Quand l'inspecteur s'emmêle

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.

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.

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

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!

The first sequel to "The Pink Panther" and still arguably the finest film of the entire series, "A Shot in the Dark" is a funny and very intelligent piece of entertainment. Peter Sellers returns once again as a bumbling French detective who this time unwittingly stumbles upon a group of murders that keep piling up right under his nose. Could love interest Elke Sommers be the culprit? Well it appears so, but Sellers is not buying it just because he has the hots for her. George Sanders is among the cast of several other possible suspects and of course we also have the first appearance of Sellers' superior (Herbert Lom). Co-written by William Peter Blatty (of "The Exorcist" fame!) and Blake Edwards (who also directed), "A Shot in the Dark" remains one of the better comedies from any cinematic era. 4 stars out of 5.