What's funny when we watch old movies is that we understand that today innovative movies have really invented nothing because all the idea had been shot decade ago: their only interest is the level of production and technology... So here we have a comedy featuring an elusive thief ridiculing a french clumsy inspector: So it's the same background featured in Fantomas movie shot with Fufu in the sixties. If the movies are almost contemporary (around 1963 - 1964), the two take their root in the french serial of Belle Epoque. Anyway, this Panther is really a great comedy: maybe the rhythm is a bit poor for today tastes but at last we laugh and it's a really family movie with decent characters. The jewel of this movie is really the cast because you change Niven, Sellers and Cardinale and I'm sure the result would be very different! At last, the movie gets better all along because the funny moments a bit failed or boring at the start or the middle are totally crazy at the end of the movie! The last half hour is indeed really amazing comedy!

"The Pink Panther" is probably the most endearing and enduring comedy caper film of all time. Several dozen caper comedies have been made over the years. Some are more clever and humorous (i.e., "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "A Fish Called Wanda" of 1988). But the comedic presence of Inspector Jacques Clouseau, amidst the otherwise very humorous wiles of Sir Charles Lytton's Phantom gave this film a double comedy angle. Then, add in the animated caricature of the pink panther, with a catchy musical theme by Henry Mancini, and this movie becomes the most endearing of crime comedies. Indeed, that it spawned so many sequels and offshoots attests to the popularity of the theme, carried by Peter Sellers with the Mancini music.

Little more needs to be said about this film, except that it has a top cast of leading stars and comics of the day. David Niven, Robert Wagner, John Le Mesurier and Colin Gordon hold down the male end of the film. Capucine and Claudia Cardinale provide the glamour and comedy on the female side.

The location shooting is superb and adds to the film. Much of the story takes place in the scenic Dolomite Mountains of the Italian Alps, and the rest of the action has wonderful settings in Rome. The film dallies on the verge of adult with the extra-marital relationship of Sir Charles and Madame Clouseau. But that's part of what makes the plot ending, and it's mostly in the background throughout the film.

THE PINK PANTHER is the first in the long-running series of comedies starring the hapless Inspector Clouseau, as played by Peter Sellers in his most famous role. The surprise here is that Clouseau is merely a supporting character while the typically suave David Niven plays the lead character. The hunt is on for a jewel thief, but along the way the emphasis is very much on flirtation, Bond-style romancing of the ladies, and some slapstick humour. I actually found this film far less funny than I was expecting, despite the strong production values and Niven's winning performance. Sellers is, as ever, something of an acquired taste, best taken in small doses.