The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Directed by Blake Edwards

Film Review

Picking up where The Return of the Pink Panther ended, the fifth film in the popular Pink Panther series continues the on-going feud between the bungling Jacques Clouseau and his erstwhile superior turned homicidal maniac Charles Dreyfus.  While the formula is being to look just a little tired (and this time the screenwriters didn't even bother to work the Pink Panther diamond into the narrative), the mere presence of two of Britain's comedy giants - Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom - locked in mortal combat ensures the laughs keep coming, even if at least half of the jokes appear to have been recycled from previous films.  By this stage, Sellers had reputedly grown tired with both Clouseau and director Blake Edwards, and his health (mental and physical) presented series problems for the production team.  In spite of this, the actor turns in one of his most entertaining comedy performances, more than capably matched by a superb (so deranged you can hardly believe it) Herbert Lom.

The plot is more lunatic than ever, a James Bond-style spoof in which the only man who can prevent a totally unhinged Inspector Dreyfus from destroying the world is, ironically, the man most likely to destroy it, Inspector Clouseau.  Whilst Dreyfus is busy building his Doomday Weapon in his suitably Gothic lair, getting madder by the minute, Clouseau is up to his usual tricks, wrecking the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France and massively shortening the life expectancy of the world's hired assassins.  Of course, this being a Bond spoof, Clouseau must have at least one amorous encounter, and so Lesley-Anne Down is roped in to expose the more romantic side of the French Inspector (with predictable results).  Whilst it falls somewhat short of the brilliance of A Shot in the Dark, The Pink Panther Strikes Again is easily one of the most enjoyable entries in the series - a well-paced, gag-packed romp featuring Sellers and Lom at their near-best.  The sequence in which Sellers attempts to extract one of Lom's teeth, whilst both are under the influence of nitrous oxide, is one of the highlights of the Pink Panther series, hilarious no matter how many times you watch it.

Film Synopsis

Charles Dreyfus, formerly Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the French National Police, is a changed man.  He no longer harbours any homicidal feelings for Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the man who drove him insane and robbed him of his position.  He is, in fact, safe to be released back into the community after his stay in a psychiatric hospital.   At least, that is how it would seem before Clouseau pays Dreyfus a friendly visit and sends him back over the edge.  A few days later, Clouseau is notified that Dreyfus has escaped from the hospital and is once more intent on murdering him.  Having failed to kill his sworn enemy by blowing up his apartment, Dreyfus decides far more drastic measures are called for if he is to succeed.  With the help of a gang of underworld criminals, he kidnaps a world-leading nuclear physicist and compels him to build a Doomsday Weapon.  Dreyfus is now ready to deliver his ultimatum to the world.  Either Clouseau is assassinated or the world will be vaporised.  Without delay, the world's leading powers send their best armed assassins out to kill Clouseau, but the result is a foregone conclusion.  His path strewn with dead assassins, Clouseau finally tracks Dreyfus to his hideout, a castle in the Bavarian mountains.  Armed with the deadliest weapon ever created, Dreyfus can hardly fail to destroy Clouseau this time...