Inspector Clouseau

Name: Inspector Clouseau
Genre: Mystery, Comedy, Crime
Released: July 19, 1968
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 35
Cast: Alan Arkin, Barry Foster, Beryl Reid, Clive Francis, Delia Boccardo

1968

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

See All

2.3

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2.3	Your Score
2.3	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Inspector Clouseau

Now Playing: Inspector Clouseau

Movie Details & Credits

United Artists Corporation | Release Date: July 19, 1968 | G

Starring: Alan Arkin, Barry Foster, Beryl Reid, Clive Francis, Delia Boccardo, Frank Finlay, Michael Ripper, Patrick Cargill, Richard Pearson, Susan Engel

Summary: A string of robberies has occurred in Britain and it's up to Inspector Clouseau to catch the criminal.

Director: Bud Yorkin

Genre(s): Mystery, Comedy, Crime

Rating: G

Runtime: 96 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Staff (Not Credited)

Film is a lively, entertaining and episodic story of bank robbers. Good scripting, better acting and topnotch direction get the most out of the material. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Clouseau is Alan Arkin this time, instead of Peter Sellers, and it's hard to say whether we gain or lose. Arkin flounders a little in the stiff French accent he inherited from Sellers. But in his movements and timing, he's Sellers' equal. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Talented though he is, Arkin cannot fill Sellers' shoes, especially when hampered by a script which relies on cheap laughs and lots of accidental death, and Yorkin's pedestrian direction. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Sorely contrived. Read full review

Renata Adler

A comedy so uninspired, so relentlessly awful that one occasionally laughs for it—more like a moo or a snort or a gagging noise—just to interrupt it a little or help it out of the room. Read full review

SEE ALL 5 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Positive:

User Reviews

FilipeNeto

Apr 24, 2022

Continuing to watch the "Pink Panther" film franchise, we come across a film that manages to be radically different from the two predecessors. It is a return to the franchise in which it seems that no one has returned together with it: Blake Edwards left his director's chair vacant to beContinuing to watch the "Pink Panther" film franchise, we come across a film that manages to be radically different from the two predecessors. It is a return to the franchise in which it seems that no one has returned together with it: Blake Edwards left his director's chair vacant to be occupied by Bud Yorkin and Peter Sellers, occupied in another job, was unable to wear Inspector Clouseau's raincoat, giving the opportunity to Alan Arkin. This, coupled with a weak and uninteresting script, makes this film an irritating failure.

The script doesn't even bother to create a good story that justifies the way Clouseau is called upon to collaborate with British justice after a series of mysterious robberies: the idea that they suspect a traitor among the police forces just doesn't seem enough to justify it, though I believe the French saw with relief the departure of this clumsy investigator for Her Majesty's lands. Of course, thanks to an almost insane dose of luck, the detective will stumble on the truth, as he is the target of a series of attacks, which leads us to think that the thieves can be bipolar: at the same time who seem intent on taking advantage of Clouseau's stupidity and making fun of him, also seem to regard him as a serious threat to their interests and activities.

The cast work is regular: despite not winning us over and making us feel like a usurper, Alan Arkin is effective and does a decent job. Unfortunately, he copies a lot of Peter Sellers' formula instead of believing in his own abilities and giving a more personal touch to the character he has been given. Frank Finlay appears little, but what little he does is convincing, and it works. Delia Boccardo is also not bad and gives the film some feminine charm, but she is far from being a sex symbol or a fashion icon like Claudia Cardinale or Capucine. Much less interesting, almost a mistake in itself, is the participation of Beryl Reid. Barry Foster is an obvious villain and proof that a ridiculous, poorly chosen hairstyle can make anyone laughable.

In fact, the most serious problem with this film turns out not to be the cast, but the bad script, the poorly written dialogues and the almost idiotic humor, which a disinspired Yorkin must have simply accepted with a careless shrug. There are moments in the film that make us wonder where the screenwriters had left their wits when they wrote the script: this is the case with the entire Scottish Festival sequence and an almost obscene advertisement for the Lindt chocolates. In fact, the film has very few accurate jokes and a lot of stupid humor.

The film has a regular cinematography, within what was done at that time, and brings to the film good scenes and easily recognizable London settings. There are few special effects, and what was used seems too cheap to be acceptable. The soundtrack, in turn, comes from the skillful hand of Henry Mancini and completely disappoints us, as does the horrible animated opening credits sequence, without any humor or creativity.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS