The Return of the Pink Panther

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, The Return of the Pink Panther codified comic gambits employed in the first two entries—i.e., the Inspector still fends off attacks by his well-meaning valet Cato (Burt Kwouk) and drives 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, with Catherine Schell as 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 the staging of the film's comedic set pieces (although future sequels lacked that energy and increasingly rehashed gags and situations from the earlier films). Presented with a solid transfer on an extra-less disc, this is recommended. (E. Hulse)