Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy "The Pink Panther" may have starred David Niven and Robert Wagner, but it was a supporting character that drew the most laughs. Inspector Clouseau was a stupid, accident-prone, conceited and incompetent police inspector, and Peter Sellers was the man born to play him. And he would continue to play him, even after his death ("Trail of the Pink Panther" was a posthumous clipjob).
"A Shot in the Dark" was the first sequel to
"The Pink Panther". Niven and Wagner were out,
and Sellers became the star. Blake Edwards
remained on board as both director and writer,
and Henry Mancini was retained with his rich
jazzy Pink Panther theme.
Having been promoted from supporting cast, we
get to learn more about Inspector Clouseau.
He melts when confronted with a beautiful woman,
he has an abusive relationship with a house
servant, and has driven his boss (Herbert Lom)
insane. If Sellers stole the first movie, Lom
steals the sequel. Lom plays Chief Inspector
Dreyfus, who despises Clouseau. The mere
thought of the bumbling inspector makes poor
Dreyfus whimper and twitch.
There has been a murder on the estate of
the wealthy Ballon (George Sanders). Clouseau
has been sent to investigate, along with his
long suffering assistant Hercule (Graham Stark).
The evidence points to wide-eyed beauty Maria
(Elke Sommer). Because he is attracted to her,
Clouseau thinks she is innocent, even as the
body count surrounding her increases.
Sellers and Lom are excellent. There are many
good physical gags, of which Lom seems to get
the worst. Clouseau's French accent and dyslexia
is mined for laughs, as are Dreyfus's nervous
ticks. There are good lines as well, such as
Dreyfus' diatribe "Give me ten men like Clouseau,
and I could destroy the world." Sommer doesn't
get to do much besides look pretty, but at
least her character isn't annoying, as was the
case for Simone and Princess Dala in "The Pink
Panther". In fact, for a screwball comedy
with a thin plot, "A Shot in the Dark" is pretty
good. Leslie Nielsen should take some notes. (66/100)
Peter Sellers returns as the world's most accident-prone detective in the second film of Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series. When Maria Gambrelli Elke...More at Family Video
Original Title: A Shot In The DarkActors: Lom, Herbert - Sellers, Peter - Sommer, ElkeCondition: NEWFormat: DVDDirector: Edwards, BlakeYear: 1964Runti...More at iNetVideo.com
Peter Sellers returns as the world s most accident-prone detective in the second film of Blake Edwards Pink Panther series. When Maria Gambrelli (Elke...More at Buy.com
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