REVENGE OF THE PUNK PANTHER

REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1978)
dir: Blake Edwards

REVENGE OF THE PUNK PANTHER
Sick #125, February 1979
w & a: Dave Manak

Sixth in the series. Begins with Phillippe Douvier (Robert Webber), head of the French Connection, a heroin smuggling ring, trying to get in good with his bosses in New York by assassinating Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers). Douvier has been having an affair with his secretary Simone (Dyan Cannon) and has to break it off before his wife finds out.

The first assassination attempt is at a disguise shop run by Prof. Balls, which they try to bomb while Clouseau is trying on a Toulouse-Lautrec costume. Then they try with a hezvy named Mr. Chong (Ed Parker), which fails when Clouseau mistakes him for his houseboy Cato (Burt Kwouk) whose duties include attacking him when he comes home to keep him alert. Clouseau is later driving and picks up a hitchiker that turns out to be female impersonator criminal Claude Rousseau (Sue Lloyd) that hijacks is car and is bombed by Douvier's men who think it's Clouseau.

Clouseau is mistaken for dead, and his supervisor Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who had been trying to kill Clouseau himself is being released and sent back to work. Clouseau, who was forced by the side of the road to wear Rousseau's clothes, protests his identity and is institutionalized himself. He escapes and only Dreyfus knows this, thinking he must be going mad again. Clouseau goes back home and finds Cato has turned the apartment into a Chinese brothel. After breaking up with Simone, Douvier tries to assassinate her so she doesn't tell all and she seeks the aid of Clouseau.

Clouseau, Simone, and Cato attempt to infiltrate the French Connection in Hong Kong by blending in, then Clouseau disguises himself as the Godfather to get in with Douvier and the gangsters.Dreyfus, convinced Clouseau is still alive, and also attempting to expose the drug ring, also travels to Hong Kong.

All this culminates in a chase at a fireworks factory, and Inspector Clouseau is found to be alive, where he's honorably decorated again by the police in France. This results in a further bungled ceremony.