When I was a kid, there was nothing funnier to me than the pratfalls and slapstick adventures of the hapless Inspector Clouseau. I absolutely adored the guy, and through the incredible performance of Peter Sellers, I came to know the work of Blake Edwards. Edwards was one of the rare directors who could blend both verbal wit and physical comedy seamlessly, and he was a genius at it. Oscar-winning writer/director Blake Edwards died yesterday at age 88, surrounded by his family.
If you haven’t seen any of the original Pink Panther films, you really need to check them out. They’re masterpieces of comedy. The timing is just impeccable, with this barely-contained chaos that never quite spirals out of control (at least to the viewer). It’s a series of little accidents that accumulate, like an avalanche, into full-scale disaster. Uproariously funny, too.
Even Edwards’ more serious material, or his romantic comedies, are brilliant. I mean, he did Breakfast at Tiffany’s!
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