Inspector Clouseau of the character. The film also introduces two of the series regular characters: his superior, Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who is driven mad by Clouseau's blundering of the investigation; and his long-suffering Chinese man servant, Cato (Burt Kwouk), who is expected to improve Clouseau's martial arts skills by attacking him at random. Sellers stepped away from playing the character following this movie, but returned in "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975) and its sequels. When the character returned for the film "Inspector Clouseau" (1968), he was portrayed by American actor Alan Arkin; Edwards was not involved in this production.
A Shot in the Dark (1964 film) films in the 1970s. As with most of the other Clouseau films, "A Shot in the Dark" featured an animated opening titles sequence produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises featuring an animated version of Inspector Clouseau. This film and "Inspector Clouseau" are the only Clouseau films not to feature the Pink Panther character in the opening titles. Henry Mancini's theme for this film serves as opening theme and incidental music in "The Inspector" cartoon shorts made by DePatie-Freleng from 1965 to 1969. Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" wrote, "It is mad, but the wonderful dexterity and the air of perpetually