Production
The film was shot at the same time as linking footage for Trail of the Pink Panther. Curse of the Pink Panther had been the original working title for what became Revenge of the Pink Panther, made five years previously.
In Trail of the Pink Panther, Joanna Lumley had been a TV investigative reporter. Here she is cast as the aristocratic owner of a health spa, Countess Chandra.
Dudley Moore had been Blake Edwards' original choice for the role of Det. Clifton Sleigh, but Moore turned it down, not wishing to commit to a series following the success of Arthur. Edwards suggested Rowan Atkinson for the role, but the studio rejected the choice as he was unknown outside of Britain at the time. John Ritter was also in discussion for the role before it fell to Ted Wass.
David Niven, Capucine and Robert Wagner had been the stars of the original Pink Panther film. This was Niven's final film and, due to his failing health, his voice was dubbed by impressionist Rich Little during post-production.
Roger Moore's scenes were shot during a break from shooting Octopussy. He was credited as "Turk Thrust II", a nod to actor Bryan Forbes, who was credited as "Turk Thrust" in the 1964 Clouseau film, A Shot in the Dark.
Clouseau turning to a life of crime was an element borrowed from Peter Sellers's unfilmed Romance of the Pink Panther script which had, in the second of the script's two drafts, Clouseau leaving the force and joining his new wife, the arch-criminal, The Frog in a life of crime.
A new arrangement for The Pink Panther Theme Tune (similar to the theme from Revenge of the Pink Panther) with heavy synthesizers is present, to align the theme with '80s music trends.
The original tagline on posters was 'He's been bombed, blasted and plugged in the parachute... Is this any way to welcome the World's Greatest Detective?'.
Read more about this topic: Curse Of The Pink Panther
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