The Pink Panther is a bit of an uneven film, one that can easily be broken down into discrete scenes or blocks of scenes, some of which work wonderfully and others of which drag along. After an opening series of scenes that sets the film going at a snappy pace, the middle portion of the film tends to sag a bit, as the focus shifts away from Clouseau to the relationships among the criminals. Fortunately, there are several stand-out comedic scenes in the middle and toward the end of the film, including a brilliant scene involving Inspector Clouseau, Madame Clouseau, and a delightful whirlwind of people hiding from each other in the Clouseaus' hotel room. It's beautifully timed and extremely funny, and it particularly stands out after the bland material that preceded it.

I've occasionally commented that I don't care for physical or "slapstick" comedy. Watching Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau here makes me realize that in fact, it's just bad slapstick that I dislike... Sellers' performance is a crystal-clear reminder that good physical comedy can be laugh-out-loud funny. What makes it work, I think, is that Sellers has brilliant comic timing and a firm grasp of the deadpan style that balances the silliness of his character. The fact that he always stays in character, and never plays to the audience, makes Clouseau's fumbling all the funnier. After watching the later Pink Panther movies in the set, I think it's this deadpan style, and the generally "realistic" approach taken in the other actors' performances, that makes the humor work so well here; in the later films, the slide toward broader humor and pure slapstick comedy takes Clouseau away from the peak of his comic appeal.