A Shot in the Dark

This was the movie in which Peter Sellers first headed the cast as Clouseau, after stealing every scene from nominal stars David Niven and Capucine in The Pink Panther the year before. He mingles accents and mangles motives with his usual skill, producing some of the most hilarious moments in the series. "Give me ten men like Clouseau and I could destroy the world!" says the inept inspector's despairing commander (Herbert Lom) when the self-righteous buffoon investigates a murder at a millionaire's Paris apartment. Suave George Sanders plays the wealthy resident and chambermaid Elke Sommer the prime suspect.