Alan Arkin got the role of Clouseau after Peter Sellers declined to play the part a third time. This was the last Clouseau film until Sellers returned to the role in 1975.
In the scene where Clouseau is being chased through the cemetery after falling in the plot and disrupting the funeral, you can see a sign on a cross in the lower right part of the screen for a few seconds. The sign reads "Reposite En Pace: Norman Lear, 1903-1962". This is an in-joke that refers to "_All in the Family" (1971)_ creator Norman Lear, who was director Bud Yorkin's producing partner for many years on shows such as "All in the Family" (1971) and "Sanford and Son" (1972).
Alan Arkin not only played Inspector Clouseau, he played the members of the gang whenever they were disguised as Inspector Clouseau, with the other actors' voices dubbed onto the soundtrack.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau:
There is a time to laugh and a time not to laugh, and this is not one of them.
Follows
The Pink Panther (1963)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
Followed by
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)
Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)
Son of the Pink Panther (1993)
Referenced in
Fuego (1969)
The Pink Panther Story (2003) (V)
- Referenced by title
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Christopher Walken (2004) (TV)
- referenced in Hardball