A Shot in the Dark (1964)

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Blake Edwards (screenplay) and
William Peter Blatty (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 June 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery

Tagline:

It's Sellers the Sleuth... and there's nothing he won't do to track down a body -- dead or alive!

Plot:

As murder follows murder, beautiful Maria is the obvious suspect; bumbling Inspector Clouseau drives his boss mad by seeing her as plainly innocent.

Plot Keywords:

Clouseau | Inspector | Murder | Maid | Suspect

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Jacques Clouseau
Elke Sommer	...	Maria Gambrelli
George Sanders	...	Benjamin Ballon
Herbert Lom	...	Charles Dreyfus
Tracy Reed	...	Dominique Ballon
Graham Stark	...	Hercule LaJoy
Moira Redmond	...	Simone
Vanda Godsell	...	Madame LaFarge
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Pierre
Ann Lynn	...	Dudu
David Lodge	...	Georges
André Maranne	...	Francois
Martin Benson	...	Maurice
Burt Kwouk	...	Kato
Reginald Beckwith	...	Receptionist
Douglas Wilmer	...	Henri LaFarge
Bryan Forbes	...	Camp Attendant (as Turk Thrust)
Andre Charisse	...	Game Warden (as André Charise)
Howard Greene	...	Gendarme
John Herrington	...	The Doctor
Jack Melford	...	The Psycho-Analyst
Victor Baring	...	Taxi Driver
Victor Beaumont	...	Gendarme
Tutte Lemkow	...	Kazak Dancer
Hurtado de Córdoba	...	Flamenco Dancers & Guitarist (as Hurtado De Cordoba Ballet)
Fred Hugh	...	Balding Customer
Rose Hill	...	Soprano
Tahitian Dance Group	...	Tahitian Dance Group
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Lambert	...	Man (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	...	Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Blake Edwards

Writing credits
Blake Edwards		(screenplay) and
William Peter Blatty		(screenplay)
Harry Kurnitz		(based upon the stage play by)
Marcel Achard		(from the play by)

Produced by
Blake Edwards	....	producer
Cecil F. Ford	....	associate producer
Walter Mirisch	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Henry Mancini

Cinematography by
Christopher Challis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bert Bates
Ralph E. Winters

Production Design by
Michael Stringer

Costume Design by
Margaret Furse

Production Management
Denis Johnson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Cracknell	....	assistant director
Terence Churcher	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Charles Bishop	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Norman Dorme	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Tony Rimmington	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Bramall	....	sound recordist
Teddy Mason	....	sound editor
J.B. Smith	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Austin Dempster	....	camera operator
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)
Norman Gryspeerdt	....	still photographer (uncredited)
John Jordan	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Skeets Kelly	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Animation Department
George Dunning	....	animation director (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Peter Elliot	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)
Martyn K.E. Green	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Henry Mancini	....	conductor
Douglas Gamley	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Richard Nash	....	musician: trombone soloist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Eddie Frewin	....	transportation chief (uncredited)

Other crew
Leland Hayward	....	stage producer
Constance Willis	....	continuity (as Connie Willis)
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Maurice Landsberger	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)
Golda Offenheim	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Mirisch Corporation, The (presents)

Distributors

• United Artists (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1968) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Compañía General de la Imagen (CGI) (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (collector's edition)
• Arthaus (2004) (Mexico) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE)  titles (as DePatie-Freleng)
• George Dunning & Associates  animation production

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:PG | Norway:11 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1975) | West Germany:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | New Zealand:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #20691) | Canada:G (video rating) | Netherlands:AL | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Luton Hoo Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

First appearance of Kato (later changed to Cato) and Dreyfus in the Clouseau film series.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Clouseau puts his still-lit cigarette lighter into the front of his trench-coat, but the smoke starts coming from the back. There are also no burn holes or anything when he frantically removes it.

Quotes:

Maria Gambrelli:[as Clouseau's coat is burning] Your coat, Monsieur!
Clouseau:Yes, it is my coat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Forty Years of Fuck (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Shadows of Paris

Panther No Panth, Ith Thill A Thilly Movie

"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 exercises 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.