Inspector Clouseau solves "A Shot in the Dark"

His methods were unconventional; his results were impeccable & 100% accurate!

Screenwriter William Peter Blatty attended Brooklyn Preparatory, a Jesuit school, on a scholarship and graduated as class valedictorian in 1946. He later attended Georgetown University on a scholarship, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in English in 1950. “Those years at Georgetown were probably the best years of my life,” Blatty said in 2015. “Until then, I’d never had a home.” While studying for his master’s degree at George Washington University, Blatty took menial jobs. Initially unable to find a job in teaching, he worked as a vacuum-cleaner door-to-door salesman, a beer-truck driver, and as a United Airlines ticket agent. He earned his master’s in English literature from the George Washington University in 1954. He then joined the United States Air Force.

Mustering out of the Air Force, Blatty joined the United States Information Agency and worked as an editor based in Beirut, Lebanon. Eventually, his writing talent emerged, and he began submitting humorous articles to magazines.

Blake Edwards’s debut as a director came in 1952 on the television program Four Star Playhouse.

In the 1954–1955 television season, Edwards joined with Richard Quine to create Mickey Rooney‘s first television series, The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan. Edwards’s hard-boiled private detective scripts for Richard Diamond, Private Detective became NBC’s answer to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, reflecting Edwards’s unique humor. Edwards also created, wrote, and directed the 1958–61 TV detective series Peter Gunn, which starred Craig Stevens, with music by Henry Mancini. The following year, Edwards produced Mr. Lucky, an adventure series on CBS starring John Vivyan and Ross Martin. Mancini’s association with Edwards continued in his film work, significantly contributing to their success.

Edwards’s most popular films were comedies, the melodrama Days of Wine and Roses being a notable exception. His most dynamic and successful collaboration was with Peter Sellers in six of the movies in the Pink Panther series. Edwards later directed the comedy film 10 with Dudley Moore and Bo Derek.

Inspector Clouseau finally decides to confront the entire Ballon household over the murders, hoping to trick the murderer into revealing himself. However, his plan unexpectedly proves Maria innocent in all four murders. Dominique reveals she killed Miguel by mistake, believing he was her husband whom she thought was having an affair with Maria; Madame LaFarge murdered Georges, with whom she was having an affair, because he was about to leave her for Dominique; Simone killed Dudu in order to maintain her affair with Pierre; and Ballon murdered Henri because he was having an affair with Dominique. Pierre also reveals that Maurice was blackmailing Ballon. Meanwhile, Dreyfus is revealed to be the stalker targeting Clouseau previously. Dreyfus plants a bomb in Clouseau's car in one more attempt to kill him. Clouseau's plan comes to its climax when Hercule cuts the house lights in the midst of the chaos. The Ballons, Madame LaFarge, Pierre, Simone, and Maurice flee and attempt to escape in Clouseau's car, unaware of the bomb, and the car explodes as they drive off. Believing everyone was innocent, despite what they had confessed to, Dreyfus loses his sanity and is dragged away by Hercule. Clouseau, embracing Maria, finally declares her innocent, but a passionate kiss between them is swiftly interrupted when Cato makes a sneak attack.

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