A Shot in the Dark
original movie poster
Directed by	Blake Edwards
Produced by	Blake Edwards
Written by	Marcel Achard (play L'Idiot) Harry Kurnitz (play) Blake Edwards (screenplay) William Peter Blatty (screenplay)
Starring	Peter Sellers Elke Sommer George Sanders Herbert Lom
Music by	Henry Mancini
Cinematography	Christopher G. Challis
Editing by	Bert Bates Ralph Winters
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	June 23, 1964 (U.S.A.)
Running time	102 min.
Country	UK / USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

For other uses, see Shot in the Dark (disambiguation)

A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment (and considered by many to be the best) in the Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté. Clouseau's bumbling personality is unchanged, but it was only in this film that Sellers began to give him the idiosyncratically exaggerated French accent that was to become a hallmark of the character. The film also introduces Herbert Lom as his boss, Commissioner Dreyfus, and Burt Kwouk as his long-suffering servant, Cato, who would both become series regulars. Elke Sommer plays the attractive Maria Gambrelli. Image File history File links Shot_in_the_dark. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Marcel Achard (July 5, 1899 – September 4, 1974) was a French playwright and script writer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... William Peter Blatty, (born January 7, 1928), is an American writer, probably most famous for the novel The Exorcist (1971) and the subsequent screenplay version. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ... Elke Sommer in The Oscar Elke Sommer [IPA: É›lkÉ™ zÉ”mɐ] (born 5 November 1940) is a German born actress, entertainer, and artist. ... Do you mean: George Sanders (1906-1972), the British actor George Sanders, who was awarded the Victoria Cross on the first day of the Battle of the Somme This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Herbert Lom [Czech IPA: xÉ›rbÉ›rd lom] is an international film actor. ... Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was a noted American composer and arranger. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... // Events January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove is released. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Shot in the Dark may refer to: A Shot in the Dark, a 1964 film directed by Blake Edwards, the second installment in the Pink Panther series Shot in the Dark, a song by Ozzy Osbourne from his 1986 album The Ultimate Sin A Shot in the Dark, a 1952... // Events January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove is released. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Pink Panther cartoon character. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ... Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a bumbling fictional French detective who was a character in the Blake Edwardss Pink Panther series. ... Sûreté (French; translated as surety but transliterated as security) is a term used in French-speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force. ... Herbert Lom [Czech IPA: xÉ›rbÉ›rd lom] is an international film actor. ... Burt Kwouk (Chinese: 郭弼; pinyin: Guō Bì) (born July 18, 1930) is an actor who was born in Manchester, England. ... Elke Sommer in The Oscar Elke Sommer [IPA: É›lkÉ™ zÉ”mɐ] (born 5 November 1940) is a German born actress, entertainer, and artist. ...

The film was not originally written to include Clouseau, but rather to be an adaptation of a stage play by Harry Kurnitz, which in turn was based upon the play L'Idiot by Marcel Achard. As Blake Edwards and future The Exorcist creator William Peter Blatty began work on the script, they decided to insert the character of Clouseau into the proceedings. The film was released only a few months after the first Clouseau film, The Pink Panther. Marcel Achard (July 5, 1899 – September 4, 1974) was a French playwright and script writer. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... William Peter Blatty, (born January 7, 1928), is an American writer, probably most famous for the novel The Exorcist (1971) and the subsequent screenplay version. ... The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, is a 1963 comedy film, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. ...

The Kurnitz play had a 1961-1962 Broadway run, directed by Harold Clurman. Its cast included Julie Harris, Walter Matthau, and William Shatner. Note on spelling: While most Americans use er (as per American spelling conventions), the majority of venues, performers and trade groups for live theatre use re. ... Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an Jewish-American theater director and drama critic, most famous for his work with New York Citys Group Theater. ... Actress Julie Harris photo taken by Carl Van Vechten 1952 Julie Harris (born Julia Ann Harris on December 2, 1925 in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan) is an American actress. ... Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an Academy Award winning American comedy actor. ... William Bill Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-winning Canadian actor, who gained fame for his starring role as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ...

Plot

Inspector Clouseau is called to the country home of a Paris plutocrat to solve a murder mystery. As all evidence points to a beautiful maid, a love-struck Clouseau stubbornly refuses to admit that she is guilty. As the real culprits attempt to keep everything away from Clouseau's boss Commissioner Dreyfus, they must commit even more murders to cover up. Clouseau always manages to be at the wrong place at the right time, including a scene in a nudist colony. As the Inspector continues to bungle the case, he slowly drives his boss mad. Eventually, Dreyfus starts gunning for him, leading to an (literally) explosive finale.   City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land area... A plutocracy is a government system where wealth is the principal basis of power (from the Greek ploutos meaning wealth). ... ...

Characters

Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau

Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) Image File history File links Sellers_pinkpanther7. ... Image File history File links Sellers_pinkpanther7. ... Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a bumbling fictional French detective who was a character in the Blake Edwardss Pink Panther series. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ...

Clouseau is the bumbling detective of the Pink Panther films, with an exaggerated French accent and an incredibly clumsy manner. Clouseau continually causes his bosses pain, and drives one particular superior insane several times over the course of the series. He also tends to blame his blunders on others (for example, in A Shot in the Dark, after falling into a fountain, he comments that he fell in because "...my idiot driver parked too close to the fountain"). The Pink Panther cartoon character. ...

Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) Herbert Lom [Czech IPA: xɛrbɛrd lom] is an international film actor. ...

Dreyfus is Clouseau's boss, first seen in A Shot in the Dark. He slowly goes mad over the course of the film, and by the end he makes several attempts to kill Clouseau. Dreyfus is consigned to an asylum several times over the film series. When he was asked to read the Inspector's eulogy (written by someone who actually liked him), he couldn't keep himself from laughing. Dreyfus is regularly released to return to his old job, but in short order Clouseau manages to send him back again. In one film, Dreyfus attempts to take over the world just to rid it of Clouseau.

Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) Elke Sommer in The Oscar Elke Sommer [IPA: ɛlkə zɔmɐ] (born 5 November 1940) is a German born actress, entertainer, and artist. ...

Maria, the beautiful maid for the Ballon family, is framed by the killers for the murder in question. Like Clouseau, she has an unfortunate aptitude for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Towards the end of the film she begins an affair with him.

Cato (Burt Kwouk) Burt Kwouk (Chinese: 郭弼; pinyin: Guō Bì) (born July 18, 1930) is an actor who was born in Manchester, England. ...

Cato is Clouseau's servant, trained in the martial arts. Clouseau, suspecting murderers were trying to kill him, ordered a "training program" with Cato, telling him to attack "wherever and whenever I least expect it." This becomes a running gag throughout the films, as Cato chooses to attack his boss at the worst possible times.

Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) George Sanders (1906-1972) in Foreign Correspondent George Sanders (July 3, 1906 – April 25, 1972) was an actor in British and American films. ...

Ballon is the millionaire at whose house the initial murder takes place. Due to a complex network of affairs between the various residents, they begin murdering people, eventually raising the count to four. The murderers decide to pin the blame on the unsuspecting maid, with whom Clouseau becomes infatuated, forcing the perpetrators to attempt to disappear. Due to a mistake, they do - permanently.

Hercule (Graham Stark) Graham Stark Graham Stark (born 20 January 1922) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. ...

Inspector Clouseau's silent-suffering assistant who is repeatedly asked to look at the evidence of the case by Clouseau and then reprimanded for jumping to the logical conclusion. His name is perhaps a play on the famous Agatha Christie protagonist Hercule Poirot. Hercule believes the chief suspect in the case to be guilty although Clouseau, who is besotted with her, insists she is innocent and that the evidence points to someone else each time a murder is performed. In the end, Clouseau is serendipitously proved correct. Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... now. ...

Trivia

• Actor, writer and film director Bryan Forbes appears in a cameo role in the nudist colony scene, credited as "Turk Thrust".

• The relationship between Edwards and Sellers deteriorated to such a point that at the conclusion of the film they vowed never to work together again. They eventually reconciled to collaborate successfully four years later on The Party, and on other "Pink Panther" films over the course of the next two decades.

Bryan Forbes, CBE (born John Theobald Clark on July 22, 1926 in London) is an English film director, actor and writer. ... The Party (alternative title: Hollywood Party) is a 1968 comedy directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers (in what was his only non-Pink Panther collaboration with Edwards) and Claudine Longet. ...

External links

• A Shot in the Dark at The Internet Broadway Database
• A Shot in the Dark at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, video games and production crew personnel. ...