Revenge of the Pink Panther was made in 1978, almost 15 years after Peter Sellers first assumed the role of our beloved and always-hapless Inspector Clouseau.
It is the true 'final' Sellers/Pink Panther movie, the last made before Peter Sellers's death. The final instalment in this series, Trail of the Pink Panther, came out four years later. It was assembled from bits and pieces from the previous movies, plus sweepings from the film-editing room. So regard this as the absolute final in the series.
The pace in this final outing is a tad slower than in the previous entrant, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and Peter Sellers as Clouseau is looking noticeably older. But it's a fine closure to the series.
Watch for one of Peter Sellers' most absurdly wonderful disguise-characterisations, as he shows that he is the greatest 'man of 10,000 faces' since Lon Chaney.
He does a sensationally unrealistic fisherman, stomping along on a peg-leg, with inflatable parrot on his shoulder. And he manages to do this pirate-like character without a single reference to Robert Newton - very difficult, since Robert Newton had made the pirate market pretty exclusively his own in those days.
In the previous movie, the Pink Panther team did its spin on the James Bond series. In this one, they take on The French Connection and The Godfather, in a tale of drugs, disguise and the Mafia.
Crime figure Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber) is besieged on two fronts. Firstly, his business associates feel he's losing his touch. And if that wasn't enough, his wife insists he gets rid of his mistress and secretary, Simone Legree (Dyan Cannon).
One of Douvier's hirelings suggests that to win back business confidence, Douvier should accomplish what no-one else has managed - the assassination of Inspector Clouseau. And as Douvier prepares to put that into effect, he foolishly sacks the very beautiful and potentially dangerous Simone.
That's enough of the plot. It romps along beautifully from there. And the sight of Peter Sellers as Clouseau, disguised as a blimpish Godfather figure and simultaneously incorporating mannerisms of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, is forever fixed in this semi-addled brain.
There are lovely cameos here too, especially from Graham Stark as Mr Auguste Balls, of Closeau's favourite disguise emporium. Burt Kwouk as Clouseau's manservant Cato is given his biggest role in the series. And there are some nice touches such as Clouseau's new Batmobile-style Citroen, all aerodynamic finned thin tin which falls apart at the slightest touch.
With Revenge of the Pink Panther, the Sellers/Panther series finished on a great note. He even gets the girl in the end! There's one more movie to go in this MGM set, but this really is our true and fond farewell to Inspector Clouseau.
The processed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track, derived from a two-channel stereo original, gives a very warm, strong and at all times natural sound-stage without striving for artificial effect.
Mancini's music is heard to best effect, and the dialogue is always clear and unmuffled. Like the image, the audio has been treated with care to give us a great presentation of these comedy classics.
