A Shot in the Dark
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Movie Reviews of A Shot in the Dark
Movie Review: Peter
Summary: 5 Stars
Not as good as the ones that followed, but still good. He got better with age.Movie Review: A Shot in the Dark
Summary: 5 Stars
Need a few laughs? This is the place to get them. A great flick.Movie Review: Different Shade of Pink
Summary: 4 Stars
"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 excercises 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.
Movie Review: Sellers and Lom go mad
Summary: 4 Stars
What a joy to this in widescreen on DVD and on a big TV. I hadn't seen it for many many years and so previously it would have been panned and scanned on an old TV. This is the 2nd of the Pink Panther films and perhaps the best of the lot. Peter Sellers plays Clouseau. He is an incompentent French Police Inspector investigating a murder at a rich socialites mansion. A beautifully straight-faced performance by George Sanders - although if you have seen some of the out-takes!
The film is awash with brilliant sight gags, almost too many to list. Many involve Sellers, but frequently Herbert Lom. His is a marvellous performance. As the Police Commissioner, and Clouseau's boss he is slowly driven literally insane by Clouseau and probably steals the acting honours from Sellers in the process.
A special mention must also go to Henry Mancini. He wrote the famous original Pink Panther theme and here he is spot on with the music soundtrack. Many scenes are enhanced by his witty musical motifs that fit perfectly to the action on the screen.
...and I forgot to mention Cato!
Movie Review: Bare bones DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
Why the four stars? Well 5 for the movie, about which nothing further needs to be said, surely. But let's knock off a star for this DVD package. There's nothing wrong with the film, looks fine, so far as I can see. But the extras are merely some stills and the trailer, there's not even a paper insert! That's a pity, I would have loved an hour of interviews from those still around (or maybe in the can already). Ah well, it's cheap, but it's like MGM figured this was just an oldy and didn't deserve any special handling. That's an insult for one the best comedies ever made, with every single scene a gem.