Plot
As a child, Princess Dala receives a gift from her father, the Shah of Lugash: the Pink Panther, the largest diamond in the world. This huge pink gem has an unusual flaw: looking deeply into the stone, one perceives a tiny discoloration resembling a leaping panther. (As the camera moves in, this image comes to life and participates in the opening credits.) When Dala is a young woman, rebels seize power in Lugash and then demand possession of the jewel, but the exiled princess refuses to hand it over.
Several years later, Dala (Claudia Cardinale) relaxes on holiday at an exclusive skiing resort in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Also staying is a noted British playboy, Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), who leads a secret life as a jewel thief called "The Phantom" and has his eyes on the Pink Panther. His unwitting American playboy nephew, George (Robert Wagner), follows his uncle to the resort, also hoping to steal the jewel and blame it on the Phantom.
On the Phantom's trail is French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) of the Sûreté, who doesn't know his wife Simone (Capucine) is the paramour of Charles and helper in the Phantom's crimes. Clouseau is so clueless and clumsy that while several theft attempts are made at a fancy-dress party, he looks everywhere but the right place. Meanwhile, Simone dodges her husband while trying to avoid George, who has grown enamored of her, and aid Charles, who has grown enamored of Dala and is ambivalent about carrying out the theft.
During a costume party, Sir Charles and his nephew attempt to steal the diamond, only to find the jewel already missing from the safe. In spite of himself, the buffoonish inspector discovers the two in the act, resulting in a car chase throughout the town streets. Despite all odds, Sir Charles and his accomplice George are captured when all the vehicles collide with one another.
Later, Simone informs Dala that Charles wished to call off the theft, and asks her to help in his defense. Dala then reveals that it was she herself who stole the diamond to avoid deportation back to Lugash. At the trial, Charles' and George's convictions seem inevitable when the defense calls as their lone witness a surprised Clouseau. The barrister asks a series of questions that suggest Clouseau himself could be the Phantom; an unnerved Clouseau pulls out his handkerchief, from which drops the jewel, promptly rendering him unconscious from shock.
As Clouseau is driven away to prison, he is mobbed by a throng of enamored women. Watching from a distance, a regretful Simone expresses fears he will rot in prison; Sir Charles reassures her that when the Phantom strikes again, Clouseau will be exonerated. Sir Charles, Simone, and George drive away to continue their life of crime as Dala leaves to return to her country. Meanwhile, in the police car, the officers express their envy that Clouseau is now the object of affection of young women everywhere. As they ask him with obvious admiration how he committed so many robberies, Clouseau's mood gradually changes: "Well, you know . . . it wasn't easy." The film ends by showing the panther, as a traffic warden, getting run over by the car carrying Clouseau and attempting to chase after it.
Read more about this topic: The Pink Panther (1963 Film)
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