I watched The Pink Panther yesterday and A Shot in the Dark today. The Pink Panther had one of Edwards' zany social gathering scenes where Clouseau is going to nab the thief. An elite costume party. Two guys dressed as gorillas. The lights go out, Clouseau turns it into a disaster. Followed by one of Edwards' zany vehicle scenes. Several of Clouseau's misadventures in bed scenes (with his wife). The flaws in The Pink Panther are the virgin queen falling for Lytton, the final ski scene, the car chase scene (overlong), the ending court scene (Clouseau arrested and convicted as the thief and murderer, his wife escaping with Lytton). Too much.
The audience reaction to Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther led to the cacheting of David Niven as the star of the series in favor of Sellers. A Shot in the Dark therefore begins the Clouseau-centrism for which the series is famed and introduces those closest to him, Herbert Lom as Charles Dreyfus, Commissioner of the Sûreté (or alternately as Chief Inspector), Burt Kwouk as Cato Fong, André Maranne plays Dreyfus' assistant Sergeant François Chevalier. I get that in the abrupt change Clouseau's wife had to be cacheted too.
The new Clouseau-centric focus birthed the icons of the series, the Cato fight scenes, inspired brainstorms. The first one takes the audience completely by surprise. There are four of them, however. Four in one film. Flaw. Two serving the same purpose: to frustrate Clouseau's love-making. Flaw. Just that extra shot too far. Two, absolutely. Three, okay. Four, two to same effect, no; the salon scene at the end concludes with yet another vehicle catastrophe. It is too pat. One can see Edwards, et al breathless with what they have and then having to pull back and end the film, somehow, anyhow.
The zany social gathering scene is reprised, as it will be again. The full Sellers portfolio of subtle comedic genius is on display, in his mind (Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) is innocent; the fights with Cato are to keep him en garde); in his speech: (the signaure "bimp"), on his face (Clouseau looks directly at the camera in exasperation in the drawing room scene; his prudish embarrassment at the nudist colony), his body control (falling off the sofa, difficulties with the pool cue, with the cue rack, the karate chop), his timing--all of what made Sellers the greatest English actor along with Chaplin is here. The screenwriter, if not Edwards, than whomever, is brilliant: the sotto voce dialogue between Clouseau and his deputy Hercule in futile attempt to accomplish the simple--synchronize their watches; Four times Clouseau dons various disguises to keep on the well heels of Maria, four times he is arrested; the camera cuts immediately from first encounter with the gendarme to the rear view of the paddy wagon screaming down a street, it's continental siren hee-hawing to goal.
I did not remember A Shot in the Dark being this good. Instead of, or in addition to, "No, this one's flawed," I thought about this one as I don't remember thinking previously, "This is the best one."
(more, I think)
