A Shot in the Dark (1964) User Reviews (176)

Considered The Best Of The Series

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 27 April 2006]

The second of the Pink Panther series, this is considered by most critics as the best of the lot, and for once I have to agree with them. It's almost a one-man show with Peter Sellers ("Inspector Jacques Clouseau") exhibiting his comedy talents, most of it the slapstick variety as he constantly runs into things and-or falls down. Some of that gets tiresome after a while but most of it works and gives the viewer a lot of laughs.

It was nice, after these years, to see the production in 2.35 widescreen. It made the photography a lot more impressive than the formatted-to-TV VHS. I had never realized how nice this movie looked. The sets in here - mainly George Sanders' apartment interior - were good, too, and Elke Sommer was always nice to ogle back in the '60s.

Sellers' boss, played by Herbert Lom, wasn't that funny but Burt Kwoul as "Kato," Clouseau's "trainee" is fun to watch in all his sneak attacks. Sanders was funny, too, and he didn't have to say a word to get a laugh. Just the deadpan looks on his face as he watched "Clouseau" bumble around were priceless.

This is a bit slow in the beginning, but once it picks up it's funny the rest of the way. From a film history angle, it was interesting to see how morals had begun to change and how rules were becoming relaxed. In here, director Blake Edwards went out of his way to show cleavage of Sommer and there was an implied sex scene you wouldn't have seen a decade earlier. Also, in the end - although played for laughs - it turns everyone was having an affair with somebody.

2nd Pink Panther film is the best

[dfranzen70 · 8/10 · 15 January 2000]

A Shot in the Dark came out the same year as The Pink Panther, the film that introduced the world to the bumbling French detective Inspector Clouseau. In this second installment, a man has been murdered and all the evidence points directly to the beautiful Elke Sommer (including the murder weapon, which she's holding as she stands over the body!). Clouseau, of course, insists she's innocent and that he will prove it! Which just accelerates the process of driving his boss (Herbert Lom) insane. Clouseau, determined that Sommer is innocent, releases her from jail, thinking she'll lead him to the real culprit. Of course, other people die along the way, and each time Sommer's put back into jail, Clouseau doggedly releases her. The best part of the film? A scene in a nudist colony, where the bashful Clouseau must find Sommer and talk to her - when the police arrive to investigate yet another murder, they both leave the colony sans clothing. The sight of them driving through the streets of Paris completely nude (although we don't see anything naughty, of course) is priceless.

If you want to see Pink Panther films, do yourself a favor and begin with this one - it's as flawless as Clouseau is incompetent!

"I suspect everyone... and I suspect no one"

[pyrocitor · 8/10 · 11 February 2006]

Although "A Shot in the Dark" is really the second film in the Pink Panther series, in many ways it is a beginning, as the first film to showcase Peter Sellers' bumbling Inspector Clouseau as the highlight of the film, overcoming the first film's occasional shortcomings due mainly to devoting too much screen time to David Niven's jewel thief, when what audiences really wanted was more Clouseau. Well here, their wish came true as there are virtually no scenes in the film without Clouseau present, and it is all the better as such. There can be no doubt that Peter Sellers is one of the greatest comedic actors of all time, and he is the primary reason the film is so enjoyable.

Director Blake Edwards is wise enough to latch onto this fact, and indeed, the entire premise of the film is essentially just a series of opportunities for Sellers to make full use of his brilliant physical comedy skills wrapped around a twisty murder mystery, as Clouseau struggles to prove that the prime suspect, the beautiful maid Maria (Elke Sommer) is not guilty, despite an increasing load of evidence proving otherwise. Introduced here are also Pink Panther regular characters Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and Clouseau's lethal assistant Cato (Burt Kwouk), instructed to attack him when he least expects it to keep his guard up. (said instances including when in the bath, and in bed with Maria)

The storyline is admittably simple, with only a few basic twists to conceal the murderer's identity until the end, and mainly does exist to give Peter Sellers full reign to do what he is so very skilled at doing - evoking laughs out of the most ordinary situations or what would have been deemed immature and juvenile if attempted by another actor. (the primary reason Steve Martin's latest re-hash is almost certain to flop - he can never hope to compare to Sellers in his iconic role) And of course, Henry Mancini's unforgettable jazz theme music is a welcome addition to an already great movie.

It may seem strange that the only film in the series without the words "Pink Panther" should turn out to be the best in the series, but such is the case here. The film may seem somewhat dated, and perhaps not quite as witty as it would have been back in the 1960s, but Sellers' unique comedic talents assure that the entertainment value of the movie remains classic, even 40 years on.

-8/10

Sequel? Prequel? Hard to tell, but it has some laughs

[Poseidon-3 · 11 January 2005]

The germination of the "Pink Panther" series of comedic mystery films is a complicated one. The first film in the series, "The Pink Panther", was actually the second one to be filmed! This film, "A Shot in the Dark", was originally intended to be the adaptation of a stage play, but director Edwards and actor Sellers refit the main character to accommodate the persona of Inspector Clouseu, which they were developing for "The Pink Panther". However, when the film was completed, it wasn't released and was deemed unfunny. Then when "The Pink Panther" was a hit, the studio released "A Shot in the Dark" as a sequel and a series was born. This explains why elements from the first film are absent from the second (Mrs. Clouseu anyone?) and why the second (actually first!) set the tone for the following films more than the first (actually the second! Confused yet?) Here, Sellers is front and center as the hapless and ever-clumsy Inspector. Freed from sharing screen time with a higher billed co-star (David Niven in the previous film) and without a particularly coherent plot to follow, he is allowed to engage in pratfall after pratfall and scenario after goofy scenario. Today's audiences may not completely go for the subtle, meticulously timed method of comedy shown here with emphasis on set up and repetitiveness, but patient and observant audience members should still find the film funny. By now, so much of the material has been cribbed or expanded upon, some of the edge is lost, but enough of the humor and situational gags are amusing enough to make the film worthwhile. Sellers insists upon the innocence of curvy stunner Sommer, a maid who has been found in a locked room with a dead body and a smoking gun in her hand. Time after time, he lets her out of prison and the body count increases. His thorough incompetence drives his superior (Lom) to insanity. Sommer's employer Sanders, a man of great wealth and taste, is also appalled by the bumbling Sellers, never more so than when he manages to practically trash a billiard room during a friendly game. One famous sequence has Sellers tracking Sommer down in a nudist colony. The modest Inspector navigates the idyllic hideaway using any available object to cover himself as the campers frolic behind shrubs and other props. Reed glams it up, but gets little to do as Sanders' bitchy wife. Another memorable sequence has Sellers and Sommer on a date with victim after victim falling prey to an assassin that's after Sellers. It's all a farcical enterprise that one must be in the mood for to fully enjoy. Otherwise, it becomes a little tiresome, but fans of physical comedy ought to lap it up. The remaining sequels were all sort of hybrids of "The Pink Panther" mixed with "A Shot in the Dark" and had fair success until the death of Sellers made it difficult to continue (but continue they did, using outtakes and other footage of the man! Anything to make a buck!) Henry Mancini provided some nice music, notably over the animated title sequence.

Lesser known, but this is the best Pink Panther film

[funkyfry · 9/10 · 3 November 2002]

A fast paced comedy/mystery less about who-dun-it than how many corpses can they fit in the movie?! The Inspector Clousseau character returns and Sellars is to be credited with creating a characterization that seems just believable enough to be ridiculous.

Some very funny moments of physical and verbal humor. Sommer is mostly window dressing in this role, forced to play straight-gal to Sellars' sometimes manic "clumsiness". Lom makes his first series appearance (with hilarious facial tics) as the head cop. The best film in the series.

Very memorable opening sequence set to Mancini's excellent theme song is one of the film's many highlights.

The funniest detective comedy.

[PrinceWin · 8/10 · 17 August 2015]

Based on the French play 'L'Idiote' authored by Marcel Achard and adapted to the American stage by Harry Kurnitz, 'A Shot in the Dark' features Peter Sellers in the lead role of an Inspector with such gifted detective instincts that if he says he can solve a case within "2 seconds", it requires him to experiment with his profound investigative prowess in a full-length feature film to solve it.

'Give me 10 men like Clouseau, and I could destroy the world!' Yes, this great one-liner, uttered by Chief Inspector Dreyfus in a great deal of dismay, indeed outlines the wacky character of 'Inspector Jacques Clouseau' played by Sellers.

'A Shot in the Dark' is the second installment of the 'Pink Panther' Series, and the funniest of them all. The plot is simple, and goes on like this. Inspector Clouseau is sent to the Ballon residence to investigate the murder of Mr. Ballon's Spanish chauffeur Miguel. The Inspector instantly falls in love with the charming maid, Maria Gambrelli, towards whom all the evidences point a finger. But, Clouseau strongly believes that someone else is the murderer who framed her for murder. He thinks she might know something about it. So he releases her from jail and spies on her. Ill-fated circumstances prevent the Insp from successfully spying her moves, and eventually more murders take place. Is she really the murderer? If not, who framed her? Why would anyone kill a chauffeur? And finally, the most important question.. Will Clouseau be able to solve the case?

As the great Inspector along with his assistant, Hercule LaJoy, solemnly embark on his mission to solve the case, peril seems to find its way one way or the other and ride upon his shoulders, except for when his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, is around of course. To Dreyfus just the name of Clouseau is enough to ruin his day. He can't stand sight of Clouseau and hates "every little bit" of him for every time they meet, poor Dreyfus is thrown into the face of adversity within no time, and has to undergo tremendous agony.

All the actors performed well, but it is Sellers who stole the show as the inept detective fumbling and bumbling his way around solving murder mysteries, but mostly bumping into furnitures, snagging crucial areas of his clothes, falling out of windows, pursuing Miss Sommer to a nudist camp and what not.

There is nothing wrong with the Blake Edwards' direction and screenplay. Editing was also upto the mark. Henry Mancini's music, I must also add, is as sassy and frivolous as the film.

The only few minor drawbacks of this film are: Number one, Some portions are repetitive. Like for example, Inspector Clouseau got arrested more than a couple of times for not obtaining selling license in order to sell stuffs such as balloons, paintings, etc. Number two, few comic scenes were way too predictable. You could see them coming. And number three, the ambiguous ending which might leave some audiences wondering who actually murdered whom.

8/10

Classic Peter Sellers comedy

[The_Void · 7/10 · 11 July 2005]

A Shot in the Dark saw the great Peter Sellers reprise what is probably his most iconic role as the inept Inspector Clouseau. It's always obvious why Sellers is so well remembered for this role, as he's absolutely great in it. His mannerisms and quirks help to add to the personality of the character, and despite the fact that this man is overblown to comic book proportions, Sellers succeeds in making the role believable and, more importantly, very fun to watch. The majority of the humour in the film is of the slapstick variety, and while that can be very funny if done the right way; it's not my favourite type of humour. That being said, A Shot in the Dark does many of it's gags correctly, and while the film isn't consistently hilarious; there's enough good humour to ensure a good time to whoever's watching it. Also abundant in this film is classic Brit-flick style, which is great in my opinion. From Hammer Horror to Ealing comedy, I'm a big fan of classic British movies and so this film fits into that nicely.

The plot follows the accident-prone detective as he investigates the case of 'a shot in the dark', which resulted in the death of a man at a country house. The facts add up rather quickly to the maid, Maria (Elke Sommer), who was found at the scene of the crime with a smoking gun in her hand. Things are never that simple when Clouseau is on the case, however, and, convinced that she is a decoy to protect someone higher up the food chain, he proceeds in investigating this open and shut case. Aside from Sellers, this movie also features the talents of Herbert Lom, Elke Sommer and George Sanders, among others. This makes up a good support cast for yours truly, as I'm a big fan of horror and all of these are names in the British section of that genre. The plot of A Shot in the Dark is relatively simply done, but it always manages to find time for gags and humorous set pieces, and even when it appears to be slowing down; you can always count on another laugh being just around the corner. I don't love this movie, but it's definitely very good and marks a highlight in British comedy during the sixties.

Hilarious! The best in the series!

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 24 February 2009]

This is easily the best of the franchise. I was laughing so much, and the first time I saw this with my family, everyone was rolling about on the floor laughing. The only other time that has happened was when watching "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (which isn't as amusing anymore). Peter Sellers, who I've admired since Dr. Strangelove, is in his element here as Clousseau. Who can forget the scene when he breaks everything in the billiard room? The storyline is a bit daft and starts a little slow, but the performance of the star more than compensates. The jokes are repeated, like Clousseau getting arrested 5 times,but they do that all the time in comedy, so that isn't an issue. I loved all the jokes, interpreted by the likes of George Sanders(who was in the Jungle Book, one of the best early Disneys)and Herbert Lom. This is off target, but there was another pink panther film, Pink Panther Strikes Again, I think, when Clousseau is swinging on a bar above the stairs,and he lets go off the bar, and falls down the stairs. That made me laugh. I absolutely love Shot in the Dark though. 9/10.Bethany Cox

"If I Had Ten Clousseaus I Could Destroy The World"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 21 March 2008]

The popularity of Peter Sellers's Inspector Clousseau from the The Pink Panther it warranted the bumbling French detective getting center stage in what turned out to be a series of films. For the rest of his life Sellers was assured of movie profits by just making another Clousseau film.

A Shot In the Dark also introduced two new characters to the series, Clousseau's supervisor Chief Inspector Dreyfus played by Herbert Lom and his houseboy/karate teacher Kato who was played by Bert Kwouk. Dreyfus became almost as popular as Clousseau himself. Herbert Lom's career had been spent playing mostly villains and pretty serious and deadly ones at that.

Inspector Clousseau can best be described as a human train wreck. The slightest motion on his part is a recipe for disaster. Best to be about ten feet from him at any given time and even that won't always work. His klutziness drives Lom to the brink of insanity here and in future films, he crossed over the line.

But he's got instincts which is why I'm sure he remains an inspector of the Surete. He draws a case involving a murder at wealthy baron George Sanders's house and it seems kind of open and shut that the maid, Elke Sommer did it. But Sellers listens to his hormones talking and refuses to make the arrest. And as more dead bodies keep piling up around Sommer, the more Sellers listens to that voice south of the Equator.

With Clousseau, Peter Sellers joins the ranks of such great cinema clowns as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Sit back and don't eat while watching A Shot In The Dark, you won't be able to hold it down.

I named my small business after this movie Classic

[art-kaliel · 10/10 · 15 December 2019]

Peter Sellers stole this whole movie about a inept bumbling detective that I could not wait to see what he messed up next.. the best Pink Panther ever.. so funny and offbeat.. Elke Sommers was the ultimate "10" long before Bo Derek...laugh out loud smash for years.. not to be missed

Fine and entertaining sequel with Sellers-Clouseau investigating a murder at a country house

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 15 April 2012]

Hilarious Peter Sellers vehicle in which he causes a lot of disasters . Superb and overblown comedy with Peter Sellers in sparkling form as one man show in which plays the famous Inspector Clouseau making life intolerable for all and causes wreak considerable havoc at a luxurious mansion , a nudist camp and of course on the boss Inspector Dreyfus who goes nutty . As murder follows murder, gorgeous Maria (Elke Sommer) is the obvious suspect ; bumbler Inspector Clouseau drives his chief (Herbert Lom) mad by seeing her as plainly innocent . Very funny comedy from the team responsible for the Inspector Clouseau series , as stars Peter Sellers , musician Henry Mancini , producer Walter Mirish and director Blake Edwards .

This release is an enjoyable comedy starred by the great Peter Sellers as the inept and bungling Jacques Clouseau , role who became a world-wide institution . It is the second part of Closeau series and an agreeable film by the duo Blake Edwards/Peter Sellers , the latter as the inept Inspector of the French Surete . Pacing of visual film is well-developed including a magnificent opening and ending cartoon titles , as the director with his knowledge of the mechanics of cinema gets entertainment and amusement . Several chuckles and gags , and sight jokes abound , the result of which is one of the funniest Blake Edwards's Clouseau films . The movie gets entertained and hilarious moments here and there , with some side-splitting situations . This slapstick contains funny scenes , never slowdown and laughters come quickly . Top-notch Peter Sellers who is an absolute walking disaster , as botcher Inspector , everything he touches turns to ashes . It appears notorious secondaries as George Sanders , Tracy Reed , Martin Benson , Douglas Wilmer and the usuals , Andre Maranne , Graham Stark and Burt Kwouk as the Karateka man . Lively and atmospheric music by habitual Henry Mancini .

Originally based upon the stage play by Harry Kurnitz and rightly adapted by screenwriter Exorcist's William Peter Blatty . Well produced by the ordinary , Walter Mirish , including lush costumes by the prestigious Margaret Furse . Colorful and glamorous cinematography by Christopher Challis . The film is magnificently penned and directed , as always , by Blake Edwards . Blake is a classic comedy filmmaker and director of his own dialogue , there's no doubt he knows what he's about . His stories are amusing and well-realized though uneven , but thanks to Sellers many movies stand out . He had successes with ¨Pink Panther¨ series who became him a world-wide celebrity as ¨A shot in dark¨ , ¨Return of pink panther , ¨Revenge of pink panther¨ , ¨Curse of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Pink Panther strikes again¨ , ¨Trail of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Son of Pink Panther¨ , among others . Since then , there have been many more hit-and-miss comedies , some wildly unsuitable vehicles for his second wife Julie Andrews as ¨The Tamarind seed¨ , ¨Darling Lili¨, ¨SOB¨ , ¨10¨ , ¨That's life¨ . His greatest hits were ¨The party¨ , the Tranvestite comedy ¨Victor/Victoria¨ and of course the joyously ¨Breakfast at Tiffany's ¨. The flick will appeal to Peter Sellers fans . This is arguably one of the Pink Panther's best . This consistently fun comedy titled ¨A shot in the dark¨ deserves 'Two thumbs up' .

Clouseau is back - actually he's finally here

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 1 June 2020]

Another Pink Panther movie - actually the first sequel and one of those rare occasions where the sequel is way better than the original movie. And the original wasn't really bad - but the way Peter Sellers and the movie itself takes or rather where it goes ... just plain amazing. There are so many things that had to work out right. Sellers finding a French doorsman, whom allegedly he based his accent and mannerisms on.

Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers may have had their issues, but the end results (films) they made, at least in the Pink Panther cinematic universe (yes I said it) are awesome! The way he pronounced certain words after taking a few days off to seek out inspiration for his character ... I can't really convey that in written words, it has to be seen to be believed - but more importantly: enjoyed! We also get to see Cato for the first time. Complete and utter nonsense at times, but done with style and gusto. Not to mention a preparation and setting (few cuts, long shots, certain patterns the characters behaved and or walked) ... a real craftmanship.

This movie in general or rather the script was not meant to be a Clouseau movie. But Edwards says he suggested it after Sellers asked him if he'd like to do it.Edwards is saying he did not intend to do it, but if the script was to be made, it should be a Clouseau movie. Well history has proven him right. This marks the beginning of so many things. While it does seem detached from the very first movie (in so many ways), it does lay a template, a blueprint for things to come. Physical comedy, language comedy and many more things. You should not be easily offended though ... the movie does not care about certain things that some consider to be woke

Terrific comedy, mediocre whodunit

[Coventry · 7/10 · 16 September 2019]

History always repeats itself. When I was young, my father was a big fan of the "Pink Panther" film series, and I remember how I loved sitting next to him for those hilarious animated opening sequences, but couldn't be bothered with the rest of the film. Last weekend when "A Shot in the Dark" came on television, my own 10-year-old son was also delighted with the animated footage, but then voluntarily asked to go to bed because he was disappointed that the rest of the film was with "real" people. Whether you are 10, 40 or 80 years of age, I guess the animated credit sequences of "The Pink Panther" remain timeless and brilliant (even if, like in this case, the animation doesn't even feature the famous theme song and iconic cartoon panther).

Same as me 30 years ago, my own son is still too young to appreciate that the rest of "A Shot in the Dark" is also marvelous comedy-material! Peter Sellers guarantees non-stop chuckles and hilarious laughter as the clumsy and incompetent Parisian police inspector Jacques Clouseau, and the genius lies within the fact that he (as well as his co-stars) remain dead serious and straight-faced regardless what mayhem he unwarily causes around him. In "A Shot in the Dark", surprisingly co-written by none other than William Peter Blatty (author of "The Exorcist"), Clouseau is sent for when a murder occurs in the fancy estate of millionaire Mr. Benjamin Ballon. During the fantastically convoluted pre-credits opening sequence, we are already made clear this is a household full of affairs, betrayal and dangerous liaisons, though. The chauffeur has been shot four times in the chest, and the chambermaid Maria Gambrelli is undoubtedly the culprit because she stood over his dead body with the murder weapon in her hand. When Clouseau sees her, however, he promptly falls in love with her and does whatever it takes to prove her innocence.

"A Shot in the Dark" is, hands down, one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. The comical highlights are almost too numerous to list, like the game of pool between Inspector Clouseau and Mr. Ballon, the trip to the nudist colony, Clouseau's unsuccessful attempts to shadow Maria whilst undercover, the increasing nervous tics of Commissioner Dreyfus or the collateral damage piling up during Clouseau and Maria's night on the town. I must admit, however, that I secretly also hoped for the actual whodunit plot to be better and more engaging. This film is somewhat the complete opposite of the contemporary Agatha Christie adaptations featuring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. In those films, the aspired comedy isn't so great, but the denouements are vintage Agatha Christie greatness, whereas in "A Shot in the Dark", the comedy elements are impeccable, but the end revelation is rather disappointing. You can't have it all, I guess...

Plenty of wit and silliness, but where's the spark?

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 5 November 2022]

Everyone has different tastes, in cinema and in humor. No matter how well reputed, what one person finds fantastic and/or hilarious might make little impression on another. It may amount to barely a blip on anyone's radar to remark, in the face of otherwise almost limitless praise, "This isn't for me." Yet here we are: for all the high expectations I had when I sat to watch 'A shot in the dark,' I'm altogether flummoxed, for apparently I'm just not seeing the same movie everyone else has in the past 58 years. I don't dislike it, mind you, but I'm also far less than inspired.

I recognize plentiful cleverness, silliness, and otherwise comedic stylings that make this solidly enjoyable and amusing. Peter Sellers is a legend, as is Blake Edwards, to say nothing of the other well regarded contributors to the picture. Any stunts and effects are terrific, and this is finely made in most every regard: writing, direction, acting, all the work of those behind the scenes. What I think it lacks, however, is any significant spark. 'A shot in the dark' earned plenty of smiles as I watched, but never any real laughs. There's nothing wrong with this, of course - save for that I'm quite sure mere smiles aren't generally what comedies are intended to elicit.

Is it weak timing, not least as some bits are allowed to drag on much too long? It it a lack of any major vibrancy? Is it a failure of balance between the mundane and the ridiculous, such that the resulting attempted humor falls flat? It it some combination of these factors, and/or something else altogether? I have difficulty pinpointing what I think the problem is. All I know is that while this was passing light entertainment for most of its duration, I never once saw in 'A shot in the dark' the type of abject brilliance that has given its director or stars such renown. Clearly I hold the minority opinion here, and that's fine. To each their own. I guess this is just another example of the lesson that just because a title has earned substantial acclaim almost across the board doesn't mean it will find the same success on a case by case basis. Should anyone read these words, I hope their experience with the movie is more valuable than mine was. C'est la vie.

The best of the Pink Panther films, but not as funny as it should have been

[bob the moo · 2 May 2004]

When a murder occurs in the house of millionaire Benjamin Ballon, Inspector Clouseau is put on the case. When he makes a real pigs ear of it, Commissioner Dreyfus takes him off the case until political pressure forces him to put him back on it. The maid, Maria Gambrelli was found in a locked room with a gun in her hands and a body at her feet - all the clues appear to point to her, but Clouseau is too taken by her beauty to believe it could be her. He pursues a more complex theory, much to the chagrin of Dreyfus - but could his bumbling have brought him onto the right track.

In terms of cinema, 1964 was one of the best years of Peter Seller's career; not only did he make his best film with several great performances (Dr Strangelove) but he also made the best of the Pink Panther films with this entry. The two films are quite different - Strangelove is very much an all round performance(s) whereas Shot In The Dark displays his physical comedy to great effect. The basic plot is a murder mystery but it doesn't really matter who did what to whom as the focus of the film is the bumbling investigation of Clouseau. This is as funny as the character got and the material is pretty good. It depends a great deal on your personal taste as to how much you are laughing at this film. I found it funny but not as funny as I had hoped I would. The reason for this was that the film relied very heavily on Clouseau. The problem with this is that the comedy around Clouseau usually requires a small build up and hence a lag before the laugh - hence the laughs are spaced rather than consistent.

Of course, basing the film around Sellers is not a bad thing in itself, it's just the material that needed to be sharper and funnier. Although I like Sellers better in other things (namely Strangelove and The Goons) but he is the only man who could do this role and he does it very well indeed. Sommer is actually pretty good and manages to add to the laughs. Sanders is a nice addition even if he plays it straight most of the way; Lom on the other hand is increasingly funny as he breaks down - he is better here than in other films. Kwouk is given a small role but he shows that he has a flair for comedy (a flair that he has continued to show recently including his series with Harry Hill).

Overall, those hoping for a rip-roaring spoof may well be a little disappointed as it is not a laugh a second, even if it is still funny. The plot doesn't really matter and the material could have been sharper and more consistent, but it still stands out as the best of the Pink Panther films. All in all, 1964 and these two films is as good proof of Sellers' abilities as you could ask for and he carries this film here.

Panther No Panth, Ith Thill A Thilly Movie

[SylvesterFox007 · 8/10 · 25 January 2006]

"A Shot in the Dark", apparently, was intended to be a screen adaptation of a murder mystery stage play. Somehow, after the character of Inspector Clouseau caught on with audiences in "The Pink Panther", he got thrown into the mix here. The result is a movie that established the very essence of the Pink Panther movie series: murder mysteries where the "brilliant" detective just happened to be a complete klutz with barely enough brain cells to mesh two clues together.

Peter Sellers once again assumes the role of that complete klutz, with even more hilarious results than in "The Pink Panther." The film starts with a murder in the home of a French socialite, with so many shady characters creeping from room to room with lights coming on and off in true Pink Panther style that the audience isn't exactly sure who killed who. Through a bureaucratic mistake, the bumbling Inspector Clouseau is sent in. He meets the most obvious suspect, the beautiful, busty, blonde Elke Sommers, who shares top billing with Sellers. Trusting his hormones rather than the evidence, Clouseau launches a hilarious one-man campaign to prove the blonde's innocence.

A cast of supporting players that would become Pink Panther regulars is established here. Herbert Lom is Clouseau's twisted boss Commissioner Dreyfus. Burt Kwouk is Clouseau's Korean butler who engages in frequent training exercises with his master. Graham Stark, a close friend of Sellers, plays Clouseau's straight-laced side kick. The character wouldn't appear again until "Trail of the Pink Panther", although the actor would go on the play multiple roles throughout the rest of the series.

Henry Mancini scores again, but since Pink Panther wasn't intended to be the name of the franchise at the time, the famous theme music is gone. The new theme, however, is just as catchy and definitely could only be created by Mancini. The animated Pink Panther lurking around during the opening credits is also missing, though a new cast of animated characters takes his place.

Based on a mystery play, the movie is able to lampoon the conventions of murder mysteries pretty well, down to the drawing room conclusion. While the solution to the mystery is scattered, confusing, and almost non-existent, that's not really the point. Pink Panther films are about the comic misadventures of Peter Sellers' character, never about the plot.

With Clouseau finally portrayed as the hero rather than the film's antagonist, "A Shot in the Dark" sets the tone for the rest of the Pink Panther series better than "The Pink Panther" does, though the funniest sequels were still to come.

The classic worthy of its reputation

[Dock-Ock · 10/10 · 15 May 2001]

This film should be hung along side the Mona Lisa in the louvre! It is an ultimate gem of cinema comedy. If you are going to watch one movie in The Pink Panther series, well watch The Pink Panther Strikes again. If you didn't like that then watch this. This is the movie that Peter Sellers defines the character of Inspector Clouseau. And seeing that Clouseau was a character in a lifetime for Sellers then this surely must rank as his best movie. This is the first film to feature Herbert Lom as Dreyfurs and Burt Kwouk as Cato, and both do well. The person who very nearly steals the show though is Elke Sommer as the love interest who everybody but Clouseau expects as the murderer of many people. Sellers and Blake Edwards are at a peak here. The funniest moments come when Clouseau keeps getting arrested for not having licences for certain things, and keeps getting carted of in a police van. The Laurel and Hardy inspired slapstick is well placed and timed, and Henry Mancini's music is splendid. Exorcist writer William Peter Blatty cut his teeth with thi the writing on this movie, and one wishes he had done more Panther movies because his script is wonderful fun. An ultimate classic.

This is where the ball got rolling but it still needed more refining

[awdboosted95 · 6/10 · 9 July 2022]

While the first set the stage, this is definitely a league above in almost all regards, but still not the best in my opinion. Here we have a much richer (and convoluted, really a touch too far) and somewhat more intriguing plot, more interesting characters including 2 very important supporting actors in Cato and Dreyfus, and also importantly the writing allowed for much more action than the first much slower movie.

Cato and Dreyfus really add a ton here, but their characters are in "raw" form here and become more refined and better in later installments. Even Clouseau has a little more refinement to come and all this elevates some of the later flicks in the series above this one.

Overall a well done great mix of mystery and comedy. 6.5/10.

Probably the best of the Pink Panther series...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 21 December 2019]

... even though it is not officially part of the Pink Panther series. Like The Thin Man series, the Pink Panther franchise has come to represent the sleuth on the job - Peter Sellers as inspector Jacques Clouseau - when originally the Pink Panther was a diamond that a classy thief was planning to steal.

Marie Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) plays a maid at a large estate who is accused of murder. The circumstantial evidence has her looking very guilty, but Clouseau is convinced of the woman's innocence. He is a bumbler, and his antics get him thrown off the case. Several times. But his boss Charles Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom), who did the firing, is asked by his assistant - What if you, a respected member of the force, turn out to be wrong and Clouseau, a complete fool, is right? This possibility drives Dreyfuss crazy and he keeps rehiring Clouseau. Who keeps releasing Gambrini. Who keeps turning up in the strangest places with a newly murdered body nearby and often the murder weapon in her hands. And yet she can never remember how the weapon got there.

This is probably one of the best movies of the 60s in spite of the fact that movies made around this time period tend to age badly because they are positioned at the very beginning of the sexual revolution, and what seemed "mod" then just seems mundane now. What keeps the film fresh is the timeless humor of Sellers' sight gags.

The ending is rather unsatisfying, but everything up to that point is hilarious. Bert Kwouk as "Cato",Clouseau's valet who is also supposed to attack him at unsuspected moments to keep him alert, is funny in a very minor role as he picks some of the most awkward times to pounce. Highly recommended.

Chief Inspector Dreyfus: "Give me ten men like Clouseau and I could destroy the world."

[romanorum1 · 7/10 · 20 August 2013]

"A Shot in the Dark," which followed "The Pink Panther," is considered the second of the popular series. It focuses not at all on the Pink Panther diamond or the Phantom or on Mancini's original music score, but solely on the antics of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. That bungler cannot get through any day without causing some kind of mayhem. Peter Sellers' bumbling but likable inspector always delivers laughs in buckets. In this movie, the Spanish chauffeur of Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) is found shot to death in Ballon's mansion with the gorgeous maid, Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommers) literally holding a smoking gun. Miss Gambrelli was having an affair with him. When Clouseau arrives at Ballon's house, he falls into a small pond as he exits his vehicle. As he walks into the house we hear the "squish squish" sound of wet shoes. But he tries to interview folks with his stubborn decorum. All signs point to Maria's guilt, so Inspector Clouseau naturally thinks she is innocent! "We must have the facts, Hercule! We must have the facts!" Naturally he feels that she is "protecting someone."

After Miss Gambrelli is allowed to leave jail on several occasions, Clouseau tries unsuccessfully to follow her in various disguises, and concludes getting arrested each time. Meanwhile chaos ensues as the bodies multiply, and Clouseau's actions unknowingly ensure more trouble. Clouseau's immediate superior, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is slowly driven insane by Clouseau's antics. Clouseau even winds up in a nudist colony, where Maria and he must drive away without a stitch of clothing! In the film we are introduced to Kato (Burt Kwout), who is Clouseau's housekeeper. One of Kato's duties, is to "attack" Clouseau using judo when the inspector least expects it, to keep his reflexes fresh. So, it should come as no surprise when Kato assails Clouseau even in his bathtub! In the confrontation scene in the end, the feckless Clouseau summons all of the murder suspects in Ballon's spacious Parisian house to reveal the killer(s). Either fracturing the English language or being tongue-tied, Clouseau says a suspect "killed ... in a rit of fealous jage!" George Sanders plays it straight as opposed to the whacked-out Clouseau, making for laugh after laugh. When Peter Seller's created Clouseau, madness reached a new high! There would be sequels.

One of the funniest movies I have ever seen for that time period..circa early 60's.

[parkway25 · 10/10 · 27 October 2006]

I just have a short review of this great film. The memory of seeing this movie in a Miami theater in 1964 is one of my fondest memories. I saw it with my father and we both laughed so hard that (to coin a very old phrase) our insides hurt. Peter Sellers has provided me with so much enjoyment through the years with his series of "Pink Panther" films, although, I thought that this one was the best of the entire series. The rest of the cast was equally as good in their supportive roles especially Herbert Lom. Elke Sommer, George Sanders and Burt Kwouk were also great. The laughs came continuously and the physical humor of Sellers is untouched by todays standards. There have been so many copy cats, Steve Martin included that have failed to capture the spontaneity and sense of comedy that only Peter Sellers had. This film to me, goes down as the best of the best of comedies.

A shot in the arm

[arthurcrown · 7/10 · 19 February 2019]

Blake Edwards' film based on Marcel Achard's stage play L'Idiote may have been a challenge to make with comedic genius Peter Sellers as accident-prone Inspector Jacques Clouseau and Herbert Lom as his long-suffering but equally ineffectual police superior, Charles Dreyfus. But it was worth it.

For an Englishman who was six or seven years of age when the film was released, it's not hard to remember an England that I was growing up in which is strangely mirrored in this Hollywood bedroom farce.

At this time England was as remote from France as the surface of the Mars was to Hollywood. That is why the realistically-shaped cars of the Paris constabulary are painted in correct period livery but captioned 'Police' instead of 'Gendarmerie'. France was just another planet in the solar system from which aliens wearing berets periodically escaped on bicycles across what is affectionately called The English Channel , and straying into Kent before being arrested and deported for selling garlic and onions to an unready local population.

After several charcters in nightwear obvously involved more in bedroom-swapping than wife-swapping set the scene - Clouseau is called in when gunshots ring out at the large country house where the nocturnally active millionnaire Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) seems as integral a part the the bedroom-swapping as any other supect.

After promptly falling into the ornamental pond, Clouseau arrives to begin his investigation accompanied by his dull-witted but compliant assistant, Hercule LaJoy (Graham Stark).

Bewitched by the beauty of Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) Clouseau reliably gets the wrong end of every stick that comes his way including ignoring an early admission by Maria that she had the smoking gun in her hand when found in a room containing the dead body whose door was locked from the inside; a fact corroborated by eyewitness testimony from Maurice (Martin Benson).

You may fail to grasp the comedic stereotypes who populate this ancient age of film-making, from before even I was born.

Enjoy this great and hilarious film in a dramatic tradition that pre-figuredVaudville in an idiom verging on the early silent films (including an homage to The Keystone Cops as gendarmes cling perilously on the back of the French paddy wagon).

Who doesn't like this film?

[blakemanrich · 10/10 · 3 July 2020]

It's simply unbelievable how good this film is. It's so funny that from the second you see Sellers till the last minute you will have a long laugh.

Despite sharing some of the same flaws as the first film this is still a big improvement

[jimbo-53-186511 · 6/10 · 21 March 2018]

When millionaire Benjamin Ballon's (George Sanders) chauffeur is murdered in his own home Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is assigned to the case. But will France's most inept detective be able to find out the identity of the killer?

I watched the original Pink Panther film a couple of years ago and I hated it with a passion (I found it lazy, unfunny and dull). I watched this sequel (with some trepidation) as I remember reading some reviews where others had advised that the sequel was the better of the 2 films and I have to admit that I agree with those people...

In fairness, the sequel does share some problems as the first film (there are some rather obvious and lazy sight gags that aren't particularly funny and that don't really work). However, unlike the first film I did feel that this film wasn't entirely reliant on sight gags - the script is better than the first film and the story is more engaging - it has a gentle playfulness about it which made it fairly enjoyable to watch. There were also moments in this film that genuinely had me laughing such as when Clouseau attempts to bash a door down but someone opens it resulting in him running right through the room and falling out of the window and crashing into a swimming pool below him or the numerous times his failed disguises ended up getting him unintentionally arrested.

Aside from not all of the sight gags working the film does have some other weaknesses; the set-up at the start was a little long and perhaps could have been trimmed slightly. The scenes where Cato was attacking Clouseau weren't all that funny and seemed to be randomly thrown in here and there for no particular reason. It was a good idea giving Clouseau a sidekick, but as Hercule I felt that Graham Stark underplayed the role far too much (almost to the point where his contribution is barely memorable). I don't blame him for this, but feel that Blake Edwards perhaps allowed Sellers to be too dominant meaning that Stark and Sellers were never able to develop much in the way of workable chemistry.

Still faults aside this is still a fairly enjoyable effort and is a huge improvement on the first film. Oh yes and the opening credits were also imaginative and fairly amusing.

Some big laughs in scattershot farce

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 11 March 2006]

The first sequel to 1963's "The Pink Panther" has a better plot than its predecessor as Peter Sellers' clumsy Inspector Clouseau becomes convinced the lovely lady he's smitten with couldn't possibly have committed a series of murders. Director Blake Edwards (who co-adapted the screenplay with William Peter Blatty, based on a play by Harry Kurnitz) obviously adored Peter Sellers and gives the actor free reign, but this proves to be both boon and bane. Sellers was always funniest when he was at his most human and vulnerable, yet here Clouseau is made into a fussy priss (like a spoof of Hercule Poirot). Marred by poor color and a drab production, the picture nevertheless has several laugh-out-loud moments, especially the sequence at a nudist colony. Sellers returned to this role in 1975's "The Return of the Pink Panther"; in the interim, Alan Arkin took on the character for 1968's "Inspector Clouseau" which was made by outsiders. ** from ****