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.
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