First - Sellers is the one and only Clouseau and all others are pale imitations. Surprisingly, Alan Arkin, Roger Moore, and Steve Martin all took on the role. Sellers just makes this role what it is and does so with great capacity. He brings a physicality to it that is vaudevillian, slapstick, and perfect timing, making him the draw in every scene.
Second - Herbert Lom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus) and Burt Kwouk (Cato) were also essential components to the comedy. Each fit into the story well and the killer relationship between Dreyfus and Clouseau was one of the draws.
Third - Blake Edwards, the writer, can't write to save his life. It it weren't for Sellers, the films would never have been successful.
Fourth - Continuity be damned! First movie = Clouseau arrested but in the second film it is ignored. First movie = the character of Sir Charles Lyyton is played by David Niven, then Christopher Plummer as Sir Charles Litton (spelling changed), and then David Niven again the final film. In The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Dreyfus is literally obliterated and erased and then he's back in Revenge of the Pink Panther. It's all over the place!
Overall I realized in this marathon is that there are really fantastic Pink Panther films and there are disastrous ones. If I were to give you the list of ranking, I would say, in order from best to worst: 1 - The Return of the Pink Panther 2 - A Shot in the Dark 3 - The Pink Panther Strikes Again ----- And the rest are not nearly as good but I'd rank them as: 4 - Revenge of the Pink Panther 5 - The Pink Panther 6 - Trail of the Pink Panther (Keep in mind, that last one I wouldn't recommend to anyone as it was a complete cash grab and morally wrong to use Sellers image after his death in 1980).
So, to wrap up, there are some gems and I do highly recommend those first three. You can easily skip the rest, however, and be the better for it!
Clouseau = Sellers and all the rest are pale imitations!
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