Clouseau is best here

Disclaimer: I say "Clouseau is best here", when I really mean: "I enjoyed Clouseau's portrayal most in this film".

So I really enjoyed how Inspector Clouseau was portrayed here. He was an amicable character, had a touch of class on him (despite his bumblings), and his playing off Capucine was sweet and genuine. Also helped that because he wasn't the main character, you weren't overwhelmed by his character.

After this enjoyable viewing, I quickly rushed to work on the sequels, but came away disappointed. Clouseau became more of an exaggeration with the French accent, the silly fights with Cato (and the arrogance he displays when with Kato), his clumsiness seemed more forced (and expected)... he became less of a human, and more of a cartoon. Plus, Sellers was aging and that was somewhat detracting for me (I recall a scene in 'Return of the Pink Panther' where Clouseau is drenched in sweat/moisture... it looked quite sickly).

So what do you think? I'm sure I'm in the minority here given how popular Clouseau became in the sequels, but I thought I'd put this out to hear of what you think regarding how Clouseau's character changes.