Blake Edwards used his writing skills to begin producing and directing, with some of his best films including:
Experiment in Terror,
The Great Race, and the hugely successful Pink Panther film series with the British comedian Peter Sellers. Often thought of as primarily a director of comedies, he was also renowned for his dramatic work,
Breakfast at Tiffany's and
Days of Wine and Roses. His greatest successes, however, were his comedies, and most of his films were either musicals, melodramas, slapstick comedies, or thrillers. (
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Breakfast at Tiffany's: Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly's lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they're alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses.
Operation Petticoat: A submarine commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) sub, a con-man executive officer and a group of army nurses. One of my all-time favorites. The Seaman Hornsby scene makes me laugh out loud every time.
The Pink Panther: Bumbling and conceited French police inspector Clouseau tries to catch The Phantom, a daring jewel thief who is right under his nose. I can't decide what's better: watching Clouseau or watching my Dad watching Clouseau.
Darling Lili: Lili Smith, a popular British music hall performer is regarded as a femme fatale. She is actually a German spy, and the uncle she dotes upon is really Colonel Kurt Von Ruger, a fellow spy and her contact with the German military. In hopes of gaining valuable information, Lili begins using her feminine wiles on Major William Larrabee, a top American pilot. However, Lili soon falls in love with Larrabee and...
The Great Race: The Great Leslie is the classic hero in white, handsome and successful. Professor Fate is the villain, Leslie's nemesis, dressed in black and dogged by failure. Leslie proposes an automobile race from New York to Paris, to prove a new car, the Leslie Special. Fate builds his own race vehicle, the Hannibal Twin-8, complete with hidden devices of sabotage. Others enter cars in the race, including New York City's most prominent newspaper. Driving the newspaper's car is beautiful photojournalist Maggie DuBois, a vocal suffragette.
