Curse of The Pink Panther

Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 British comedy film and a continuation of The Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Peter Sellers. Whereas the previous film Trail of the Pink Panther made use of unused footage of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, Curse attempted to relaunch the series with a new lead, Ted Wass, as bumbling American detective Clifton Sleigh, assigned to find the missing Inspector Clouseau.

Plot
In Lugash, the fabled Pink Panther diamond is stolen. A mysterious woman looking to procure the priceless gem has a tete-a-tete with a man regarding price. Suddenly, Clouseau (having disappeared inexplicably on a plane flight in the previous film) bursts in. The woman shoots the man, then points the gun at Clouseau. His fate is a mystery. Meanwhile, his former superior, Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), is pressured by the French government to oversee Operation Paragon and utilize Interpol's fictitious Huxley Huxley 600 computer Aldous to find the world's greatest detective to solve the crime.

What the world at large does not realize is that Clouseau was actually an inept fool whose cases were solved more through luck than actual detective genius, and that his accident-prone incompetence led Dreyfus to a series of nervous breakdowns. Anxious never to see or hear from his nemesis again, Dreyfus sabotages the computer to select the world's worst detective. This turns out to be Sergeant Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass), an incompetent officer of the New York Police Department.

Sleigh, who is descended from a long line of cops, sees the case as an opportunity to prove his worth. Dreyfus and his long-suffering assistant, Sergeant François Durval (André Maranne), soon find that the sabotage has worked a bit too well: while slightly more intelligent and capable, Sleigh is just as clumsy as Clouseau. When Sleigh meets Dreyfus for the first time in his office, Sleigh trips over his own feet and knocks Dreyfus into his wheeled office chair, which rolls out onto the balcony — and sends Dreyfus falling three stories into a pond below, breaking his left leg. Sleigh visits Dreyfus in the hospital to apologize, but accidentally ends up hurting Dreyfus more by falling over the hospital equipment holding Dreyfus's leg.

As he sets out on the case, Sergeant Sleigh encounters many people who prefer Clouseau not return: these include the Inspector's former manservant, Cato (Burt Kwouk), who attacks Sleigh when he breaks into the Clouseau Museum Cato now operates; Dreyfus, who attempts to kill Sleigh numerous times like he tried to kill Clouseau; and Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber), the mafia boss from Revenge of The Pink Panther. Douvier orders several assassination attempts on Sleigh, but the detective's bumbling nature allows him to survive. Ultimately, Douvier, along with his henchmen (including Mr. Chong from Revenge of the Pink Panther) have a final showdown with Sleigh in a dark alley in Valencia, Spain, during Carnival. Julie Morgan (Leslie Ash), an employee of the enigmatic Countess Chandra, comes to Sleigh's rescue and manages to defeat Douvier and his thugs in street combat.

Sleigh also meets Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), who is now married to Clouseau's former wife Simone (Capucine), and is accompanied by his nephew George (Robert Wagner). Sir Charles was the notorious jewel thief known as "the Phantom," though only Clouseau was convinced of this. The Phantom would steal items of jewelery and leave behind a monogrammed white glove.

Eventually, Sleigh's trail leads to a health spa run by Countess Chandra (Joanna Lumley). There he meets famous British film star Roger Moore, who speaks with a rather odd French accent and falls about all over the place. Seeing a photograph of the Inspector, Countess Chandra tells Sleigh that Clouseau visited her several months ago, but claimed his name was Gino Rossi (the thief who stole the diamond in the last film and was seen fencing it to Countess Chandra at the start of this film when the real Inspector arrived on the scene). She recalls he was looking for a good plastic surgeon and she recommended one.

Sleigh concludes that a man named Gino Rossi stole the Pink Panther diamond and that Countess Chandra killed Rossi for it. Clouseau then underwent plastic surgery and became a British film star. The real jewel thief's body was found washed up on shore after he was shot to death. Dreyfus lies to the public that Rossi killed Clouseau and Sleigh decides to cover it up after Dreyfus pays him not to reveal Clouseau's whereabouts. In a final irony, as Dreyfus sets fire to Gino Rossi's photograph — happy to be rid of Clouseau once and for all — he accidentally sets fire to his office. Sleigh runs in and attempts to put out the fire with a hose, only to accidentally hit Dreyfus with the water, the force of which pushes him onto his balcony and Dreyfus again falls three stories into the pond below, sending him most likely back to the insane asylum.

When Clouseau and Chandra open her hidden wall safe to admire The Pink Panther, they discover they have been robbed, and a white monogrammed glove has been left behind. "Swine Phantom!" mutters Clouseau, knowing only too well who is responsible for the theft. In the final scene, Sir Charles, Simone, and George are sailing away on board their yacht with The Pink Panther jewel, which Simone has stolen.

In a post-credits scene, the animated Pink Panther is shown stealing the Pink Panther jewel. Realizing it's heavy, he slips out of the shot and drops the diamond offscreen, shattering it. The credits roll shortly afterwards.

Cast[edit]

 * Ted Wass as Sgt. Clifton Sleigh
 * Herbert Lom as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
 * David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton
 * Robert Wagner as George Lytton
 * Capucine as Lady Simone Lytton
 * Robert Webber as Philippe Douvier
 * Joanna Lumley as Countess Chandra
 * André Maranne as Francois
 * Burt Kwouk as Cato Fong
 * Harvey Korman as Prof. Auguste Balls
 * Leslie Ash as Julie Morgan/Juleta Shayne
 * Pat Corley as Lt. Palmyra
 * Ed Parker as Mr. Chong
 * Bill Nighy as ENT Doctor
 * Roger Moore (billed as Turk Thrust II) as Inspector Jacques Clouseau
 * Liz Smith as Martha
 * Michael Elphick as Valencia Police Chief
 * Hugh Fraser as Dr Stang
 * Joe Morton as Charlie
 * Denise Crosby as Denise, Douvier's moll
 * Peter Arne as General Bufoni