MGM Home Video
Region : 1
Length : 102m
Format : Side 1 Widescreen Enhanced - Side 2 Pan'n'scan
Sound : Dolby Mono
Extras : Trailer
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....François
Martin Benson....Maurice
Burt Kwouk....Kato
Reginald Beckwith....Receptionist at Camp
Douglas Wilmer....Henri LaFarge
Bryan Forbes....Camp Attendant (as Turk Thrust)
Andre Charisse....Game Warden (as Andre Charise)
Howard Greene....Gendarme
John Herrington....Doctor
Jack Melford....Psychoanalyst
Victor Baring....Taxi Driver
Victor Beaumont....Gendarme
Tutte Lemkow....Kazak Dancer
Fred Hugh....Balding Customer
Rose Hill....Soprano
Directed by…Blake Edwards
Writing credits
Marcel Achard….play L'Idiot
William Peter Blatty Blake Edwards
Harry Kurnitz…play
Blake Edwards....producer
Cecil F. Ford....associate producer
Original Music by…Henry Mancini
Cinematography by….Christopher Challis
Film Editing by…Bert Bates Ralph
E. Winters
Production Design by…Michael Stringer
Costume Design by….Margaret Furse
Denis Johnson Jr.....production manager
David Bracknell....assistant director
Jack Brammall....sound recordist
Teddy Mason....sound editor
J.B. Smith....sound recordist
David H. DePatie....title creator (as DePatie-Freleng)
Austin Dempster....camera operator
Friz Freleng...title creator (as DePatie-Freleng)
Robert Wells....lyricist: "Shadow of Paris"
Peter Sellers always said that he would not do sequels
because he did not want to replay the same character. All that good intention came to nothing when Blake Edwards
asked him to reprise Inspector Clouseau for ‘A Shot In the Dark’.
Just as ‘The Pink Panther’ was getting ready for release United
Artists asked Blake Edwards to make a film out of the English version of a
French farce ‘L’Ideot’ by Marcel Achard, whether by accident, or during
re-writes with co-writer William Peter Blatty, Edwards saw that the inspector in
the play was ideal for Inspector Clouseau and his friend Peter Sellers.
The rest – as they say – is history.
Without a doubt, ‘A Shot In the Dark’ is the finest and funniest of all of
Inspector Clouseau’s film outings.
The plot of ‘A Shot In the Dark’ finds Clouseau (accidentally) assigned to a
high profile murder investigation. The case seems so simple, that even an idiot
could solve it. Well, almost any idiot would be able to solve the case,
especially since all of the evidence points to a single suspect who was
discovered standing over the body with the smoking gun still in her hands. But
then again, Inspector Clouseau isn’t your average idiot.
‘A Shot In the Dark’ stars Elke Sommer as Maria Gambrelli, the beautiful
murder suspect whom Clouseau releases from jail, because he is sure that she
will lead him to the real culprit; and marks the first appearance of Herbert Lom
as Dreyfus – although in this film he is Commissioner Dreyfus – the
character that became Clouseau's nemesis in the rest the ‘Pink Panther’
films. Herbert Lom's performance in
‘A Shot In the Dark’ is as wonderful as that of Peter Sellers for the
moments of slapstick hilarity. The film also introduces the character of Kato
(Burt Kwouk), Clouseau's manservant and equally inept sparring partner in the
martial arts. George Sanders as the aloof M. Ballon, head of the house and
Graham Stark as Clouseau’s assistant Hercule make this much, much more that
just a star vehicle .
Like a lot of MGM Region 1 DVD’s ‘A Shot In the Dark’ is available in both
wide screen and full screen presentations on opposite sides of the DVD. Since
Blake Edwards is a master of utilizing the entire 2.35:1 Panavision frame, avoid
the horribly cropped full screen version at all costs. ‘A Shot In the Dark’
has been given a 16:9 enhanced presentation, something that ‘The Pink
Panther’; ‘The Return of The Pink Panther’ and ‘The Pink Panther Strikes
Again’ lack. The transfer provides a sharp, pleasing image with good detail.
Colour reproduction is good considering that Deluxe film elements from this
period usually appear horribly faded. However, saturation is nowhere as intense
as it would have been if ‘A Shot In the Dark’ had been filmed in
Technicolor. The black level is very accurate and the image has consistently
good contrast. Digital compression artefacts never really made the presence
known.
The Dolby mono soundtrack is very clean and worth amplifying for Henry
Mancini’s enchanting score. There is also a French language soundtrack and
English and French subtitles. The interactive menus are amusingly designed and
feature animation, music and full motion video. A very funny theatrical trailer
is the only official extra, but there is an easter egg.
I love all the ‘original’ Peter Sellers ‘Pink Panther’ films but ‘A
Shot In the Dark’ has made into my ymdb top twenty.
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