How To Watch The Pink Panther Movies In Order

Gut-bustingly silly, The "Pink Panther" series of films anchor their action around the adventures of Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers), a massively egotistical and yet hopelessly incompetent detective. Clouseau wanders through life destroying priceless objects and maiming others but rises from the ashes unscathed every time, winning accolade after accolade. To the man who works directly above him, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), he is a bedeviling menace. But the world at large thinks Clouseau's the best detective France has to offer.

Obviously, Sellers' take on the inspector is iconic and singular, which means the best way to watch the anthology is to go through all six of the movies he made with director Blake Edwards. They are:

• The Pink Panther (1963)
• A Shot in the Dark (1964)
• The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
• Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
• Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)

There are more ways to absorb everything "The Pink Panther" has to offer, as three more flicks were made without Peter Sellers' involvement. They are:

• Inspector Clouseau (1968)
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)
• Son of the Pink Panther (1993)

Then there's the reboot duology which has Steve Martin sporting a thick French accent and a fussy mustache:

• The Pink Panther (2006)
• The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

With eleven movies to get through, the prospect of watching every Clouseau-centered outing might feel like a daunting prospect. Fortunately — whether you only want to sample one of Clouseau's slapstick-laden adventures or you'd like to trot the globe with the world's most accident-prone inspector — there's an easy way to do it.

Let's face it — when one thinks of Inspector Jacques Clouseau, one envisions Peter Sellers. It's impossible to divorce the franchise from his performance or Blake Edwards' direction, though at least one of these productions would try to get by without both of them. Ergo, the best way to watch the "Pink Panther" motion pictures is to simply see every outing the twosome made together. As a bonus, along the way you'll be treated to one of the best Peter Sellers movie series of all time.

Should these six films be watched in release order? Absolutely; the connective tissue between each picture demands it. Running jokes like Charles Dreyfus' slow descent into obsession with Clouseau will make no sense if you drop yourself into the anthology all willy-nilly. Also, some of the post-Sellers films in the "Pink Panther" compendium simply don't make sense without these early features. And yes, viewers will have to endure some dropped plot threads if they watch it this way. But in the looney world of "The Pink Panther," one must expect such inconsistencies. 

The franchise opens with "The Pink Panther" (1963), in which Clouseau is pitted against The Phantom, a jewel thief determined to steal the titular pink diamond from the exiled princess Dala of Lugash (Claudia Cardinale). More characters show up at Dala's hiding place, a Cortina d'Ampezzo ski resort. While Clouseau chases leads, his wife, Simone (Capucine), has an affair with the suave and secretive Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), who is himself flirting with Dala. Lytton's playboy nephew, George (Robert Wagner, the only main actor alive from the movie), soon appears to try his own hand at stealing the gem ... and his uncle's girls.

"A Shot in the Dark" (1964) starts with Clouseau investigating a new case. Miguel Ostos, the head chauffer of the Ballon estate, has been murdered. Clouseau and his assistant, Hercule Lajoy (Graham Stark), investigate suspects as Jacques falls for the comely Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer). This is the movie that introduces Cato (Burt Kwouk), Clouseau's hapless and always-ready-to-attack servant.

The Panther is targeted again when "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975) convenes. Sir Charles (now played by Christopher Plummer) is framed for theft and Clouseau must figure out who the real criminal is. In "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (1976), Clouseau is now Chief Inspector, but an institutionalized Dreyfus sends a phalanx of assassins after him in revenge. Then, in "Revenge of the Pink Panther" (1978), Clouseau dies — or does he? And finally, in "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982), Clouseau has disappeared and investigative reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) is determined to track him down.

After you finish watching Peter Sellers' run of films, there's three more non-reboot movies to try out. "Inspector Clouseau" (1968) was made between "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Return of the Pink Panther." Sellers and Blake Edwards were committed to "The Party" at the time, so the late Alan Arkin picks up the reigns as Clouseau and Bud Yorkin directs. In the motion picture, Clouseau is called in by Scotland Yard to investigate a string of robberies.

After Sellers passed away from a heart attack in 1980, Edwards tried to extend the film series' legacy with "Trail of the Pink Panther," which was cobbled together from unused footage of the actor accrued from previous "Pink Panther" films. While that technically turned it into the last movie Peter Sellers ever made, the well had definitely run dry. Thus, a new protagonist was pressed into service. In "Curse of the Pink Panther" (1983), Clouseau disappears mysteriously and then the Pink Panther diamond is stolen again. In it, Inspector Dreyfus must supervise an American, Sergeant Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass), as Sleigh tries to solve both cases.

The series was revived one more time before it was rebooted. "Son of the Pink Panther" (1993) features future Oscar winner Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, the illegitimate son of Clouseau through "A Shot in the Dark" heroine Maria Gambrelli. Once again, Dreyfus must grin and bear it as another incompetent Clouseau makes his life a mess while they search for Princess Yasmin of Lugash (Debrah Farentino), who has been kidnapped.

And then there's the Steve Martin duology. In 2006, "The Pink Panther" was rebooted with Martin playing Jacques Clouseau. Jacques is now a police officer who finds himself promoted up the ranks from village idiot to Inspector when Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline, in arguably one of his worst movies) decides to use him to win the Légion d'Honneur. Dreyfus places Clouseau on a complicated case where he's charged with solving the murder of soccer coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham), who was slain during an important game. Gluant was wearing the fabled Pink Panther diamond at the time of his death, but the gem has since disappeared. Clouseau finds himself racing all over the globe to track down the Pink Panther while dealing with Xania (Beyoncé Knowles), Gluant's mysterious pop star girlfriend.

The movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, 2009's "The Pink Panther 2." In this movie, Clouseau is now a parking attendant but is reassigned when the world's foremost detectives gather to try and track down The Tornado, who has been stealing artifacts worldwide. Clouseau ends up falling for his assistant, Nicole (Emily Mortimer, who played Sophie in "Howl's Moving Castle"), while taking part in the investigation; resulting in the usual chaos. Clouseau's adventures end here, but will the franchise stay buried? Only time will tell.