(Blake Edwards, US 1964, 101 min.)

“Give me ten men like Clouseau, and I could destroy the world!” says Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), desperate to remove Peter Sellers’ legendary bumbling French detective from the murder case the department is struggling to solve. Director Edwards gives Sellers’ genius free rein in some wildly overthe- top gags and brilliant improvisational moments. A Shot in the Dark also marks the Pink Panther series debuts of Lom as the twitchy, driven-to-homicide Dreyfus, and Burt Kwouk as Clouseau’s manservant and judo partner Cato.