Happy New Year Double Feature: The Party & The Return of the Pink Panther at the Guild Cinema (both films with Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards & musician Henry Mancini).
Saturday-Sunday, December 31-January 1
The Party shows at 3:45 & 8:30 pm each day.
Directed by Blake Edwards – 1968 – 99m.
The Return of the Pink Panther shows at 6:00 pm only each day.
Directed by Blake Edwards – 1975 – 115m.
THE PARTY: In one of their few non-Clouseau efforts, director Blake Edwards (Victor Victoria) and star Peter Sellers (What’s New Pussycat?) preserve the spirit of the French bumbler in the person of Hrundi V. Bakshi, an accident-prone Indian actor. Brought to Hollywood to play the title role in Son of Gunga Din, Bakshi destroys the film’s most elaborate set with his bungling and is banned from the set by the film’s producer. But because of an error by the producer’s secretary, Bakshi’s name is added to the guest list of his next party, an A-list affair. Shortly after arriving, Bakshi begins accidentally dismantling the producer’s carefully staged event, destroying a flower bed, knocking a servant through a bay window, and triggering the lawn sprinklers, soaking the his pretentious guests. Sellers is typically brilliant in a film abounding in sidesplitting sight gags with a script by Edwards, Frank Waldman (The Pink Panther Strikes Again) and his brother Tom Waldman (Inspector Clouseau).
“The film makes a strong argument for the liberating joys of disorder.” – Sam Adams, The Dissolve
“The precise and relaxed snowballing of silent-comedy idioms becomes, beautifully, a ’68 uprising.” – Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER: The comic genius of Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers meet again in The Return of the Pink Panther. The “Pink Panther Diamond” is stolen with only one clue left behind – a white glove, the trademark of the world-renowned jewel thief, The Phantom (Christopher Plummer). Believed to be retired, he immediately becomes the chief suspect on Inspector Clouseau’s list. Wanting to clear his name, The Phantom sets out to find the real thief and sends Clouseau bumbling along on a false trail. Inspector Clouseau’s antics finally push his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, over the edge and he sets out to murder Clouseau to be rid of him once and for all! It’s non-stop laughs in this timeless comedy masterpiece, hailed as the funniest in The Pink Panther series.“Hilarious Clouseau better in sequel than original.” – Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
“A slap-stick devotee’s dream come true” – Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
The Guild Cinema is located at 3405 Central Avenue NE, in the Nob Hill area.
Website: GuildCinema.com