Shooting began in Rome on November 12, 1962.

The movie was filmed primarily in Italy at the Cinecittà studios and the fashionable Cortina d'Ampezzo ski resort in the Alps. A few scenes were shot in France and Hollywood.

Going into production, David Niven was the star of the film, and he had hopes his performance of the high society jewel thief would spin off into other such opportunities and revive his career. During production, however, Sellers began to shine in the role of Clouseau, and he and Edwards worked out many details and bits of business for the character. Edwards employed multiple cameras to catch the improvisations he encouraged Sellers to do. It quickly became apparent that this "supporting" player was stealing every scene and walking off with the picture.

Somewhat overweight for much of his life up to this point and possessing a hang-dog face, Sellers was obsessed with becoming a handsome leading man. Although he easily outperformed co-star Robert Wagner in this picture, he envied the American actor's good looks. To get himself in better shape, he subjected himself to a grueling weight-loss regimen that included the excessive use of diet pills, possibly a contributing factor to the heart attack he suffered before the film's release. Some biographers also claim he had his teeth straightened and capped.

An industrial strength foaming agent was used in the scene in which Capucine and Robert Wagner are in the bath. The material burned their skins. According to some reports, Wagner, who was completely immersed at one point in the scene, was temporarily blinded by the foam.

Edwards and Sellers enjoyed working together to develop Clouseau down to every move and nuance of voice and expression. "For years I'd been getting bits of what I wanted into films, as writer or director...but I had never had an area in which to exploit my ideas to the full," Edwards said. "Then along came Peter, a walking storehouse of madness, a ham with an almost surrealist approach to the insanity of things, and we found an immediate affinity."

Sellers and Edwards agreed completely on the notion that comedy should be painful. Edwards had worked with director Leo McCarey early in his career, and he said McCarey had taught him an essential truth about comedy through his ability to extend tension in his comic scenes past the point at which audiences became uncomfortable. "He called it 'breaking the pain barrier,'" Edwards recalled.

Claudia Cardinale did not speak English very well when she made this film, so her dialogue was dubbed by Gale Garnett, the Canadian singer-actress whose hit "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" won a Grammy in 1965.

Edwards decided the title sequence would benefit from animation. The Pink Panther, meant to be a personification of the title jewel (a pink-hued diamond with a tiny flaw resembling a large cat), was created by David DePatie and Friz Freleng and chosen by Edwards from more than a hundred other panther sketches.

In one of Niven's autobiographies, he told of a mishap during shooting. The producer suggested he take an afternoon to practice skiing for one of his scenes. The eager actor thoughtlessly went to the slopes wearing his ski costume from the movie, which was far lighter than the clothing needed to withstand the freezing temperatures on the mountain. Halfway down the hill, he began to experience frostbite symptoms in his private parts. Cupping his hands over his groin, he raced down and was ushered to the hotel where he was instructed to plunge his "pale blue acorn" into a glass of whiskey until it thawed.

By Rob Nixon