weekend mancini films at the trylon: The Party and The Pink Panther

Two Blake Edwards treats kick off Take-Up's newest series, "Henry Mancini: The Maestro of Mod."

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Henry Mancini: The Maestro of Mod The Party The Trylon Fri Mar 04 7:00 Sat Mar 05 9:20 Sun Mar 06 7:00  (1968, Blake Edwards, 35mm, 99m) Edwards and Sellers cut loose on a veritable playground of improvisational anarchy. Playing a hapless Indian actor accidentally invited to an ultra-exclusive Hollywood party, Sellers’ particular grace and oddness are on full display. Claudine Longet stars as the demur love interest who steals the show singing the Mancini number “Nothing to Lose”.

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Henry Mancini: The Maestro of Mod The Pink Panther The Trylon Fri Mar 04 9:00 Sat Mar 05 7:00 Sun Mar 06 4:40  (1963, Blake Edwards, BD, 115m) Although this is the birthplace of one famous feline and one bumbling inspector, this breezy romantic farce is really brought to life by the Mancini tune, “It had Better Be Tonight”. Performed with gusto as a mid-film interlude by Fran Jeffries, Mancini’s playful melody is the perfect partner for this gallery of broad-slapstick, and romantic tête-à-tête.

The Pink Panther is for fans of Leslie Nielsen and the Zucker Brothers (which, let's face it, is everyone).  Peter Sellers is in great form, but doesn't dominate the movie in as much as he steals every scene (appropriate for a movie about cat burglary).  I haven't seen any of the other Pink Panther movies, for fear that it'll ruin my appreciation for this one.

There aren't any good clips of Sellers in this movie on YouTube, only ones from later versions (don't watch those).  The best I can offer is a link to the trailer (who disables embedding these days?).  Also, that annoying cartoon cat is barely in the movie at all, so just ignore that aspect of the trailer.