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!
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
Theatrical release date
1964-06-23
DVD release date
2009-01-27
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