The Pink Panther Strikes Again The Pink Panther Strikes Again The Pink Panther Strikes Again is a 1976 British comedy film. It is the fifth film in "The Pink Panther" series and the third to include the phrase "Pink Panther" in its title, although the Pink Panther diamond is not a part of the story. The plot picks up three years after "The Return of the Pink Panther", with former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) about to be released from a psychiatric prison after having been driven mad by Inspector Jacques Clouseau's (Peter Sellers) bumbling in the previous film. A typically disastrous visit from
The Pink Panther his plan to steal the Pink Panther. Inspector Clouseau was only a secondary character as Litton's incompetent antagonist and provided slapstick comic relief to an otherwise subtle, lighthearted caper film, a somewhat jarring contrast of styles which is typical of Edwards's films. The popularity of Clouseau caused him to become the main character in subsequent Pink Panther films, which were more straightforward slapstick comedies. Mancini's theme, with variations in arrangement, is used at the start of all but the first two of the subsequent films. Mancini's other themes for the first film include an Italian-language set-piece called ""Meglio stasera,"" whose