No drama here as Inspector Clouseau, the French detective, bungles his way through a murder case which turns out to be a series of murders. This sounds all very serious and dark, yet A SHOT IN THE DARK is a riot. The repeated mis-identification of the killer becomes comical, then someone sneaks up on the sleeping inspector as if he wanted to kill him before he got caught. Yet we are thrown off the scent as we learn that Clouseau (Peter Sellers) has arranged this martial arts battle for personal reasons. Soon the single detective has fallen under the spell of Maria (Elke Sommer) and lets her go to see what clues she might lead the authorities to. Instead, she leads them to a nudist colony with naked men playing musical instruments. The obtuse inspector plays billiards with the most unnatural-looking cue stick I have ever seen. This is a nice set-up because it is obvious his wits will never find the bad guy and allows the moviegoer to sit back and enjoy the frivolity! Before the film comes to a conclusion, one more killer sneaks around to end the life of the "pink panther" and we are delighted at the mayhem that ensues. Kewl sight-gags and humor. [4.6 stars]
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