 21:09:39 GMT
My ranking would be...
1. A Shot in the Dark 2. The Pink Panther (1963) 3. The Return of The Pink Panther / The Pink Panther Strikes Again (tie)
These four are among my very favorite comedies ever made and rank high on my list of favorite films of all time.
4. Revenge of The Pink Panther 5. Inspector Clouseau
These are both routine formula films lacking the spark that made the top four so good, but are both still full of moments I greatly enjoy and are still welcome additions to the series.
6. Trail of The Pink Panther / Son of The Pink Panther / Curse of The Pink Panther / The Pink Panther (2006) (four-way tie)
All four are disappointments to me.
TRAIL has some wonderful Sellers outtakes and at least two great scenes with Joe Dunne doubling as Clouseau 18 months after Mr. Sellers' death that make me cry with laughter to this day. Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark's onscreen remarks about Clouseau are also very heartfelt and remain a fitting tribute to Mr. Sellers. I also love the closing montage. Sadly, I find Mr. Lom's new scenes devoid of laughter without Mr. Sellers to play off of (I do not fault the actor so much as Mr. Edwards in this instance), seeing David Niven so frail is painful, the dubbing of various characters (especially Clouseau) varies from excellent to dreadful, Richard Mulligan is nowhere near as amusing as the editing of his scene in the trailer led me to expect, and Robert Loggia and Joanna Lumley are wasted in a film that really has no purpose to exist except as a set-up for the next entry. The loss of RETURN outtakes and the seeming inability to incorporate the REVENGE outtakes really hurt this film.
CURSE is a dreadfully uneven film. I may be the only Panther fan not to find Roger Moore's Sellers impersonation the least bit likable. I would have preferred a clean break with the past and proper focus on Clifton Sleigh as the main character. The reliance on Lom, Maranne, Kwouk, Korman, etc. never seems to set up how the series was to change geographically with new characters as it was intended. Mr. Wass has no chemistry whatsoever with Herbert Lom, yet comes off great in his scenes with William Hootkins as The Notoriously Unreliable French Taxi Driver and Michael Elphick as Chief Vigilla. He also excels in the great scene with the blow-up doll floating above the bed in an unappreciated nod to THE EXORCIST. Sadly, Wass' big recreation of Harold Lloyd's clock climbing scene falls miserably flat as if Edwards lacked the time to stage the sequence right and what looks like a very funny scene with Wass falling in Niven's pool is cut away and only glimpsed in a long shot. Had Edwards restructured the film to focus on his new characters with ample time to develop Leslie Ash as a sexy female Cato and given Robert Wagner more screen time, this might have worked.
SON has a great casting choice in Roberto Benigni, but I fear Mr. Edwards bit off more than he could chew in trying to get this film off the ground. The cloak and dagger Middle Eastern subplot is terribly jumbled and MGM's butchering of the film leaves little more than a series of oddly short scenes that fail to communicate laughs or continuity effectively. There are a few amusing moments, but nothing that approaches CURSE at its best (albeit few) scenes. Jennifer Edwards, who excels at light comic roles such as in S.O.B. and the short-lived JULIE sitcom, seems awkward in several of her line readings here which is truly a shame. The insistence on keeping Mr. Sellers' old co-stars around hurts this film as it did CURSE. The series regulars never gell with the new leading man and whenever they or Mr. Sellers are invoked, the film's focus becomes obscured and all humor is drained as the films do little more than remind us of the loss of the series' star. Of course, the difficult production of CURSE and dreadful post-production cutting of SON make it difficult to judge what might have been. The original trailer for SON (not included on the VHS or DVD) gave us a glimpse of the genuinely funny destruction of the Langois farm (only Blake Edwards can shoot an explosion that makes people laugh even when seen out of context) that is likely forever lost to time.
THE PINK PANTHER (2006) is a film I prefer to think of by its working title, BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER. Where to begin? This could have been so much worse (Mike Myers, Chris Tucker, Dana Carvey, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Martin Lawrence were all approached to play Clouseau by the original producer, Ivan Reitman) and it should have been so much better (Kevin Kline as Clouseau...possibly even Kevin Spacey). Despite his tremendous box office clout, Shawn Levy was a poor choice for director. This may be an unfair statement as yet again, Bruce Markoe (the man who butchered SON to a series of mystifyingly short scenes running under 90 minutes minus the titles) was allowed to repeat the same mistake here. The seemingly endless reshoots only add to the confusion and really make this film play even more like a series of highlights than TRAIL did. The Paris scenery is nice but the rule that no scene be longer than 1:30 (yes, I'm kidding...just) makes it feel like stock footage. The decision to place Steve Martin in nearly every scene also hurts the film as does the awkward loss of Mr. Kline's framing the story as scripted by Len Blum five years before the film was released. Martin successfully avoids aping Mr. Sellers but only at the expense of channeling Mel Blanc's Elmer Fudd. A fact which sinks his characterization in all but a few scenes (the bit with Roger Rees' vases and a short--what else--scene with Emily Mortimer about sexual politics in the office). Kevin Kline and Jean Reno are wasted. Kristen Chenoweth and Emily Mortimer's scenes were largely cut (especially Kristen) during an eleventh hour decision to turn the very PG-13 comedy into something family-friendly. Chris Beck's score overuses the classic Mancini theme to the point that it is unintentionally funny. Lilly Kilvert comes across best with consistently gorgeous sets and will hopefully be back for the sequel. The Clive Owen cameo falls flat due to timing (Daniel Craig was already Bond when the film was finally released...Owen's bit paled when compared with the hilarious Pierce Brosnan routine Mr. Martin originally scripted) and more kid-friendly trimming which cost the film the pay-off with the glass cutter that was so prevalent in the trailer and TV spots. Beyonce is largely wooden and never seems to be anything more than eye candy. The DVD also trims the scene of Kline getting caught in Martin's office...a fact I have never seen noted elsewhere (but this isn't a complaint in this instance as it is funnier than in the theatrical cut...if only I could similarly cut or reshoot Martin's over the top reaction to being shocked by the light bulb...). This could have been worse and is another fascinating failure, in my view, as much as CURSE, SON, and the largely pointless TRAIL. The series has no where to go but up...I hope.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on May 2, 2007 19:33:12 GMT
MGM will release a healthy sampling of the 1960s DePatie-Freleng cartoon series, The Inspector on Region 1 DVD July 24. These feature the voice talents of Pat Harrington, Jr. as both The Inspector and his equally incompetent assistant, Seargeant Deaux-Deaux and with Larry Storch as The Commissioner.
Still no siting of a Region 1 release for the 1993-1995 Pink Panther cartoon series. MGM released these for Region 2 earlier this year. Several of the cartoons feature the voice talents of Brian George as The Inspector.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Dec 19, 2006 14:51:58 GMT
My collection consists of the scripts for the original Panther, A Shot in the Dark, Return, Strikes Again, Revenge, Romance [two drafts], Trail, Curse, Son, and the new Panther [two drafts]; novelizations of the original Panther, Return, Strikes Again, and the new Panther [three different versions]; the script book and fotonovel for Revenge, the stage plays for A Shot in the Dark and Strikes Again; the American Cinematographer issue for Revenge; Jerry Beck's excellent guide; the cute Meet the Pink Panther picture book; and the two Cerasini-Alfonsi tie-in novels.
|
|
|
Post by thecolonel93 on Nov 16, 2006 21:13:24 GMT
The Gleason play is the only adaptation currently. Maurice Richlin copyrighted a synopsis for a potential Broadway show called Inspector Clouseau in 1983, but it never came to fruition. Blake Edwards noted at the premiere of Son of the Pink Panther in 1993 that after Victor/Victoria, he planned on adapting A Shot in the Dark for Broadway. It took until 1999 before Edwards began work on adapting the first two films for the stage. MGM On Stage, the studio's stage division agreed to back Edwards' adaptations a few years ago. Leslie Bricusse (lyricist on both Revenge and Son) worked on A Shot in the Dark with Edwards while Alan and Marilyn Bergman collaborated on The Pink Panther with him. Both titles are listed as forthcoming productions from MGM On Stage's website. Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber will produce for MGM with Blake Edwards and son, Geoffrey Edwards producing for their company, Big Jewel Productions. There is no date targeted for either show yet.
|
|