REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER—-making sure the series, the characters and a measure of good will are run firmly into the ground, director Blake Edwards offers up the bumbling Inspector Clouseau for the fifth time.

Peter Sellers seems tired of the shtick; his performance is sloppy. The bouts with Kato (Burt Kwouk) wreak havoc as before, there is a typically slick credit sequence, and Dyan Cannon fuels it up some with her comedic ability. Hong Kong serves as location, and there are a few laughs, but they show up in proportion to the series diminishing originality. Even Henry Mancini’s music is half-hearted.

99 minutes, with Herbert Lom, Robert Webber, Robert Loggia, Paul Stewart, Tony Beckley, Adrienne Corri, Graham Stark, Douglas Wilmer and Ferdy Mayne. It made money in 1978, $49,500,000, so Edwards & Co. got their $12,000,000 investment back. Four years later a stake was driven through the heart of the series when Edwards worked footage of the by-then deceased Sellers into the awful Trail Of The Pink Panther and Curse Of The Pink Panther, a dismal double-finale to avoid like the plague. Stick with the first three and keep the memories glowing.