The Ranking
Pink Panther movies
ELEVEN MOVIES. THREE EMPIRE WRITERS. HAVE ANY OF THEM GOT A CLOUSEAU?
SELMAN HOŞGÖR
OUR CRITICS
IAN FREER
He would like to buy a hamburger.
CHRIS HEWITT
He would like to buy a humbudger.
DAN JOLIN He would like to buy a hermburglar.
Chris: The story of the Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseau franchise is as interesting as anything that happens in the movies, but is this a franchise you look upon fondly?
Ian: It’s a franchise I grew up with. But even more than the films, I think the TV cartoon was a huge thing for me. And that had a brilliant theme tune, possibly even better than Henry Mancini’s theme tune.
Chris: That’s not better than the Henry Mancini theme.
Ian: I also don’t think the Henry Mancini theme tune is the best piece of music from that series. There’s a Clouseau theme…
Dan: From A Shot In The Dark. One hundred per cent agree.
Chris: But the theme is the most iconic piece of music.
Ian: Which goes on a journey in the franchise. In the ’80s it gets synthesisers. In the ’90s it gets Bobby McFerrin.
Chris: There’s a disco version as well.
Dan: Re-watching these films, it turns out I was watching most of them for the first time. It seems I’d just watched Trail Of The Pink Panther over and over. But it’s an integral part of my childhood. Peter Sellers as Clouseau was huge.