The Pink Panther portrayed by David Niven, Peter Sellers's performance was so popular that the resulting series was built on the Clouseau character, rather than the Phantom character. Niven's and Sellers's co-stars included Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale. Released less than a year after "The Pink Panther". Clouseau returns to muddle his way through a murder investigation. This marks the first appearance of Herbert Lom's Commissioner Dreyfus, his assistant François (portrayed by André Maranne), and Clouseau's manservant, Cato (portrayed by Burt Kwouk). Co-starring Elke Sommer, George Sanders, Graham Stark and Tracy Reed. This film stars Alan Arkin as Clouseau, and does not
A Shot in the Dark (1964 film) him to take over as director of "A Shot in the Dark" from Anatole Litvak. Edwards declined initially, but eventually relented under pressure on the condition he could rewrite the script and substitute Inspector Clouseau for the lead character and choreograph comic scenes on the fly as he and Sellers had successfully done for their previous film. The relationship between Edwards and Sellers deteriorated to such a point that at the conclusion of the film they vowed never to work together again. They eventually reconciled to collaborate successfully four years later on "The Party", and on three more "Pink Panther"