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More than a decade after the incompetent Inspector Clouseau fumbled his way across movie screens in A Shot in the Dark, star Peter Sellers and director Blake Edwards successfully revived the series with this 1975 sequel. A sturdily produced romp that once again found Clouseau in hot pursuit of the Pink Panther diamond, Return codified comic gambits employed in the first two entries; the inspector still fended off attacks by his well-meaning valet, Cato (Burt Kwouk), and drove his superior officer (Herbert Lom) mad with his bungling. This time around, Clouseau's worthy adversary is a supposedly retired jewel thief (Christopher Plummer at his most suave) who declares that he will help the police locate the diamond and apprehend the culprit to clear himself of suspicion. Catherine Schell portrays his wife, a wily woman who turns out to be a decoy in more ways than one. Returning to the series after an 11-year break, both Sellers and Edwards exhibited remarkable vitality in staging and performing the film's comedic set pieces. Future sequels lacked that energy and increasingly rehashed gags and situations from the earlier films. But Return is itself a glittering jewel, a particularly fecund collaboration between one of the screen's great comic actors and one of its most engaging directors. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

After several years at loggerheads with one another, director Blake Edwards and star Peter Sellers reteamed for the slapstick fiesta The Return of the Pink Panther. It looks as though wizard cat-burglar Sir Charles Litton, played by David Niven in the original 1964 Pink Panther but here essayed by Christopher Plummer, is back in business. Dispatched to the Swiss resort town of Gstaad by his long-suffering superior Inspector Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom), Clouseau adopts a series of easily penetrable (and hilarious) disguises to get the goods on Sir Charles and his wife Claudine (Catherine Schell). If you remember A Shot in the Dark, you'll recall that Clouseau's ineptitude turned Inspector Dreyfuss into a twitching homicidal maniac. The same thing happens here, paving the way for the sequel, The Pink Panther Strikes Again. And, as with all the "Panther" movies, we are treated to the insinuating theme music by Henry Mancini, and the animated opening and closing titles. Return of the Pink Panther earned $17 million on its initial release. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 025192155628
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Français, Español
• Time: 1:59:00
• Sales Rank: 9,415

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