REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1978, UK/USA, 99m, PG) **½
Comedy, Crime, Mystery
dist. United Artists; pr co. Jewel Productions / Sellers-Edwards productions / Pimlico Films; d. Blake Edwards; w. Frank Waldman, Ron Clark, Blake Edwards (based on a story by Blake Edwards); pr. Blake Edwards; ph. Ernest Day (Technicolor | 2.35:1); m. Henry Mancini; ed. Alan Jones; pd. Peter Mullins; ad. John Siddall.
cast: Peter Sellers (Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau), Herbert Lom (Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus), Burt Kwouk (Cato Fong), Dyan Cannon (Simone Legree), Robert Webber (Philippe Douvier), Tony Beckley (Guy Algo), Robert Loggia (Al Marchione), Paul Stewart (Julio Scallini), André Maranne (Sgt. François Chevalier), Graham Stark (Dr. Auguste Balls), Alfie Bass (Fernet), Sue Lloyd (Claude Russo), Danny Schiller (Cunny), Douglas Wilmer (Police Commissioner), Ferdy Mayne (Dr. Paul Laprone), Charles Augins (Vic Vancouver), Irvin Allen (Haig & Haig), Robert La Bassiere (Haig & Haig), John Wyman (Telly Toledo), Valerie Leon (Tanya).
Sellers’ fifth and final outing as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau is his least effective, lacking the inventiveness of earlier entries. When French drug kingpin Philippe Douvier (Webber) learns that he’s losing the respect of New York mob bosses, he decides to murder Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Sellers) to regain his reputation. After a case of mistaken identity, Clouseau is declared dead, much to the delight of his former boss, Charles Dreyfus (Lom). When Clouseau reemerges, he teams up with Douvier’s ex-lover, Simone LeGree (Cannon), to break up the drug trafficking operation. Edwards and Sellers fashion a tired series of pratfalls and absurd disguises for Clouseau. Whilst occasional funny moments do emerge from the messy script, Cannon’s obvious comic enthusiasm is wasted, and the slapstick set pieces become predictable. Edwards would continue the series four years later with TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER, integrating outtakes of Sellers from previous films with newly shot material.
