that Dreyfus had planted a bomb in it, intending to kill Clouseau. The bomb explodes, killing all six guilty parties. 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 the two is swiftly interrupted when Cato makes a sneak attack on them. Cast Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau Elke Sommer as Maria Gambrelli Herbert Lom as Commissioner Charles Dreyfus George Sanders as Monsieur Ballon Graham Stark as Hercule Lajoy André Maranne as Sgt. François Chevalier Martin Benson as Maurice Burt Kwouk as Cato Tracy Reed as Dominique Ballon Moira Redmond as Simone Vanda Godsell as Madame LaFarge Maurice Kaufmann as Pierre Ann Lynn as Dudu David Lodge as Georges Douglas Wilmer as Henri LaFarge Reginald Beckwith as Receptionist Bryan Forbes as Turk, the Nudist Camp Attendant André Charrise as Game Warden Howard Greene as Gendarme John Herrington as The Doctor Jack Melford as The Psycho-Analyst Victor Baring as Taxi Driver Victor Beaumont as Gendarme Tutte Lemkow as Cossack Dancer Hurtado De Cordoba Ballet as Flamenco Dancers & Guitarist Fred Hugh as Balding Customer Rose Hill as Soprano Tahitian Dance Group as Tahitian Dance Group Production Sellers was attached to star in the adaptation of Harry Kurnitz's Broadway hit before the release and success of The Pink Panther, but was not pleased with the script by Alec Coppel and Norman Krasna. Walter Mirisch approached Blake Edwards and asked him to take over as director of A Shot in the Dark from Anatole Litvak. Edwards declined initially, but eventually relented under pressure on the condition he could rewrite the script and substitute Inspector Clouseau for the lead character and choreograph comic scenes on the fly as he and Sellers had successfully done for their previous film. The relationship between Edwards and Sellers deteriorated to such a point that at the conclusion of the film they vowed never to work together again. They eventually reconciled to collaborate successfully four years later on The Party, and on three more "Pink Panther" films in the 1970s. Taking inspiration from his teacher Ed Parker in martial arts, Edwards created the new character Cato Fong using the American Kenpo style. Parker briefly worked alongside Edwards learning more about cinematography and suggested that he implement slow motions at certain fight scenes in order to