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A Shot in the Dark Movie Review

A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom. It’s a pretty polished, fun comedy.

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“If someone has been murdered here,

please let it be Clouseau“

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When a murder is reported, Maria is suspected, but impressed by her beauty, Inspector Clouseau thinks otherwise. He then tries to prove her innocence and find out who the killer is. Most people find this sequel to be a vast improvement upon the original, but I disagree. While obviously very different, the movies are ultimately both of similar quality.

Whereas the first movie was overly slow and dull in the first half and a riot in the second half, A Shot in the Dark is funny throughout, but never over-the-top, instead being solidly amusing in bits and pieces scattered in every scene. Thus, the films are similar in the funny ratio, but so different structurally speaking.

The plot is silly, but it works as I have never seen anything like this. Herbert Lom as Charles Dreyfus, a commissioner who hates Clouseau passionately, was such an instantly iconic addition to the series’ roster of personalities. He is by far the funniest part of the movie, even funnier than Sellers who was still stuck with repetitive trampling over objects bits, but his reactions at everything around him remain the best.

Dreyfus is such a funny character and his angry outbursts are hilarious. Maria is also memorable, though the female characters in the first movie were a bit more interesting. George Sanders was really underused here, which was a shame as he is such a great actor. As for Cato, he is very funny and over-the-top, but clearly dated in his stereotypically Asian martial artist portrayal.

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A Shot in the Dark is better directed, edited and paced than its predecessor with the shorter runtime being a welcome change in pace for the series. The acting is also terrific. The nude camp scene is excellent and the ending remains highly memorable, but also that prolonged killing spree was very amusing and the opening is clearly quite artistic. Again, the movie isn’t really hilarious, but it’s pleasantly silly and entertaining in its fun scenarios.

A Shot in the Dark may not be hilarious, but it is amusing in some funny bits and pieces scattered throughout its thankfully shorter runtime this time. The addition of the Commissioner Dreyfus character was fantastic as he is the funniest part of the movie. The plot is very silly, but it works as the scenarios are quirky and wildly entertaining. This sequel is also much better directed, paced and edited than the original.

My Rating – 4