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	The original Panther films were famous for their use of exotic European locales and, in keeping with that tradition, Levy made ample use of France, from the quaint small Place Dauphine on the Ile de la Cite, to the grand, 400-year-old Chateau Voisins on the outskirts of Paris. For the shoot, Brown says he favored elegant, natural looking photography, using a simple approach and taking advantage of the natural beauty of the French locations. Those locations were crucial, Simonds explains, to convey the scope the filmmakers desired. “This may sound oxymoronic, but we wanted The Pink Panther to feel like an event comedy. We needed the movie to look like a big, visual treat. It couldn’t look like we ground it out on a back lot. The original 1963 film had these interesting, sophisticated locales and we wanted to echo that sensibility. So, we scouted our locations extensively to find the best places for the plot and the character, but ones that were also commanding and spectacular visually.” In addition, the filmmakers added New York into the mix when Clouseau, occasionally disguised as a tourist, ventures across the sea. “New York fit the sensibility of the script, which is quirky, so I wanted the visuals to be fresh and quirky too,” says Levy. “The idea of Clouseau, this consummate Frenchman, wearing an ‘I Love New York’ baseball cap in the middle of Times Square was somehow jarring, mismatched and very funny.” Equally jarring and funny — and definitely idiosyncratic — is the car Clouseau drives, a tiny, boxy red-and-gray Smart Car. The Smart Car, the product of the corporate marriage between Swatch and Mercedes, is a staple in Europe. It is known for its safety and its incredible 60 m.p.g. mileage. In spite of that, it’s slightly preposterous to look at, like an oversized shoe on wheels. “We had originally considered another car but on a location scout in Paris, we kept seeing these Smart Cars. They struck us as funny and cute and little absurd, just like Clouseau. So, it became his car,” says Levy. Levy made excellent use of his carefully selected locations – a walking bridge across the Seine served as a venue for a conversation between Ponton and Clouseau and also displayed a postcard panorama of Paris. Similarly, the cathedral of Notre Dame loomed in the background of a stunt off another bridge. Perhaps the most breathtaking and singular view for the cast and crew came while photographing a pivotal nighttime scene in which Clouseau chases the villain around a Paris rooftop. The production set up on the roof of the Museé Galleria, gingerly moving across its scalloped, sloping face but often pausing to admire its neighbor across the river — the magnificent Eiffel Tower. In New York, the movie took full advantage of the architecture of the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel. Xania’s valiant attempt to seduce Clouseau took place in her suite, one of the hotels more spectacular rooms, which Kilvert filled with enormous bowls of fragrant, pink and white peonies and roses and feminine couches laden with overstuffed cushions and pillows. Due to some over-vigilant surveillance, Clouseau unscrews the huge, storied chandelier that hangs in the Waldorf’s lobby and it plummets precipitously to the ground. Amazingly, the Waldorf agreed to allow the production to actually raise and lower the real 90-year-old chandelier so the effects crew could match it to a replica that they crashed on a stage against a green screen. After Paris, the company moved to Prague for three days to shoot the pivotal soccer game scenes. In a stadium outside the city in a small town called Teplice, about 12,000 Czech extras showed up to play fans of Team France and Team China. A local assistant director explained the scenes to the crowds via megaphone and their enthusiasm never waned, even after three days of continuous filming. Often, the “fans” would spontaneously erupt into waves and cheers, carrying on for no apparent reason. At the end of each day’s filming, the production raffled off a Smart Car to thank the crowd for its patience and enthusiasm. Even the cast and crew got into the spirit. Over lunch on the last day of filming, the crew and the on-screen soccer players donned Team France and Team China jerseys and played an exhibition match, to the delight of the Czech extras. Like its predecessors, Levy’s Pink Panther features elaborate stunts, glorious locations, outrageous pratfalls and an international cast and crew. As with the previous Panther incarnations, it is anchored by a hilariously inept character named Inspector Clouseau, who, in his own distinctive way, somehow manages to solve cases and entertain audiences. “My introduction to the Pink Panthers was as a kid and I remember they made me laugh a lot,” says Levy. “I wasn’t thinking about it then, but now I realize that they were funny to me because at their core was a character who is engaging, someone you can laugh at and laugh with. When I went back and watched them all again before making this movie, it was the character of Clouseau and Peter Sellers’ performance combined with Blake Edwards’ sense of timing and rhythm, that made those movies so captivating. Edwards’ had a sense of how to maximize his star. He figured out a way to get the very best out of his actor, his Clouseau. “I have my Clouseau and it’s Steve Martin. And hopefully I’ve tailored the movie and the style of my filmmaking to my star. With any luck I will be able to maximize the specific talents of my Clouseau the way Blake Edwards did with his.”

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