The Return of the Pink Panther VHS

The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) 5 out of 10: After an eleven-year absence (or a seven-year absence if you are one of those weirdos that consider Alan Arkin’s Inspector Clouseau a proper Pink Panther film) Inspector Clouseau is back on the case. Someone has stolen the Pink Panther diamond. They have left the calling card of Inspector Clouseau's old nemesis the notorious Phantom.The Good: Herbert Lum as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus is for my money the best thing in the movie. His gag with the cigarette lighter that looks identical to his service pistol never fails to get a laugh and is easily the funniest thing in the film.The opening credits by Who Framed Roger Rabbit animation director Richard Williams are incredible. The Return of the Pink Panther sports some of the best opening credits of any film in the seventies and yes I include James Bond films in that statement.There is some lovely scenery in the film with location shooting in Gstaad and Morocco among others.The Bad: Do you like slapstick? What is your current threshold for slapstick? The Return of the Pink Panther is going to test those thresholds. Part of the problem is that slapstick has both fallen out of favor since 1975 and gotten a bit more creative and sophisticated. Jackie Chan falling off ladders one after another is a world apart from Peter Sellers with a bad false nose accidentally vacuuming a bird.The Return of the Pink Panther isn’t just Slapstick mind you there is also a diamond heist that honestly is right out of a Mission Impossible movie. It is very well done but has nothing to do with the rest of the film tonally or otherwise outside of getting the Mcguffin in play.Speaking of not fitting the tone of the rest of the film… Look I love to see Christopher Plummer tan, blonde, and happy but good Lord is he wrong for this role. Replacing David Niven as Sir Charles Litton, alias "the notorious Phantom,” Plummer has a different feel to him. Plummer looks like he can kill someone with a karate chop… possible because in real life he can.Then there is the plot with which The Return of the Pink Panther saddles poor Christopher Plummer. It is one straight action scene after another with Plummer in a white dinner jacket as if he was rehearsing for a Bond film or a Saint reboot. The straightforward homage to Casablanca in these scenes was so over the top that Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was embarrassed.The Ugly: Burt Kwouk as Kato. What was a fan favorite in 1964’s A Shot in the Dark simply doesn’t work here. It isn’t just Peter Seller’s continually saying things such as “Cato is in hospital. They nearly blew his little yellow skin off!” that sounds a bit rough to my delicate modern sensibilities. The more significant issue is that Kwouk is too old to play a houseboy, looks awful in drag and doesn’t seem as fun as he did in A Shot in the Dark. Maybe it is because the surprise is gone and the gag had run its course.Not in conclusion. I don’t know where to put the former Bond girl and Space 1999 alumni Catherine Schell on this list. She plays Christopher Plummer’s wife and bluntly has a more prominent role than he does. On the one hand, she is easy on the eyes with an adorable smirk that reminds one of Priscilla Barnes or Cameron Diaz.On the other hand, she keeps laughing uncontrollably during her scenes with Peter Sellers. She is like a female Jimmy Fallon. I can only imagine how bad were the takes they didn’t use.In conclusion: I don’t think this was ever a great film, but I can’t help think it was once an entertaining film. It has aged fairly badly but make no mistake this is hardly the worst Pink Panther movie ever made. There is some stiff competition in that category.

My favorite in the series and even tops "Shot in the Dark". Also, in this one, his character and voice is more cartoonish. In the two previous films, his voice is more normal. Just the same though, when you think of Clouseau , you think of him this way.. Mr Sellers is in his top form for this first in the of five of the series. He did most of his own stunts that he did. In the later ones, it was beginning to take its toll on him. The irony of was that he was in 1963 repulsed by the buffoon of Clouseau and when he told by his agent that it would introduce him to American audience and that it would more more exposure and money, he got off his high horse and began to like the clown more and more.

Superb sequel to A Shot In The Dark.Peter Sellers excellent as Closeau; great physical comedy (in the bathroom, negotiating slippery floor + steps w/the bellboy!!) + sight gags (Closeau being asked for his hat, coat + gloves in the hotel lobby; the revolving door).Clever twist towards the end.It's about 40 years old now, but still worth viewing. Enjoy!

I just love this movie. It is, for me, the best of the Pink Panther series of movies for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is the funniest and it is Peter Sellers at the top of his game as Inspector Clouseau. It has the best and most cohesive story line. The best locations. It has the best cast. You got to love Christopher Plummer and Catherine Schell, they are just terrific in their roles, as is the recurring character Dreyfuss played by Herbert Lom. It is solid from start to finish, and I play it over and over again. I have all the movies, but this is the one that I pull first when I need a dose. Now, regarding this release by FOCUS features - I have them both - get this version. Make sure that you are buying the "FOCUS" version and not the other one. Because why? I would not call it remastered by any stretch, but it is definitely a far better transfer - image quality wise - than the previous release. As well, there are subtitles in English. I like the option. And these subtitles are well done and accurate. You know, I live in a loud environment, I find it useful to turn them on. Anyway, great movie. When I think Pink this is the movie that I think of first. R.I.P. Sellers, Edwards and Lom.

While Strikes again is my favorite and fastest paced, Return is where he finally showcases Clouseaus imeptitude. And he does it subtley throughout. He is not even trying. In Strikes again he has fun with the character and between the opening sequence in the insane asylum and coming home to kato.... you'll pee yourself. If that doesn't do it than the parallel bars scene into the interrogation will. But in this outing which precedes Strikes Again, Return is pure genius. You just don't even see the botch ups coming until they're happening. Example.. As he is sitting in his office and reclining back in his desk chair he can't lean foward. So while he's talking with someone whom is by his desk he grabs the guys tie to pull himself up and winds up smashing the guys face into the desk. And to boot... no I'm sorry's or remorse. He's in a world of his own. Last, this one was not included in the box set and so you have to buy it seperate. But you won't regret it. Its the third in the series but the first to hone the character to a razors edge.

This movie is older than I am, but I remember it as a kid, and as it turns out, my 11-year-old daughter absolutely loves these old Blake Edwards films. She even liked the Henry Mancini music score and asked why they don't still make music like that.Finally, my daughter and I can share a film together (actually, we have watched all of the ones that star Peter Sellers, so we shared the whole franchise). The others are easy to find on DVD (often in the bargain bin), but The Return of the Pink Panther is very hard to find (even if you want to buy the DVD etc). Just stream it in Prime like I did.

I am sure most Amazonians will need no introduction to the strange delights of this, the best in the Pink Panther series ("A Shot in the Dark" runs it a close second). Nearly all the main actors are dead now but thank goodness they did what they did: Sellers, Stark, Lom, Kwouk, Plummer (the last-named still with us of course, as I write)...There are really more priceless scenes in this film and they are rather more cleverly conjoined by Blake Edwards than was managed in the others featuring the inimitable Clouseau. Many scenes come to mind: the telephone mending sequence also involving the sabotaged van(s) in the swimming pool; the near death of Kato in the apartment and the effect in the next door flat when the bomb explodes; the goings on at the Palace Hotel at Gstaad when the parrot is sucked into the vacuum cleaner; the descent of Dreyfuss into fitful, twitching madness.Sublime, acting brilliance.There is, of course, a discernible connection between these films and the Bond movies and, say the Dean Martin's "Matt Helm" films.

We just watched this 37-year-old film again last night and I can't believe how funny it still is. In fact, knowing it by heart means that we start laughing BEFORE each of the best scenes!Peter Sellers was a comic genius and this is timeless classic comedy. Of course, some of the gags are a little transparent but there is so much humour that even the lame jokes are forgiveable. Personally, I find the Cato attack sequences a little overdone, but then comes a gem like the bank robbery skit, or the telephone repairman scene, or the vacuum cleaner débâcle and the feud with the parrot (swine bird!) or the suave antics of Guy Gadois which render his co-star Catherine Schell incapable of getting through a scene without dissolving into giggling fits.The early scene of the stealing of the Pink Panther is extremely well filmed and was, at the time, quite inventive and Bond-like in its stark night-time setting. Christopher Plummer is less wooden than usual as Lord Litton and copes convincingly with all the physical action, but the cloak-and-dagger sub-plot is clearly just an excuse for Sellers to let loose the force of nature that is Inspector Clouseau while abusing the French language. The supporting cast do a fine job, but inevitably Sellers steals every scene he's in.I'm not sure what other people are watching but my 2006 DVD has very reasonable picture quality for an older movie (albeit in 4:3 format) and there are six (fully dubbed) language options and subtitles in fourteen languages. So, surrender to the silliness and have a good clean laugh.

This is an imported product and will not play in a UK DVD player unless you unblock the region code first... check google for how to set your DVD player to region free... every DVD manufacturer and model has it's own codes - there is no generic code.

Of course, Peter Sellers IS Clouseau! From one bumble to the next, this is definitely a comedy of its time (they really don't make them like this anymore}. Herbert Lom, Graham Stark, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Burt Kwouk, a great cast and a very entertaining plot albeit a tad repetitive at times, but don't let that put you off.Following a line of Clouseau films, we now find Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss - pulling his hair out in frustration, and Sellers playing it in his own inimitable way. There really is no-one to touch him, and I laughed at his antics to the end. If you Love Sellers...you'll love the film.Out of interest this particular film is not available in the collection  The Pink Panther Film Collection (6 Disc Box Set) [1976] [DVD ] The Pink Panther Film Collection (6 Disc Box Set) [1976] [DVD

This third Pink Panther movie of the original Blake Edwards series was really the last good offering, the remaining films relying increasingly on buffoonery and basic slapstick. Whilst this was always part of the overall make-up, the earlier films used it with a certain amount of restraint, as it is here. There are genuinely funny moments, many of them involving the superb Herbert Lom Dreyfus character, intent on ridding himself of Clouseau once and for all, and bumping off almost anybody except for Peter Sellers' famous Sûreté bumbler in the process. Required watching for aficionados, as are all the Peter Sellers PP movies.