Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) * *

Directed by:   Blake Edwards

Starring:  Peter Sellers, Joanna Lumley, David Niven, Richard Mulligan, Herbert Lom, Capucine, Robert Loggia, Burt Kwouk

Peter Sellers died in July 1980 of a heart attack.    Two years later, director Blake Edwards  attempted to milk once more from the Pink Panther teat.     How?    Edwards, not to be denied, tied together previously unseen outtakes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again with a flimsy excuse for a plot and, voila, we have another Pink Panther film.      Oh, and there are clips from previous Panther films sprinkled in as characters reminisce to a TV reporter about the now-missing Clouseau, who disappears midway through the film.     Trail of the Pink Panther might've been the most shameless cash-in attempt of all time, at least until Edwards released a Sellers-less Curse of the Pink Panther one year later. 

The "plot" is so creatively bankrupt that it centers around yet another theft of the famed Pink Panther diamond, which is probably famous because it is stolen so often.     The fictional country of Lugash, where the Pink Panther is displayed in a museum, must spend half of its GNP on security for the diamond.     Alas, the diamond is lifted anyway, so maybe it should find a new home next time.     We can only hope that there won't be a next time.     The plot is really just something to hang the film clips on anyway.  

The outtakes are lifeless and unfunny, so it is no wonder they made it on to the editing room floor.    The normally funny Harvey Korman makes an appearance as Professor Balls, the manufacturer of Clouseau's odd disguises, but his scene which begins the film goes nowhere fast.     Revenge of the Pink Panther, the last Clouseau film released while Sellers was alive, was the funniest and most inspired of the series.     Blake Edwards should've left well enough alone.     He directed other well-made non-Clouseau films like 10 and Skin Deep, so why take one more desperate stab at this franchise?     Did he need the money?   Oddly, he wound up giving some of it away as part of a lawsuit settlement with Sellers' widow, who sued because Sellers' likeness was used without her permission.      

Edwards lost all around here.    He made an ill-conceived comedy AND lost some earnings in the process.     Edwards and Sellers had a rocky relationship when Sellers was alive.    At one point, their relationship soured so much that they would use a messenger to speak to each other...while working on the same movie!!!      He should've let Sellers and The Pink Panther series rest in peace.