| The Return of the Pink Panther | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Blake Edwards |
| Written by | Frank Waldman Blake Edwards |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Christopher Plummer Herbert Lom Catherine Schell |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Editing by | Tom Priestly |
| Studio | ITC Entertainment Jewel Productions Pimlico Productions |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 21 May 1975 |
| Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther (1963) and A Shot in the Dark.
Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus. The film also features the return of the character Sir Charles Lytton (the notorious Phantom), now played by Christopher Plummer rather than David Niven, who was unavailable but would later return for Trail of the Pink Panther. The Pink Panther diamond once again plays a central role in the plot.
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In the fictional country of Lugash, a mysterious thief breaks into the National Museum, sneaks past its elaborate security system, and makes off with the fabled Pink Panther diamond, leaving a white monogrammed glove with a gold-tinted "P" as a calling card. The Lugash Secret Police are brought in to investigate, and the Shah of Lugash requests the assistance of Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers). Clouseau has been demoted to beat cop by his boss, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who despises Clouseau to the point of obsession. However, the French government forces Dreyfus to reinstate Clouseau as Inspector of the Sûreté so that he can go to Lugash to investigate the theft of the Pink Panther.
Clouseau's investigations at the Lugash National Museum, which he nearly destroys, lead him to believe that Sir Charles Lytton (Christopher Plummer), the notorious Phantom, is re-creating the most famous heist of his career. Clouseau is delighted at this, and sees his chance to get revenge on Lytton for framing him and temporarily sending him to prison in the first film. Although Clouseau fails to uncover any leads concerning the theft, his bumbling allows him to survive several attempts on his life by a mysterious assassin. After staking out (and nearly demolishing) Lytton Manor in Nice, Clouseau is tricked into leaving France. He follows Sir Charles' wife, Lady Claudine (Catherine Schell) to a resort hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland, where his attempts to investigate her repeatedly fail.
Meanwhile, Sir Charles, having read about the theft, realizes that he has been framed. He goes to Lugash to investigate and clear his name, and manages to discover the identity of the true thief – his wife, Lady Claudine. Because they were both bored with their quiet retirement, she stole the diamond for her own excitement, and sent her husband on a wild goose chase. Sir Charles makes a daring escape from Lugash and goes to Gstaad to find his wife and the diamond.
Inspector Clouseau, who has unknowingly been on the trail of the real thief all along, receives a telephone call from Chief Inspector Dreyfus telling him to arrest Lady Claudine. However, when Clouseau calls Dreyfus back to ask why, he is informed that Dreyfus has been on vacation for the past week. Dreyfus, now revealed as the assassin trying to kill Clouseau, prepares to shoot him with a sniper rifle as soon as he enters Lady Claudine's room.
Lady Claudine playfully confesses the theft to her husband, and hands the diamond over to him, so he can go about proving his innocence. They are cornered by Colonel Sharki (Peter Arne) of the Lugash Secret Police, who intends to kill them both. It turns out the Lugashi government has been using the theft of the diamond as an excuse to purge their political opponents. Clouseau barges into the room to arrest the Lyttons. Sir Charles points out that Colonel Sharki is going to kill them all, and Clouseau buffoonishly attempts to arrest Sharki. Suddenly, Dreyfus opens fire on the room, and accidentally kills Sharki while aiming at Clouseau, who ducks at the last minute to check his fly. The Lyttons escape during the fray.
For his work in recovering the Pink Panther, Clouseau is promoted to Chief Inspector, and vows to bring Sir Charles to justice. Lady Claudine's fate is not revealed to the audience, but it is implied she was not arrested. Dreyfus is committed to a lunatic asylum, where he is straitjacketed and placed inside a rubber room, vowing revenge on Clouseau as the animated Pink Panther enters the room with a suitcase in his left hand. As the credits roll, the Pink Panther gets his cameraman clothes on and sets up his camera. He then begins to film the man's foot making the words "The End" slowly after the credits finish. The Pink Panther grins at the camera with a cigarette in his mouth just before the circle closes.
As with the previous three Panther films, The Return of the Pink Panther was released by United Artists. However, UA was not directly involved in the production of this film. The film was produced by independent company ITC Entertainment, which intended to make a Pink Panther television miniseries starring Sellers and Lom. However, early in pre-production, ITC made the decision to make a feature film.
As of the present, UA continues to hold the copyright as well as theatrical distribution rights (via MGM who acquired UA in the early 1980s). When the film made its television premiere in 1976, UA also held television rights until ITC, by contract, took over television syndication, which is why for later TV airings the ITC television logo, instead of the then-current UA/Transamerica logo, preceded the film. But in 2008, UA (via sister company MGM) acquired, for the first time ever, domestic television syndication and internet distribution rights (the MGM logo precedes current internet and television airings of The Return of the Pink Panther). However, those are the only rights UA has to this film.
ITC Entertainment, not MGM/UA, holds select ancillary rights including the home video distribution license. As a result, various distributors (under license from ITC) such as CBS/Fox Video and Live Entertainment (as well as Live's successor Artisan Entertainment) handled home video versions. This is why MGM Home Entertainment did not include The Return of the Pink Panther in a 2004 DVD box sets of Pink Panther films or the 2008 "Ultimate" collection.
MGM chose not to license photographic images from this movie in its 2006 publication "Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town", although footage from the movie does appear in the ending credits of Trail of the Pink Panther, since they could include it in a feature film and the film's home video release.
Current home video rights to The Return of the Pink Panther are controlled by Universal Pictures (via its Focus Features division), which recently assumed the ITC distribution rights from Artisan/Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
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