Review of A Shot in the Dark (1964) by Brandon W — 08 Aug 2010
The second of the â??Pink Pantherâ?? films, â??A Shot in the Darkâ?? is a murder mystery where the bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers; who else?) falls madly in love with the prime suspect (Elke Sommers) and is convinced of her innocence. He then proceeds to denigrate all who follow the logical conclusion that she is, in fact, guilty, much to the chagrin of his long suffering Commissioner (Herbert Lom) who completely loses the plot and spends the second half of the movie attempting to kill him.
The plot moves along quite nicely but it is secondary to Peter Sellers bumbling, misguided, clumsy yet utterly hysterical performance as the legendary inspector who blames all and sundry for the mishaps around him, for example falling into a fountain, then blaming his idiot driver for parking too close to it, or in a scene (which required at least two attempts to get through) where Clouseau hears what he thinks is a scream from a room, only to barrel straight through a room of people listening to an opera singer and plummet straight out of a window into a river.
Pure comedy class. This is what the Pink Panther films were all about, and (as much as I like Steve Martin) not the abhorrent recent â??remakesâ??. Sellers will always remain as the ultimate in clumsy policeman. Never bettered.
This review of A Shot in the Dark (1964) was written by Brandon W on 08 Aug 2010.
A Shot in the Dark has generally received very positive reviews.
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