Mar 16 2009
“The Return of the Pink Panther” (1975) ****
Preview Unavailable
Starring: Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom, Peter Arne, Peter Jeffrey, Gregoire Asian, David Lodge, Graham Stark, Eric Pohlmann, Andre Maranne, Burt Kwouk, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Mike Grady, and Peter Jones.
Directed by: Blake Edwards.
Story:
Inspector Clouseau’s clumsiness has demoted him to a regular police officer by his boss Dreyfus who now despises Clouseau obsessively. When the Pink Panther diamond is stolen again in the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Lugash, the French government insists that Dreyfus reinstates Clouseau as detective and assigns the case. Clouseau soon discovers that his arch nemesis, The Phantom (aka Sir Charles Lytton), may once again be up to his old bag of tricks.
Characters:
*Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers): The bumbling detective, demoted to police officer but then reinstated as detective.
*Sir Charles Lytton (Christopher Plummer): The notorious Phantom, Clouseau’s arch-nemesis, returns once again as the thief responsible for the pink panther diamond’s disappearance.
*Lady Claudine Lytton (Catherine Schell): Sir Charles’ wife.
*Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom): Clouseau’s boss who despises him to the point of total insanity.
*Col. Sharky (Peter Arne): A Col. in the Lugash police who turns out to have a totally different agenda.
*Cato Fong (Burt Kwouk): Clouseau’s martial arts servant (and valet in this one).
Overall:
Finally, the original ‘Pink Panther’ characters (Chief Inspector Commissioner Dreyfus, Cato Fong, Sir Charles Lytton aka The Phantom, and of course Inspector Clouseau played by the original actor) return for this fourth film in the series. The previous entry, “Inspector Clouseau” delivered us a subpar script with minimal laughs, a different supervisor for Clouseau, and a different actor in the title role instead of Sellers. Not anymore. Blake Edwards returns as well and brings the franchise back to where it rightfully was at the end of “A Shot In The Dark”.
Edwards made all the right choices to save the franchise from 1968’s “Inspector Clouseau”, him directing, bringing back Sellers, Lom, Kwouk, and a hilarious script that involves the missing pink panther diamond once again; Blake Edwards certainly went back to the series’ roots with this one. If you don’t want to be disappointed, I’d suggest skipping over “Inspector Clouseau” and watching this one after “A Shot In The Dark”, trust me, you really won’t be missing much at all.
Rating: ****
