Was this really filmed BEFORE the 1963 Pink Panther?!!?
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nursewratchet_romanorn — 16 years ago(December 14, 2009 04:24 PM)
If you watch TCM at all they say that A shot in the dark was made first and shelved, because it didn't preview well at all. Audiences liked the cartoon intro better than the movie. Also if Clouseau was married in the first movie, then where was his wife in the second? The wife of an inspector in that time would not be working, so why was she never there in his apartment, especially when being attacked by Kato????????????? Not to mention the fact that at the end of the Pink Panther, he is blamed for all the crimes, which means he would no longer be an inspector. A shot in the dark was a stage play first, Panther was created mostly by Edwards and his writing partner. Logic alone dictates that A Shot in the Dark was made first. They brought David Niven in to give the story some class and respectability. Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale for the younger set-and Clouseau's wife and overall character were toned down to fit in more with the times. Had A shot in the Dark been made a few years later it probably would have been a smash. Audiences then were very conservative overall; however they did expect more ridiculous slapstick kind of stuff on stage. Blake Edwards was hoping that success would translate to the movie-but they just weren't ready quite yet. Even Inspector Dreyfuss' is toned down in Panther.
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BijouBob8mm — 16 years ago(December 16, 2009 08:08 AM)
With all due respect, Nurse, this is too well documented (that is, if anyone actually takes the time to do the research). As for TCM, I've seen them announce the wrong title for the movie they're about to show, so information appearing there isn't automatically gospel. Production records document PINK PANTHER was made first, and Blake Edwards has confirmed this. (Since he directed both, I'd say he would know better than anyone else.) You might find his PANTHER DVD commentary of interest. All the information (dates screenplays were registered, stopping and starting dates for each production) on file also establish this. (Industry trade publications from that time confirm THE PINK PANTHER was given a preview in Hollywood the exact same month that A SHOT IN THE DARK "started" filming. It would have been impossible to have a preview showing of THE PINK PANTHER at the start of production on A SHOT IN THE DARK unless PANTHER had been made first. You simply can't preview something that doesn't exist yet.) This myth was debunked long ago but, like the equally untrue story that actress Caroline Munro is the daughter of actress Janet Munro (which Caroline has corrected repeatedly), it still gets blindly repeated as fact. Also keep in mind that if SHOT had not gone over well and had simply been shelved, the studio would not have spent the money to make a sequel or prequel to a movie they had never even released. The business just doesn't work like that. Instead, if they were going to sink more money into Clouseau, it would be to film new material to salvage SHOT. (A good example of this would be the Bogart film THE BIG SLEEP, the DVD of which let's you see the shelved version and the revised version that was finally released.)
You asked why Clouseau's wife isn't with him in the second film? For the same reason she's not with him in ANY of the other films; she left him for Niven's character at the end of THE PINK PANTHER and Clouseau remained a bachelor for the rest of the series. (We're even shown, in the later films TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER and CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER, that the former Mrs. Clouseau is still with Niven's Sir Charles.) Also look at how much more established the classic Clouseau character is in SHOT, as Sellers settled into the role and developed it. SHOT also establishes all the elements that continue throughout the franchise (Kato, Inspector Dreyfus, etc.), which is why none of those elements are to be found in THE PINK PANTHER. You'd also pointed out that since Clouseau was arrested at the end of PANTHER, he couldn't have still been an inspector in SHOT IN THE DARK unless SHOT had been made first. Since he remained an inspector throughout the entire series, even being briefly promoted to chief inspector, his arrest doesn't seem to be a factor in any of the films that followed. (In THE PINK PANTHER, doesn't Niven or someone make the comment that Clouseau will eventually be released because the authorities won't find the diamond in his possession and will have to drop the charges against him due to insufficient evidence?) -
nursewratchet_romanorn — 15 years ago(November 08, 2010 02:07 AM)
I can barely watch The Pink Panther anymore-it is very plodding and slow. Shot in the dark is great everytime because it is so outrageous, and because it is a great murder mystery. The best part of Panther is the music and the cartoon panther that everyone recognizes-which is why all the sequels were Panther movies..plus it gave a basic reason for every sequel..The diamond being stolenClouseau in Panther is too mellow..That version would not turn into the ridiculous idiot of all the sequels.He is more like MONK from tv than a bumbling foolBy the way a big part of MONK's character is derived from Clouseau in The PINK PAnther. ThAT AND Hercule Poirot.He dows too many things correctly in Pantherfor Shot to be a sequel..plus no mention of going to prison or wife leavingI remember watching A shot in the Dark on KTLA 5 in La growing up. Tom Hatton would host a sunday movie show..He talked about how Shot was made first and shelved..until after Panther came out..
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BijouBob8mm — 15 years ago(March 11, 2011 02:02 PM)
Some backstory to the two films that might be of interest:
Blake Edwards has said Peter Sellers was hired to play Clouseau in THE PINK PANTHER only after original choice Peter Ustinov dropped out at the last minute. (Both Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers claimed Sellers came up with how to play Clouseau while on the plane to join THE PINK PANTHER's cast.) When Sellers was signed to do A SHOT IN THE DARK, it was neither a Clouseau film nor a Blake Edwards film, but a comedy based on the old stage play of the same name. Sellers did not like the way things were going in preproduction and decided he wanted out. To appease the actor, Edwards was brought on board since the two of them had gotten along so well on the set of THE PINK PANTHER. Only then, as the two discussed how to salvage the project, was it decided to rework the material into a new Clouseau caper.