1976, Film: The Pink Panther Strikes Again

The American-British comedy film "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" was released on 15 December 1976 (United States) and 22 December 1976 (United Kingdom). The film, directed by Blake Edwards, was written by himself together with Frank Waldman. Main stars are Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Colin Blakely, Leonard Rossiter, Lesley-Anne Down, Burt Kwouk and André Maranne. The music was composed by Henry Mancini. "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" is the fifth film in The Pink Panther series, its plot picks up three years after "The Return of the Pink Panther".

"The Pink Panther Strikes Again" poster

Synopsis
After three years in a psychiatric hospital, former Chief Inspector of the Sûreté Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), has recovered from his obsession to kill Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) and is about to be released; Clouseau, who has since replaced Dreyfus as Chief Inspector, arrives unannounced to speak on behalf of his former boss, and within minutes drives Dreyfus insane again...

Herbert Lom as Former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus and
Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau

Main cast

• Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau
• Herbert Lom as Former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
• Colin Blakely as Inspector Alec Drummond
• Leonard Rossiter as Superintendent Quinlan
• Lesley-Anne Down as Olga Bariosova
• Michael Robbins as Ainsley Jarvis
• Richard Vernon as Professor Hugo Fassbender
• Briony McRoberts as Margo Fassbender
• Burt Kwouk as Cato Fong
• André Maranne as François
• Vanda Godsell as Mrs. Leverlilly
• Tony Sympson as Mr. Shork
• Patsy Smart as Mrs. Japonica
• Norman Burton as Mr. Bullock
• Dudley Sutton as Inspector McLaren
• Dick Crockett as the President of the United States (Gerald Ford)
• Byron Kane as the US Secretary of State (Henry Kissinger)
• Paul Maxwell as CIA Director
• Gordon Rollings as Inmate
• John Clive as Chuck
• Damaris Hayman as Fiona
• Deep Roy as Diminutive Assassin

Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and
Chrome the parrot

Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and
Lesley-Anne Down as Olga Bariosova

Trivia

• Michael Robbins' singing as the female Ainsley Jarvis was dubbed by Julie Andrews.
• Lesley-Anne Down was cast as Olga by mistake. Blake Edwards meant to audition Nicola Pagett, but auditioned Lesley-Anne Down, both acted in “Upstairs, Downstairs” at the time.
• Omar Sharif appeared briefly and uncredited as the Egyptian assassin.
• Peter Sellers' stunt double, Joe Dunne, performed in all of the scenes that required any action, owing to Sellers' fragile heart condition.
• Cyd Child, who did the stunts for Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson in “The Avengers” (1966-1969), appeared with her parrot "Chrome". The bird originally belonged to Diana Rigg, but she didn't have enough time to spend with him, so she gave him to Cyd Child.
• Tom Jones sang the Oscar-nominated song "Come to Me".
• Blake Edwards made a cameo appearance in the background of the nightclub scene.

Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau in Quasimodo disguise

Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and
Michael Robbins as Ainsley Jarvis

Awards

• Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Comedy: Blake Edwards
• Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium: Frank Waldman and Blake Edwards

"The Pink Panther Strikes Again" Trailer