A Shot in the Dark

Get ready for a "riotous" (Boxoffice) adventure as Peter Sellers returns as the hapless Inspector Clouseau in his second Pink Panther film. Introducing Herbert Lom as his long-suffering superior Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as his mysterious manservant and sparring partner Cato, this frenetic comedy is "a series of laughs from beginning to end, with never a lull to catch your breath" (LA Herald-Examiner)! Assigned to a high-profile murder case, Clouseau finds himself falling (literally) for the prime suspect - a beautiful maid named Maria (Elke Sommer), whose talent for being in the wrong place atthe wrong time almost rivals Clouseau's. But as the body count grows higher, and Maria's criminal record grows longer, Clouseau will have to find the real culprit quickly...or his career will be finit!

If you could choose only one Pink Panther movie, your best bet would be A Shot in the Dark--ironic, since it's the only entry in the series that doesn't mention the Pink Panther or even feature the cartoon cat in its opening credits. The title and basic plot are taken from the play by Harry Kurnitz, which in turn was adapted from the French stage comedy L'Idiote, but those plays were completely reconceived by director Blake Edwards, who cowrote the screenplay with William Peter Blatty (yes, the writer of The Exorcist!) and turned the film into a showcase for Peter Sellers and a nonstop parade of slapstick gags and pratfalls. This time Inspector Clouseau is accidentally assigned to track a gorgeous, high-profile murder suspect (Elke Sommer), who is connected to several Parisian murders by circumstantial evidence. Believing her to be innocent when all clues indicate otherwise, Clouseau captures his suspect and releases her several times, to the dismay of Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), but the plot here is arguably beside the point. As a bumbling variation of Hercule Poirot, Sellers steals the show, refining Clouseau's persona--including his outrageous karate duels with his tenacious valet, Cato (Bert Kwouk)--and nonchalantly waltzing through a plot involving numerous disguises and at least a dozen murders. Some scenes are so funny that you could swear the actors are about to crack up laughing, so you laugh even harder when supporting players such as Graham Stark (as Clouseau's tolerant assistant, Hercule) hold a perfectly deadpan expression. Of all the Pink Panther movies, this is the one that fires on all pistons, with Edwards and Sellers in peak form, servicing a traditional farce that brought out the best in their inspired collaboration. --Jeff Shannon

Blake Edwards's Inspector Clouseau films really took their complete shape with this second movie in the series, which features star Peter Sellers really tweaking that French accent and key supporting players Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, and André Maranne (all getting on board for the first time). The story finds Sellers refusing to believe in the guilt of a beautiful woman (Elke Sommer) accused of murder, and there are a number of hilarious sequences, including one in which Clouseau goes "undercover" at a nudist colony. Arguably the best of the films, A Shot in the Dark definitely finds Edwards honing a seamless blend of slapstick, brilliant timing, verbal wit, a great cast, and Sellers's brilliance into a unique experience. --Tom Keogh