The Pink Panther

The first of Blake Edward's long-running Pink Panther films gets off to a bit of a slow start, and becomes bogged down in the middle with some redundant romantic nonsense between cat burglar Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) and Claudia Cardinale's Indian princess, whose titular diamond is at the centre of the movie. Accident prone French police inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) uses the valuable gem as bait to try and catch Sir Charles AKA The Panther, but the notorious thief has someone on the inside who can inform him of any potential pitfalls: none other than Simone Clouseau (Capucine), the inspector's wife!

Things definitely get funnier as the film progresses, with some classic bedroom farce as the bumbling inspector remains oblivious to both Sir Charles and his nephew George (Robert Wagner) hiding in his apartment (with Simone's help), and ending with some hilarious shenanigans at the princess's costume ball, with Clouseau clad in a clunky suit of armour, and both Charles and George wearing gorilla costumes as they try to steal the priceless Pink Panther diamond; this is followed by a very silly car chase scene, the drivers still wearing their fancy dress outfits, much to the bemusement of a drunk man who witnesses the craziness.

Sellers is clearly finding his feet as the clumsy Frenchman, and would perfect his Clouseau routine in future Pink Panther movies, but although the character still needs some refining, the star still delivers some amusing moments in this one, performing some Buster Keaton-esque slapstick, underplaying the lunacy with a wonderfully deadpan expression. Niven adds a level of sophistication to the whole affair, while Cardinale provides the eye-candy, the stunning actress utterly mesmerising in all of her scenes.

Later Pink Panther movies would prove more absurd and consequently more hilarious, but fans of those films should definitely check out this one to see where it all began. 6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for Henry Mancini's unforgettable Pink Panther theme music.