A Shot in the Dark (1964) directed by Blake Edwards
I've never seen any of the original Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies. In fact my first exposure to Inspector Clouseau were the awful Steve Martin remakes, so I was sort of curious to see what made the original ones such classics. The key ingredient of course is Peter Sellers himself who was just a brilliant comedic actor (Steve Martin was no slouch himself in his heyday, but he's been in some truly awful movies the past decade). Sellers is perhaps most known for his famous triple performance in Dr. Strangelove, but his performance as Inspector Clouseau is nothing short of genius. I've never been a big fan of the bumbling idiot routine, which is why I generally hate the Mr. Bean character, the Steve Martin Pink Panther, and Mr. Hulot's Holiday, but I loved Sellers as Clouseau. Even though the character is clumsy and sort of an idiot, he displays a sense of dignified charm to him. The way he carries himself and delivers his lines is just fantastic and comic gold. I normally don't fall for the people tripping over themselves routine but I was genuinely amused when watching Sellers do his thing.
A Shot in the Dark, the second film of the Pink Panther series, begins with a cleverly choreographed introduction where several people are sneaking in and out of a house. It is all observed from a distance in one shot as we can see the characters sneaking around inside through the windows. It's tough to figure out what's going on but before you know it a lady enters a room where two people already are and in an instant gunshots are fired. Cue in the famous Pink Panther animated title and credits and the movie is on its way. The main suspect is the gorgeous maid Maria who is found on the scene with a gun in her hand. Inspector Clouseau arrives on the scene and immediately falls for her and believes her to be innocent. Meanwhile the real murderer is on the loose killing more people and eventually targets Clouseau himself.
The film is set up to demonstrate Clouseau's bumbling nature by putting him in ridiculous situations (such as being in a nudist colony), how clueless he is (people die around him without him even noticing), but also his occasional flash in the pan brilliance. The plot is sort of a mess, but you are really watching this film for Sellers who gives a fantastic and seemingly effortless performance. Even the really stupid stuff isn't forced. It just seems like he is playfully stumbling along if that makes any sense. But the screenplay is also sharply written with some funny exchanges and routines.
Grade: A-
I've never seen any of the original Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies. In fact my first exposure to Inspector Clouseau were the awful Steve Martin remakes, so I was sort of curious to see what made the original ones such classics. The key ingredient of course is Peter Sellers himself who was just a brilliant comedic actor (Steve Martin was no slouch himself in his heyday, but he's been in some truly awful movies the past decade). Sellers is perhaps most known for his famous triple performance in Dr. Strangelove, but his performance as Inspector Clouseau is nothing short of genius. I've never been a big fan of the bumbling idiot routine, which is why I generally hate the Mr. Bean character, the Steve Martin Pink Panther, and Mr. Hulot's Holiday, but I loved Sellers as Clouseau. Even though the character is clumsy and sort of an idiot, he displays a sense of dignified charm to him. The way he carries himself and delivers his lines is just fantastic and comic gold. I normally don't fall for the people tripping over themselves routine but I was genuinely amused when watching Sellers do his thing.
A Shot in the Dark, the second film of the Pink Panther series, begins with a cleverly choreographed introduction where several people are sneaking in and out of a house. It is all observed from a distance in one shot as we can see the characters sneaking around inside through the windows. It's tough to figure out what's going on but before you know it a lady enters a room where two people already are and in an instant gunshots are fired. Cue in the famous Pink Panther animated title and credits and the movie is on its way. The main suspect is the gorgeous maid Maria who is found on the scene with a gun in her hand. Inspector Clouseau arrives on the scene and immediately falls for her and believes her to be innocent. Meanwhile the real murderer is on the loose killing more people and eventually targets Clouseau himself.
The film is set up to demonstrate Clouseau's bumbling nature by putting him in ridiculous situations (such as being in a nudist colony), how clueless he is (people die around him without him even noticing), but also his occasional flash in the pan brilliance. The plot is sort of a mess, but you are really watching this film for Sellers who gives a fantastic and seemingly effortless performance. Even the really stupid stuff isn't forced. It just seems like he is playfully stumbling along if that makes any sense. But the screenplay is also sharply written with some funny exchanges and routines.
Grade: A-
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