Review for The Return Of The Pink Panther

Introduction

It would be ten years before Peter Sellers returned to his most iconic role, that of the bumbling detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. And when he did eventually make The Return of the Pink Panther in 1975, he brought to the role all those things that I eventually would associate with the decline of the character into caricature and tired retreads of old jokes. If A Shot In The Dark established the ingredients of a true Panther film, the kung fu antics with Cato, the ever twitching Dreyfus, and the sublime arrogance of a man who is assured of his rightness, despite his obvious ineptitude, it also laid the groundwork for some character quirks, such as the exaggerated accent, and the penchant for disguise, that would eventually become the whole point of the character, rather than a surface affectation. Return of the Pink Panther has 'rheums, pheuns, pewls, and minkeys', it has pool cleaners, phone repairmen, hotel cleaners, and lounge lizards named Guy Gadbois, all things that a few movies down the line would make me wince at the cheesiness. But The Return of the Pink Panther is one of my favourite Panther movies, up there with A Shot In The Dark.


Of course, nothing is ever easy in the world of film distribution, and if the world made sense, this would be in the Pink Panther boxset, where it rightly belongs. Alas, in the UK, the rights are held by Universal, not MGM, which is why the film has been released by itself on DVD, and you have to buy it separately to maintain the integrity of your collection. Also, it has seen two releases in the UK, and the first pan and scan disc ought to be avoided. This one has letterbox written on the cover, but fortunately it is in fact anamorphic, but that's all that the DVD has going for it.


The fabulous Pink Panther diamond has been stolen again, this time from the ultra-secure Lugash museum. The authorities in Lugash want the man who recovered it the first time to be on the case, but Inspector Clouseau is currently pounding the beat in Paris, where he's debating the finer points of the law with a beggar and his 'minkey', while a bank is being robbed behind him. It's just the sort of development that Chief Inspector Dreyfus needs to suspend Clouseau without pay, except that he has to reinstate Clouseau as a full inspector instead and send him to Lugash. One look at the crime scene is all that Clouseau needs to be certain that the notorious Phantom is up to his old tricks. Except Sir Charles Litton has been happily retired in Nice for the last 4 years, enjoying the Riviera with his wife Claudine. Litton knows that he is being framed, and that while the French police will be busy looking for evidence to convict him, the real thief will be getting away scot-free. It will be up to him to prove his innocence. Meanwhile Clouseau has turned his attention to Claudine Litton, as a way to get to her husband. And with every new report that Dreyfus receives on Clouseau's activities, it drives him further up the wall. As he says, 'Compared to Clouseau, Attila the Hun was a Red Cross Volunteer!'

The Disc

The Return of the Pink Panther gets a really quite pleasant 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, one that has held up surprisingly well given the film's age, with little or no print damage, and clear and sharp throughout. What's noticeable is the change in film stock, with colours a little more muted and there being slightly more film grain than the sixties Panther movies. That's with the exception of reds, which are a mite oversaturated on this disc, but that's really my only complaint with the visuals. More of a disappointment is the sound, which is bog standard DD 2.0 mono, in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, as well as a Russian voiceover track. The MGM Panthers have at least had a 5.1 upgrade, but the dialogue here is clear enough, and Henry Mancini's music isn't lost beneath the centralisation. There are plenty of subtitles to choose from, and you can pick from them on the fly. You'll have to go back to the menu if you want to change the audio though.

Conclusion

The Return of the Pink Panther is very nearly my favourite of the Panther movies. It actually edges A Shot in the Dark for pure comedy value, but isn't quite as strong in terms of characterisation and story. If you were looking for a mindless comedy to test you for bladder weakness, I'd go for this film every time. It's true that all those things that eventually grew to annoy me about the Panther movies, Clouseau's exaggerated accent, and the indulgence in his penchant for disguise, are all present here, but they do not at this point bury the character, and aren't allowed to overwhelm the story. The accent works because of the reactions of the other characters, particularly Dreyfus, for whom it's just another reason to hate his perennial bugbear. The disguises are all there for a point, trying to fool Claudine, however pathetic the disguises look. And beneath it all, he's still the same arrogant, self-assured, bumbling idiot that he has always been, showing occasional hints of competence.


Why I love this film is because it isn't all about Clouseau. It's very much an ensemble piece, and there is a goodly amount of drama to balance the comedy, and in turn make it stronger. We have the Clouseau antics as usual, the sparring with Cato, the slow burn of Chief Inspector Dreyfus (he's apparently been demoted since the previous film) hastening his descent into murderous insanity, and of course Clouseau's cack-handed investigation of Claudine Litton. It's all mirthful fun, although there has been something of a shift from the blend of cerebral and slapstick in the previous film, to something more slapstick here.


But it's Christopher Plummer as Sir Charles Litton who provides the balance, and does so by reinventing the character. Niven's Lytton was something more of an elegant dandy, a gentleman thief. Plummer gives him a mystique, a hint of danger, and a thread of darkness. He's still elegant and refined, but there is a suggestion of a thug beneath the veneer that makes the character interesting. Also, his search for the true culprit of the crime takes him into more dramatic territory, his journey to Lugash is tinged with peril, and the people he encounters aren't the cuddly, comic characters that Clouseau usually deals with. That's with the exception of Pepi played by Graham Stark (Hercule in A Shot in the Dark), who is there as a target for Litton's search for the truth, and ensures that the darkness never overwhelms the comedy.


The Return of the Pink Panther sees the Blake Edwards, Peter Sellers combination firing on all cylinders, with Sellers at the peak of his powers, and Edwards' direction sharp, edgy and entertaining. I still prefer A Shot in the Dark for retaining some subtlety and nuance in the Clouseau character, but this film is definitely preferable if you just want an entertaining comic romp, made all the more effective as it gets the balance between comedy and drama just right.