Reclaiming the series that they gave birth to, Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers enjoyed one of their happiest collaborations on this box-office smash. Edwards cannily synthesized elements from his two previous Clouseau movies to spark the Panther Comic Universe, including having the clueless Inspector obliged to again recover the titular diamond and track dashing nemesis The Phantom (here played by Christopher Plummer), remaining several steps/trips/falls behind.