Movies - The Return of the Pink Panther

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	Movies - The Return of the Pink Panther

The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released by United Artists in 1975, featuring the return of Peter Sellers as the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance (after the original Pink Panther
and A Shot in the Dark
). Herbert Lom also reprised his role as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus. The film also heavily focuses on the return of the character Sir Charles Lytton (the notorious Phantom), now played by Christopher Plummer rather than David Niven. The Pink Panther diamond once again plays a central role in the plot.

Plot summary

As the film begins, Clouseau's bumbling results in him being demoted to a beat cop by his boss, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (who despises Clouseau to the point of obsession). However, the French government forces Dreyfus to reinstate Clouseau as a detective so he can go to the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Lugash and investigate the theft of the fabled Pink Panther diamond, which has once again been stolen.

Clouseau's investigations lead him to believe that Charles Lytton, the notorious Phantom, is up to his old tricks and is the culprit responsible for once again stealing the Pink Panther. Although Clouseau completely fails to discover ANY leads into the theft, his bumbling allows him to survive several attempts on his life by a mysterious assassin (including bombs, sniper attacks, and sabotaging of Clouseau's car brakes). Clouseau is eventually tricked into leaving Lugash completely, following Lytton's wife to a resort hotel in Switzerland, where his bumbling attempts to investigate her only result in repeated failure.

Meanwhile, Sir Charles Lytton reads about the theft and realises that he's been framed. He goes to Lugash to investigate the theft, having various encounters with underworld figures there and fighting his way out of several attempts on his life. Lytton eventually manages to discover the identity of the true thief: none other than his wife, Lady Lytton, who has apparently grown bored with their quiet retirement. Lytton makes a daring escape from Lugash (both from the underworld and the Lugash Secret Police), and goes to the resort in Switzerland to find his wife and the diamond.

Inspector Clouseau, who has unknowingly been on the trail of the real thief all along, receives a phone call from Chief Inspector Dreyfus to arrest Lady Lytton. However, when Clouseau tries to call Dreyfus back to inquire as to why he wants Lady Lytton arrested, he finds out Dreyfus has been on vacation and is not in the office. It is soon revealed that Dreyfus is the assassin that has been trying to kill Clouseau, and he is prepared to shoot Clouseau with a sniper rifle as soon as he steps into Lady Lytton's room.

Lytton gets together with his wife, who playfully confesses to the theft and hands the diamond over to Lytton. However, the two of them are cornered by Colonel Sharky of the Lugash Secret Police, who intends to kill them both (Lugash has been using the theft of the diamond as an excuse to purge their political opponents). Suddenly, Clouseau barges into the room. After Clouseau makes a huge scene over arresting the Lyttons, Sir Charles points out that Colonel Sharky is going to kill them all. Clouseau buffoonishly attempts to arrest Sharky. Suddenly, Dreyfus opens fire on the room, and manages to accidentally kill Sharky while aiming at Clouseau (who ducks at the last minute to check his fly).

For his work in recovering the Pink Panther, Clouseau is promoted to Chief Inspector. Dreyfus is committed to a sanitarium, where he is strait-jacketed and placed inside a rubber room. Sir Charles Lytton comes out of retirement, and continues to operate as the Phantom. The movie ends with Dreyfus holding a crayon between his toes so that he can write "KILL CLOUSEAU" on the wall of his cell, while the animated Pink Panther appears to film him.

Trivia

Like the previous three Panther films, "Return" was released by United Artists. However, they were not directly involved in the production of this film. At the time of its release, UA sold their rights to 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. Although UA continues to hold the copyright as well as theatrical distribution rights (as MGM/UA currently holds theatrical rights to the ITC feature film library), they do not hold all other ancillary rights, including home video. This caused "Return" to enter litigation for a brief time, which is why MGM Home Entertainment did not include "Return" in a 2004 DVD box set of "Pink Panther" films, and will not do so for future collections. The remaining rights to "Return" have reverted to Universal Pictures (via its Focus Features
division), which recently assumed the video rights from Artisan/Lions Gate Home Entertainment.

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Movies - The Return of the Pink Panther

Plot summary

Trivia

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