The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) * * *

Directed by:  Blake Edwards

Starring:  Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, Lesley Anne-Down

"Compared to Clouseau, this Doomsday Device is just a water pistol."    So says former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, who was driven insane by Inspector Clouseau's idiocy and has now created a Doomsday machine which causes places like the United Nations building to vanish.      The ransom required to prevent further vanishings?    Kill Clouseau, which of course is much easier said than done.    Clouseau is so incompetent at his job that he lucks into solving cases or avoiding being killed.     He is now the Chief Inspector, which was Dreyfus' job before being institutionalized.      Clouseau, of course, is oblivious to Drefyus' hatred of him.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again contains some inspirational moments of humor and routine ones.     It's difficult to tell the same joke in different ways, but Edwards and Sellers try.     There is one instance in which Clouseau is about to question the staff of a kidnapped scientist.     He investigates the exercise room and proceeds to take a swing on the parallel bars.    He dismounts directly down a flight of steps and tumbles into the living room where the staff is waiting.     Without a pause, he dusts himself off and begins the interrogation; baffling himself and his suspects in the process.     Pretty funny stuff.

A Pink Panther movie wouldn't be complete without an attack by Clouseau's manservant Cato (Kwouk), who is ordered by Clouseau to attack him so he can sharpen his martial arts skills, of which he has none.     Nonetheless, it is usually Cato who winds up on the losing end of their battles.     A Quasimodo costume is introduced and indirectly saves Clouseau from another assassination attempt.    I guess his neighbors are used to the noise.

The funnier moments come from Drefyus, who as played by Lom is a case study in inspired slow-burn lunacy.    He plays the organ and redevelops his eye twitch at the mere mention of Clouseau's name.     He has to know on some level that his plot will fail because Clouseau is immune to danger, but he tries.    Another great scene is a lampooning of then-President Gerald Ford, whose viewing of a Michigan football game is interrupted by a Drefyus broadcast threatening to destroy something.    After Drefyus goes off the air, the President yells, "Get me the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service.   Find out who won the game!"

The Pink Panther Strikes Again manages to work in long stretches even without Sellers, who of course obliterates the pronunciation of words and succeeds at thwarting Dreyfus while doing everything in his power to screw it up.     He is certain that he is a genius and a great detective.    Sometimes it's better to be very, very lucky than good.     Not that it's of any comfort to Dreyfus.