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The Return of the Pink Panther | Year: 1975 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Blake Edwards Actors/Actresses: - Peter Sellers - Christopher Plummer Comic Genius The Return of the ink ant, I mean, Pink Panther, is a work of comic genius. Peter Sellers as the idiot inspector, Herbert Lom as his boss and Chief of Police deliver two of the most inspired comic performances ever captured on screen. The rapport between the two of them is worth ten thousand Shagging Spies, and eight thousand twenty Lying Liars! This might sound harsh, but I'm sure Jim Carrey as well as Mike Myers would agree. They are, after all, admitted Sellers fans. The film begins with the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The famous inspector who rescued it last time it was stolen, Inspector Clousseau (Peter Sellers), is assigned the case. Completely incompetent, yet unwaveringly persistent, the inspector manages -with the help of a phone call from his boss- to solve the crime and apprehend the infamous thief. This sounds easy enough; however, things get complicated when Inspector Clousseau's own superior sets out to murder him! More Important for what it accomplished The best thing about this film is that it returned Peter Sellers to the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau under Blake Edwards' direction after Alan Arkin's single portrayal in 1968's INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU directed by Bud Yorkin. More importantly it did not only return Sellers but it also instituted the Pink Panther and Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in a legitimate film series instead of just a few sporadic sequels and it launched a huge cinematic rebirth and phenomenon. Unfortunately this film seems to lack the magic of 1964's THE PINK PANTHER and the sophistication of A SHOT IN THE DARK. Christopher Plummer replaced David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton in this film. Plummer is good but it seems a shame since Niven reprised his role later in 1982's TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER and 1983's CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER, which were made after Sellers' death (in 1980) in an attempt to revive the series without him. Catherine Schell as Claudine Litton lacked the charisma of earlier leading ladies Capucine and Elke Sommer. On the plus side, Sellers is brilliant as Clouseau as are Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Kato back and featured prominently in the rest of all the subsequent Pink Panther films. Much needed and returning is a score composed by Henry Mancini a very integral component of this series. THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER has some very good comic sketches and a very good opening jewel heist but the script just doesn't seem to be a very cohesive force. However, better things were yet to come. As for the DVD, the quality is just average. For me, the picture quality is just too soft. The MGM prints of the other Pink Panther films on DVD are much crisper. DA DUM DA DUM, DA DUM, DA DUM DA DUM DA DUM... Has there ever been a more catchy theme than Mancini's "Pink Panther?" I can't think of any off hand, and in this third entry in the Clouseau series, the music and the animated panther are back in fine form.<BR>Mainly a vehicle for the superb Peter Sellers, this sequel is tired in plot, and struggles for some of its laughs, but one cannot deny the superlative hijinks of Sellers as the impossibly inept Inspector Clouseau. He has so many brilliant moments, it's hard to think of them all, but Sellers is in top form. Christopher Plummer and Catherine Schell do okay, but Herbert Lom and Burt Kwouk as Dreyfuss and Kato are outstanding in their supporting roles. Lom's slow decline into mental illness is hilarious in its cartoonish way, and Kato's fights with Sellers are priceless.<BR>It's an entertaining if inconsequential movie, but I had lots of fun watching it!! Buy The Return Of The Pink Panther at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Return Of The Pink Panther Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Return Of The Pink Panther This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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