History Film / TheReturnOfThePinkPanther

The Pink Panther diamond is stolen from a Lugash museum, and Clouseau is called upon to seek it out once more. The evidence suggests the Phantom is responsible, but in fact Sir Charles Lytton (Creator/ChristopherPlummer) has been framed. The film follows the parallel plots of Clouseau trailing Lytton's wife Claudine (Catherine Schell) to Switzerland and Lytton's journey to Lugash to try and find out who actually did it. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Dreyfus' (Creator/HerbertLom) attempts to kill Clouseau land him in a mental institution at the end, leading directly into ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain''.

* AbsurdlyLongLimousine: The Pink Panther is shown riding in one during the opening titles. Also doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar, since the long, pink-colored vehicle strongly resembles... well, something else.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Dreyfus tries to kill Clouseau with a rifle in the climax. By this point he's been driven to utter insanity by Clouseau's antics/existence and after he misses his first shot, because Clouseau bends over at the last moment, he just ends up firing blindly into the hotel room, none of his later bullets coming close to hitting Clouseau.

* AmbiguousInnocence: Dreyfus believes the blindman Clouseau was busy dealing with was a lookout for the bank robbers, but this is never confirmed.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sharkey initially comes across as a cordial and competent investigator whose willing to acknowledge Clouseau's suggestion that analyzing the wax sued in the theft might lead to a clue. Then, its mentioned that he's suing the theft of the diamond as a pretext to purge his political opponents.

* {{Corpsing}}: InUniverse. Lady Lytton clearly can recognize Clouseau in disguise without any effort every time they meet, and is visibly trying not to crack up at his antics whenever he does something stupid.

* FollowThatCar: Spoofed. When he arrives in Gstaad, Clouseau jumps into a taxi and asks the driver to follow Lady Lytton's car. The driver gets out of the car and follows said car on foot. [[BrickJoke Later]], when Clouseau finally gets to the hotel, the driver can be seen still chasing the car.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Dreyfus tries to kill Clouseau with a rifle in the climax. By this point he's been driven to utter insanity by Clouseau's antics/existence and after he misses his first short because Clouseau bends over at the last moment, he just ends up fires blindly into the hotel room, none of his later bullets coming close to hitting Clouseau.

* LandlineEavesdropping: Inspector Clouseau picks up a phone in an attempt to spy on the wife of Cat Burglar Charles Lytton, subverted when we learn the conversation is occurring inside the house to draw him to a false lead.

* MoodWhiplash: The bulk of the story following Clouseau (and Dreyfus) is very much a slapstick comedy. In contrast most of the scenes following Sir Charles Lytton are played as straight action-drama with his meetings with the "Fat Man" and Colonel Sharki in particular having genuine menace and danger that wouldn't have been out of place in a '70s Franchise/JamesBond film.

* NoPeripheralVision: Clouseau does not realize that Colonel Sharki is in Lady Lytton's room when he enters it.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Clouseau spends most of the movie tailing Lady Lytton in the belief that by doing so she will lead him to her husband, and through him the Pink Panther. He ends up finding both as a result, but only by chance: [[spoiler:Lady Lytton stole the diamond, and her husband eventually confronted her in order to get it back.]]

* SuperWindowJump: This is the way Sir Charles Lytton goes out of the den of the Fat Man.

* KarmaHoudini: No explanation (with the possible exception of NegativeContinuity) is given for why Dreyfus is still on the force after killing nearly a dozen people in various ways while trying to off Clouseau in the previous film, followed by a public nervous breakdown where he tried to kill his inept subordinate with his teeth.

* ButtMonkey: Pepi

* KarmaHoudini: No explanation is given for why Dreyfus is still on the force after killing nearly a dozen people in various ways while trying to off Clouseau in the previous film, followed by a public nervous breakdown where he tried to kill his inept subordinate with his teeth.

* LiteralMinded: The Swiss cab driver Clouseau tells to 'follow that car'. He does so. On foot. A few minutes later, as Clouseau walks past the cab again, the cabbie's still running after the car.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: While trying to shoot Clouseau, Dreyfus accidentally shoots Colonel Sharki, who was planning to kill Clouseau himself, along with Charles Lytton (the Phantom). At which point Dreyfus loses it and wastes all his ammo mindlessly trying to kill Clouseau.

* PinballProtagonist: If Clouseau had been cut from the movie, the only part of the actual investigation that would change is the question of how the Littons escaped from Colonel Sharpi in the climax, as without Clouseau's bumbling, Dreyfus wouldn't have been there to try to shoot him and end up killing Sharpi by mistake.

* FollowThatCar: Spoofed. When he arrives in Gstaad, Clouseau jumps into a taxi and asks the driver to follow Lady Lytton's car. The driver gets out of the car and follows said car on foot.

* NoFourthWall: The end credits roll as we see Dreyfus in a padded cell; when Peter Sellers' credit appears, he shouts at us, "Kill him! Kill him!"

* RightForTheWrongReason: Clouseau spends most of the movie tailing Lady Lytton in the belief that by doing so she will lead him to her husband, and through him the Pink Panther. He ends up finding both as a result, but only by chance: [[spoiler:Lady Lytton stole the diamond, and her husband eventually confronted her in order to get it back.]]

* Corpsing: InUniverse. Lady Lytton clearly can recognize Clouseau in disguise without any effort every time they meet, and is visibly trying not to crack up at his antics whenever he does something stupid.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Dreyfus tries to kill Clouseau with a rifle in the climax. By this point he's been driven to utter insanity by Clouseau's antics/existence and he just ends up fires blindly into the hotel room, none of his bullets coming close to hitting Clouseau.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: While trying to shoot Clouseau, Dreyfus accidentally shoots Colonel Sharkey, who was planning to kill Clouseau himself, along with Charles Lytton (the Phantom). At which point Dreyfus loses it and wastes all his ammo mindlessly trying to kill Clouseau.

* RoomFullOfCrazy: In the end, Dreyfus is in a padded cell. The walls are covered with writings about his desire to kill Clouseau.
* RulesLawyer: The 'blind' beggar at the start of the film appears to demonstrate this knowledge, as he argues that he isn't breaking the law against playing music in public without a licence as people give the ''monkey'' sitting next to him the money rather than the man himself, and the monkey just happens to live with him rather than him legally owning the monkey (this may not be true, but the explanation at least sounds plausible).

* FollowThatCar: Spoofed. When he arrives in Gstaad, Clouseau jump into a taxi and asks the driver to follow Lady Lytton's car. The driver goes out of the car an follow the said car on foot.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Dreyfus tries to kill Clouseau with a rifle in the climax. By this point he's been driven to utter insanity by Clouseau's antics/existence and he just ends up fires blindly into the hotel room, none of his bullets coming close to hitting Clouseau.

* WronglyAccused: Sir Charles claims to be this when the Pink Panther is stolen. [[Spoiler:As it turns out, his wife stole the Pink Panther.]]

* WronglyAccused: Sir Charles claims to be this when the Pink Panther is stolen. [[Spoiler: As it turns out, his wife stole the Pink Panther.]]