<P> The movie was a popular hit, earning estimated North American rentals of $6 million . </P> <P> Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "Seldom has any comedian seemed to work so persistently and hard at trying to be violently funny with weak material"; he called the script a "basically unoriginal and largely witless piece of farce carpentry that has to be pushed and heaved at stoutly in order to keep on the move ." Variety was much more positive, calling the film "intensely funny" and "Sellers' razor - sharp timing...superlative ." </P> <P> In a 2004 review of The Pink Panther Film Collection, a DVD collection that included The Pink Panther, The A.V. Club wrote: </P> <P> Because the later movies were identified so closely with Clouseau, it's easy to forget that he was merely one in an ensemble at first, sharing screen time with Niven, Capucine, Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale . If not for Sellers' hilarious pratfalls, "The Pink Panther" could be mistaken for a luxuriant caper movie like Topkapi...which is precisely what makes the movie so funny . It acts as the straight man, while Sellers gets to play mischief - maker . </P>

Who played the pink panther in the movie