A Shot in the Dark (1964 film) as Burt Kwouk as his stalwart man servant Cato and André Maranne as François, all of whom would become series regulars. Elke Sommer portrays the murder suspect, Maria Gambrelli. The character of Gambrelli would return in "Son of the Pink Panther" (1993), this time played by Claudia Cardinale, who appeared as Princess Dala in "The Pink Panther" (1963). Graham Stark, who portrays police officer Hercule Lajoy, would reprise this role eighteen years later, in "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982). The film was not originally written to include Clouseau, but was an adaptation of a stage play by Harry Kurnitz
Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground written by English clergyman Thomas Haweis in 1792, begins with the lines “Dark was the night, cold was the ground / on which my Lord was laid.” Music historian Mark Humphrey describes Johnson's composition as an impressionistic rendition of “lining out”, a call-and-response style of singing hymns that is common in southern African-American churches. "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" is 3 minutes and 21 seconds of Johnson's unique guitar playing in open "D" tuning for slide. By most accounts, Johnson substituted a knife or penknife for the bottleneck. His melancholy, gravel-throated humming of the guitar part creates