A shot in the dark
| Movie | |||
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| German title | A shot in the dark | ||
| Original title | A shot in the dark | ||
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| Country of production |
United Kingdom USA |
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| original language | English | ||
| Publishing year | 1964 | ||
| length | 102 minutes | ||
| Age rating | FSK 12 | ||
| Rod | |||
| Director | Blake Edwards | ||
| script | Blake Edwards William Peter Blatty |
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| production |
Tony Adams Blake Edwards |
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| music | Henry Mancini | ||
| camera | Christopher Challis | ||
| cut |
Bert Bates Ralph E. Winters |
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| occupation | |||
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| chronology | |||
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A shot in the dark is the second film in the Pink Panther series by US director Blake Edwards based on the play The Sincere Liar (L'Idiote) by Marcel Achard in the English-language adaptation by Harry Kurnitz .
Peter Sellers had agreed to make the film, but did not agree with the script and the intended director. He asked Blake Edwards to direct, rewrite the script and transform his role into the box office character of Inspector Clouseau . Edwards and the producers agreed.
The famous pink panther is missing in the opening credits of the film. Also, the event is not made dependent on the famous diamond, as in the first part of this series. From now on the inspector is in the foreground.
action
In the villa of the millionaire Benjamin Ballon it is very busy in the evening. Almost all residents and also the service staff are wandering in the branched corridors of the villa to their respective love affairs. Suddenly there is a murder. Inspector Clouseau is sent to the crime scene. He finds the employee Miguel dead and Maria Gambrelli, who is highly suspected of the crime. All the evidence speaks against her, but Clouseau is convinced of her innocence. To make matters worse, he falls in love with her too.
Chief Inspector Dreyfus immediately pulls Clouseau away from the case, but a high-ranking person advocates that he continue investigating. Clouseau is certain that Gambrelli is only trying to cover up the real killer. Therefore, he releases her from prison to shadow her. Due to his inappropriate disguises (balloon vendors, street painters, hunters ...) this always fails. He is also arrested again and again because he cannot show the required license. And exactly then another murder happens and every time Gambrelli is on the scene. First the gardener is murdered, then the butler and finally the housemaid Dudu in a nudist colony. There Clouseau even helps Maria Gambrelli to escape.
Dreyfus is so beside himself with Clouseau's methods that he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The chief inspector even consults a psychiatrist and reveals to him his profound hatred of Clouseau. In the meantime, he has a nice evening with Maria Gambrelli in the Parisian nightlife. However, the couple has a shadow, a stranger follows them with murderous intentions. But as clumsy as Clouseau is, he's just as lucky. All attacks fail, he doesn't even notice them. A tourist is killed in a flamenco bar and the porter is killed in front of the bar. A guest dies in a Hawaiian club and a dancing Cossack in a Russian pub dies of poisoned vodka . Clouseau and Gambrelli arrive at the inspector's apartment unmolested. However, before the nice things first come up to Cato, the house servant, who has been instructed by the inspector to attack him at any time of the day or night in order to train his reflexes. And after the "fight" another bomb detonates, which the mysterious pursuer has deposited in front of Clouseau's door. Again they all narrowly escape death.
Eight dead - and Clouseau doesn't even have the slightest hint of a trace. Nevertheless, he wants to unmask the murderer in front of those present in the Villa Ballon that evening. In a theatrical production, he gathers rule and staff in the villa. He begins to explain, and little by little everyone in the room reveals their secret by confronting the others with accusations. There is a commotion, everyone flees in the inspector's car, in which a bomb was previously hidden. After six people were blown up, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, who initiated all the attacks on Clouseau, is finally convicted.
Who was the killer?
This question remains open until the end of the film, since everyone in the Ballon house seems to have a dark secret. But if you watch the opening scene closely, you can see Madame Ballon as the last person to walk into Maria Gambrelli's room before the shots are fired. That would also be an indication of why Monsieur Ballon is trying to hinder the investigation by using Clouseau.
Trivia
- With this episode, the running gag of the regular, extensive fight scenes between Cato and Clouseau begins , whereby the apartment and furniture are usually destroyed.
- In addition, Clouseau begins in this episode with his adventurous and absurd disguises.
criticism
“After“ The Pink Panther ”in 1963, the second film about the famous fictional character“ Inspector Clouseau ”; high-spirited and gag-rich comedy entertainment with many absurd situations in the style of the slapstick tradition and parodistic stupidities of sometimes surprisingly bitter consistency. "
"Situation comedy - fun for friends of black humor and sellers. (Rating: 2 out of 4 possible stars - average ) "
“A collection of long-serving gags, a bit polished up and located somewhere between boredom and slapstick. Without any real humor. "
Web links
- A Shot in the Dark in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A Shot in the Dark at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- A Shot in the Dark at Metacritic (English)
- A shot in the dark in the online film database
- A shot in the dark in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for a shot in the dark . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2004 (PDF; test number: 33 330 V / DVD).
- ↑ A shot in the dark. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on Television" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 724
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Critique No. 87/1965, p. 166
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