Curse of The Pink Panther - Plot

Plot

While investigating the theft of the Pink Panther diamond during the previous film (Trail of the Pink Panther), Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau, (Peter Sellers), hailed as France's greatest detective, disappeared at sea during a plane crash. His former superior, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), is pressured to oversee Operation Paragon and utilize Interpol's fictitious Huxley Huxley 600 computer, Aldous to find the world's greatest detective to solve the crime.

What the world at large does not realise is that Clouseau was actually a bungling fool whose cases were solved more through luck than actual detective genius and that his accident-prone incompetence led Dreyfus to a series of nervous breakdowns. Anxious never to see or hear from his nemesis again, Dreyfus sabotages the computer to select the world's worst detective. This turns out to be Sergeant Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass), an incompetent officer of the NYPD.

Sleigh, who is descended from a long line of cops, sees the case as an opportunity to prove his worth. Dreyfus and his long-suffering assistant Sergeant François Durval (André Maranne) soon find that the sabotage has worked a bit too well: Sleigh is just as clumsy as Clouseau, tripping and falling, causing havoc and driving Dreyfus crazy. When Sleigh meets Dreyfus for the first time in his office, Sleigh trips over his own feet and knocks Dreyfus into his wheeled office chair which rolls out onto the balcony and sends Dreyfus falling three stories into a pond below, breaking his left leg. Later as Dreyfus goes insane again and attempts to murder Sleigh, he keeps injuring himself, leading to him breaking most of his bones and ending up in a body cast.

As he sets out on the case, Sergeant Sleigh encounters many people who prefer Clouseau dead. These include the inspector's former manservant Cato (Burt Kwouk) (who attacks Sleigh when he breaks into the Clouseau Museum Cato now operates); Dreyfus, who attempts to kill Sleigh like he tried to kill Clouseau; and Bruno Langlois (Robert Loggia), the mafia boss from Trail of the Pink Panther. Langlois orders several assassination attempts on Sleigh, but the detective's bumbling nature allows him to survive. Ultimately, Langlois, along with his henchmen (including Mr. Chong from Revenge of the Pink Panther) have a final showdown with Sleigh in a dark alley. Juleta Shayne (Leslie Ash), an employee of the enigmatic Countess Chandra comes to Sleigh's rescue and manages to defeat Langlois and his thugs in street combat.

Sleigh also meets Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) who is now married to Clouseau's former wife Simone (Capucine) and accompanied by his nephew George (Robert Wagner) (all from the very first Pink Panther movie). Sir Charles was the notorious jewel thief known as the Phantom, though only Clouseau was convinced of this. The Phantom would steal items of jewellery and leave behind a monogrammed white glove.

Eventually the trail leads Sleigh to a health spa run by Countess Chandra (Joanna Lumley). There he meets famous British film star, (Roger Moore) who speaks with a rather odd French accent and falls about all over the place. Seeing a photograph of the Inspector, Countess Chandra tells Sleigh that Clouseau visited her several months ago, but claimed his name was Gino Rossi (the thief who stole the diamond in the last film and was seen fencing it to Countess Chandra at the start of this film when the real Inspector arrived on the scene). She recalls he was looking for a good plastic surgeon and she recommended one.

Sleigh concludes, wrongly, that Clouseau stole the Pink Panther diamond, underwent plastic surgery, and changed his name to Gino Rossi. The real jewel thief's body was found washed up on shore after he was shot to death. It is believed that Clouseau was killed for the diamond. Anxious to be rid of Sleigh, Dreyfus announces that Sleigh has solved the mystery and officially closes the case, though it is clear that Dreyfus does not believe that this is what happened. In a final irony, as Dreyfus sets fire to Gino Rossi's photograph, happy to be rid of Clouseau once and for all, he accidentally sets fire to his office. Sleigh runs in and attempts to put out the fire with a hose, only to accidentally hit Dreyfus with the water, the force of which pushes him onto his balcony and Dreyfus again falls three stories into the pond below.

Film star Roger Moore was in fact Clouseau after very extensive plastic surgery. Clouseau has become Countess Chandra's lover and partner in crime. When Clouseau and Chandra open her hidden wall safe to admire the Pink Panther, they discover they have been robbed and a white monogrammed glove has been left behind. "Swine Phantom!" mutters Clouseau, knowing only too well who is responsible for the theft.

In the final scene, Sir Charles, Simone, and George are sailing away on board their yacht, along with the Pink Panther jewel which Simone has stolen.

In a post-credits scene, it shows the Pink Panther, in a cameo, stealing the Pink Panther jewel. Realizing it's heavy, he loses his balance and falls out of the scene, and drops the jewel, offscreen, the sound of the jewel being smashed, can be heard in the background, then the credits roll.