Blake Edwards directed three panther-films after the death of legendary Peter Sellers (1925-1980) - the original Clouseau and a master comedian. "Curse of the Pink Panther" (1983) is the middle one of 'em. I have no idea why he had the nerve to make a laughing matter out of the fact that Sellers is gone and respect his immortal memory little enough to continue the saga. Was he in the need of some more money (I doubt) or was he just missing a good hobby? If his intention was to make the audience happy, he failed.
I think "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982) wasn't all that bad yet. It was fine entertainment but mostly because of the funny leftover scenes with Sellers in 'em. The last two panther-flicks sucked pretty hard because they had absolutely nothing to got to do with Sellers anymore. I remember I actually liked "Curse of the Pink Panther" when I was a kid. That doesn't tell much of anything, kids like lots of crappy movies. Of course I was old enough to miss Clouseau but it didn't bother me that much.
From today's point of view I miss Clouseau even more and like the movie even less. Still, surprisingly "Curse of the Pink Panther" isn't all that bad because I can still watch it without throwing up and I'm sure that's something everyone can't manage to do. There's couple of good scenes here and there and I can still enjoy it because of the old team: David Niven, Robert Wagner, Herbert Lom, Joanna Lumley, Capucine, Burt Kwoak...they're all here to fill the enormous hole Sellers left behind.
What troubles me most is this Ted Wass guy. His failed attempt is to be some kind of a modern Buster Keaton. Is he actually trying to be funny? Who is he anyway? His clumsiness works a few times now and then but he's millions of light years away from the stylish act of Sellers. The cameo of Roger Moore was probably the only really nice surprise this movie had to offer. My rating: 3 out of 10. Ten years later Edwards felt he had to direct "Son of the Pink Panther", awful conclusion to the essentially great series of movies.