Editing The Pink Panther (section)

====20th-century film series====
Most of the films in the series starred Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and were directed and co-written by [[Blake Edwards]]. As detailed in the director's commentary for the first film, the Inspector Clouseau character was originally conceived as a vehicle for [[David Niven]], but once written it was decided he should play the raconteur/thief. Then the role was offered to [[Peter Ustinov]], with [[Ava Gardner]] to play his wife. When Gardner dropped out, so did Ustinov, so the role of Clouseau went to Sellers. Apparently, the tone of the film changed after Edwards picked up Sellers from the airport, and during the ride to the hotel, they bonded over their mutual love of old film comedians like [[Harold Lloyd]], [[Buster Keaton]] and [[Laurel & Hardy]]. The role was then modified to include elements of slapstick. The jazz-based Pink Panther Theme was composed by [[Henry Mancini]]. In addition to the credits sequences, the theme often accompanies any suspenseful sequence in the first film and in most of the subsequent films featuring the character of Clouseau.

The "Pink Panther" of the title is a diamond supposedly containing a flaw that forms the image of a "leaping panther" which can be seen if held up to the light in a certain way. This is explained at the beginning of the first film, and the camera zooms in on the diamond to reveal the blurry flaw, which focuses on the cartoon Panther (though not actually leaping) to begin the opening credits sequence. (This is also done in ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'' [1975].) The plot of the first film is based on the theft of this diamond. The diamond reappears in several later films in the series, ''[[The Return of the Pink Panther]]'' (1975), ''[[Trail of the Pink Panther]]'' (1982) and ''[[Curse of the Pink Panther]]'' (1983). It also appears in the revival of the Inspector Clouseau character in the [[Steve Martin]] reboot films ''[[The Pink Panther (2006 film)|The Pink Panther]]'' (2006), and its sequel ''[[The Pink Panther 2]]'' (2009). The name "the Pink Panther" became attached to Inspector Clouseau in much the same way that ''[[Frankenstein]]'' has been used in film titles to refer to [[Frankenstein's monster|Dr. Frankenstein's creation]], or ''[[The Thin Man (film)|The Thin Man]]'' was used in a series of detective films.

''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]'', the second film in the series, was not originally intended to feature Clouseau and is the first of two films in the series (the other being ''Inspector Clouseau'') that features neither the diamond nor the distinctive animated Pink Panther character in the opening credits and ending. Many critics, including [[Leonard Maltin]], regard ''A Shot in the Dark'' as the best film in the series.

In the original film, released in 1963, the main focus was on [[David Niven]]'s role as Sir Charles Litton, the infamous jewel thief nicknamed "the Phantom", and his plan to steal the Pink Panther diamond. Inspector Clouseau was only a secondary character as Litton's incompetent antagonist and provided [[slapstick]] to an otherwise subtle, lighthearted [[Caper story|caper film]], a somewhat jarring contrast of styles which is typical of Edwards's films. The popularity of Clouseau caused him to become the main character in subsequent Pink Panther films, which were more straightforward slapstick comedies.

Mancini's theme, with variations in arrangement, is used at the start of all but the first two of the subsequent films. Mancini's other themes for the first film include an Italian-language set-piece called "''[[Meglio stasera]]''", whose purpose seems primarily to introduce young actress [[Fran Jeffries]]. Portions of an instrumental version also appear in the film's musical score several times. Other segments include "Shades of [[Mack Sennett|Sennett]]", a "[[honky-tonk]]" piano number introducing the film's climactic chase scene through the streets of [[Rome]]. Most of the remaining tracks on the soundtrack album are the early 1960s [[orchestral jazz]] pieces, matching the style of the era. Although variations of the main theme would reprise for many of the ''Pink Panther'' series entries, as well as the cartoon series, Mancini composed different theme music for ''A Shot in the Dark''; this theme was later adopted by the animated spin-off series ''[[The Inspector]]''.

Although official, the live-action film ''[[Inspector Clouseau (film)|Inspector Clouseau]]'' (1968) starring [[Alan Arkin]] as Clouseau, is generally not considered by fans to be part of the series [[Canon (fiction)|canon]], since it involved neither Sellers nor Edwards. However, some elements of Arkin's performance and costuming of Clouseau were retained when Sellers resumed the role of ''Return'' in 1975. Despite speculation, Arkin does not appear in ''[[Trail of the Pink Panther]]''.