Henry Mancini - Shadows of Paris - (Pink Panther A Shot in the Dark) 

It's rare that the opening of a comedy film would have such a slow, dramatic, beautifully made opening. That's why it's amazing. Really love the structure of this whole shot, and of course the music.

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. This is my favorite moment in the entire Pink Panther series. And this film is my favorite Pink Panther film, even ahead of the excellent original film. The ones done in the 70's aren't nearly as good, and there's no way I'm giving Steven Martin's version a chance. But "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Pink Panther" are simply sublime, and "Shot" is insanely rewatchable.

It's been well over 40 years and I never heard this most beautiful theme from this movie. Elsie Bianchi's voice is a most beautiful, unique, and expressive instrument that I had never heard before. Henry Mancini wrote some really beautiful music in his time that is as fresh and unique to listen to now as it was then. Thanks so much for posting this.

This song was lurking in my mind for months after i saw the movie. Awesome!

A mix of melancholy ...romanticism..memories of when I watched this film as a teenager...everything was so perfect then!

I saw this movie for the first time just a few days ago and was mesmerized from the moment this song came on.Peters Sellers was so funny & the lovely Elke Sommers melted my heart.

A Shot in the Dark is my favourite Pink Panther movie, and this section and music are perfect.

Love this opening, especially the song.

Awesome choreography, awesome song, awesome movie.

Such a simple, yet wonderful song and such a beautiful voice.

Watched this movie for the first time in a long time this weekend. Always loved this opening sequence and song. Thanks for posting it.

I clicked on this movie and found a staggeringly beautiful song. I know I've seen this movie before, I've only just realised how beautiful the music is.

A spectacular spectral to behold! So shame not many music artist offer this emotional feeling of sad and romantic melodies. I play this song when I'm alone and it aches me to know that people prefer modern crap...

Why must we meet in the shadows of Paris Where hardly a star seems to shine? Why can't we meet in the sunlight of Paris Where Paris can see you are mine? Have you come to me from another Whose lips you have tried? Do you still belong to another? Is that why we hide? Why am I cold in the sunlight of Paris Where laughter and song fill the skies? Why am I warm in the shadows of Paris When I know that dawn means goodbye? (2x)

Absolutely beautiful and the better beginning of a movie I have ever seen

Classic opening to the greatest of the Pink Panther films.

I laugh every time I see this with such a nicely sung song. I'm learning to tiptoe just in case.

Lovely song!

what a voice Elsie beautiful warm

this song for me is one of the many reasons why i watch shot in the dark more than any other pink panther film. this scene with this song followed by the sketch with the classic shot in the dark title theme. fantastic.

Very beautiful song. Thank you fir posting it.

This scene looks like Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

Thank you for this song. I love this movie and song so much.

A Shot In The Dark, After The Fox, and What's New Pussycat? are my favorite Peter Sellers movies.

Beautiful song/words/music..........so typical of classic films. Today it's all noise and tunes that will last only in the memory for as long as the tune itself!!! 2 maybe 3 minutes!!!!! Ah memories memories.............Not now Kato.................aaaaaggghhh

The interpretation of this magnificent song is a masterpiece.

How good is George Sanders just brilliant

the song fits the scene so well :D i loved this movie :')

Mancini did so much to increase interest in what was going on in movies. In Charade, he made the film.

Lots of class !!!!!!

@malteseconnexion Didn't know that. Thanks for that bit of info. Just watched the first Pink Panther again. Terrific cast and wardrobe by Yves Saint Laurent. Classic Cool too right!!!

Yippie! Horray! I found this video at last! I'm so happy to see this opening song/sequence again! Danka my friend! :)

This a so beautiful music

Terrific song. No other version seems to exist. Funny scene.

Gina Carroll definitely sings here !! So, on the Henry Mancini Songbook CD I have the sung version of Elsie Bianchi. This recording from 1965 differs not only from the jazz arrangement (piano and drums), but also from the singing. Elsie can't make the high notes and her voice sounds smokier. It is deviant to hear the better and more beautiful voice of Gina Carroll in the film! Here is the proof: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--1Zl2A6x9xc.html + ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YKCRIN-JmDA.html In addition, her voice sounds a lot stronger than Elsie's and reminds of Sherley Bassy! Unfortunately this recording is not yet available on any sound carrier! There are always only the versions sung by Henry Mancini's choir and the versions sung by Elsie. I have been waiting for the original film version, sung by Gina Carroll and finely orchestrated by Henry Mancini, for ages !! Gina Carroll on CD, that would finally be a revelation !!

My favourite music - beautiful

Remeber listening to this song in a shot in the dark love it to now

"She killed him in a rit of fealous jaje." We always loved that.

j'adore Peter Sellers

I have to assume that the scene from "Victor/Victoria" in which King secretly sneaks into Victor's hotel room borrowed from this sequence...especially since Blake Edwards directed both films!

Incredible

Look at George Sanders run! Comedy in itself.

I love this song! I`m sooo glad you uploaded it!

Großartig, dankeschön! Das hab ich schon so lange gesucht, das Lied ...

Sei que fazia parte da comédia ter uma música romântica como plano de fundo, mas acho que essa música ficou perfeita. Não se fazem nem comédias e nem músicas assim nos dias de hoje.

This is really beautiful

wonderful song, triste and romantic

I found this song on iTunes!

killer vocal performance here by Fran Jeffries.

Great song ... Haven't heard it in years, though

I can't find this version of this song for the life of me. Bummer!

The original 'Italian Job' also opened with a charmer, sung by Matt Munro. It too ends with a bang..

The irony of this song is the fact that the lyrics imply that the singer only suspects that her lover is cheating on somebody else, while in the actual movie, most everybody in the Ballon household is knowingly and deliberately cheating on other people-even the "innocent" Maria Gambrelli!

@galapogodriver yea, i've read a wee bit about the origins of the movie. it was based on a play, and sellers was chosen to play a character in the play, and i guess they decided to change the name of the character that sellers was scheduled to play, and they gave that character the name "clouseau" because sellers was already known for playing clouseau. it's my favorite in the sellers/clouseau series, and i like the fact that it brought dreyfus and cato and maria gambrelli into the story line.

this is so fabulous! (and funny--must have taken a lot of practicing and coordination to get the visual scene) Thanks so much for posting!

Beautiful long take to accompany the song, by the way :)

I found this song on iTunes and it was under Fran Jeffries name.

Great stuff

Cool beans! I've often wondered whom sang this particular song! Excellent info my friend! :)

Ex bf and I both liked that song *sad emoji*

Comedy genius.

This is Elsie Bianchi.

@sexualpumkin Her name is Fran Jeffries and you can buy the track from iTunes. Good luck!

@DarkScipio I'm surely glad that you uploaded it. All the best to you.

Wow.

By my troth a good song

@singinjohnny You are welcome. In fact I was so surprised to not find this on youtube, that I had to upload it.

@SplinteredSoulBand Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

A discussion that the singer is neither Elsie nor Fran, but Gina Carroll. www.45cat.com/record/478381

I wish that they did not show who shot Miguel at the end. I felt like it completely spoiled the whole premise and reason to watch the movie.

It's actually not unknown, but info on it is difficult to find now. It's called "The Shadows of Paris", written by Henry Mancini, sung by Elsie Bianchi

This is ELSIE BIANCHI singing, not Fran Jeffries.

It's not an unknown song, it's called "The Shadows of Paris" and there are several versions of it.

I have the remastered version on DVD

You guys, if I'm correct you may most likely find the soundtrack from this movie either on Ebay or Amazon! Check it out! :)

@kennysandra1 no, not really but she did a fantastic job in the original "Pink Panther" on "It Had Better Be Tonight"

@galapogodriver yea, i'm sure they would have done things differently if they ( at the time ) had known that the term "pink panther" would become so popular. the term "pink panther" really achieved a life of its own. i recall eating pink panther cereal when i was a young kid in the 1970s. it was like corn flakes with pink sugar blasted onto the flakes. i guess you know that the character of maria gambrelli returned in "son of the pink panther", in which she was played by claudia cardinale.

Nothing brought me here.

Yep, I'm pretty sure this is Fran Jeffries.

@galapogodriver i guess you know that "son of the pink panther" had roberto benigni play the son of clouseau, and the mother of the son of clouseau was maria gambrelli ( this time played by claudia cardinale, instead of elke sommer. cardinale being the one who played the princess in the original movie.). herbert lom as dreyfus was in it. though it had neither sellers nor clouseau, i regard it as part of the sellers/clouseau series because it was a sequel to the previous movies in the series.

Pink panther

@Iwowa It's Fran Jeffries. You can buy this song on iTunes. I have it.

@madMosher023 technically speaking, it's not a pink panther movie. it's an inspector clouseau movie, and it's a peter sellers movie, but it's not a pink panther movie.

@malteseconnexion Yep, the song 'Meglio Stasera'. She also posed for Playboy twice...

@ZaphodUk1 I`ve been downloaded it from ``Dirpy``. You can find it on Google. Just paste youtube link on the Dirpy homepage.

Different vocal timbre from Fran Jeffries to my ears. But we can agree to differ. ;-)

@SplinteredSoulBand Is is sung by Fran Jeffries and it is available on iTunes. I have it.

in this version its Fran Jeffries. Elsie Bianchi recorded it for a album for manchini. been looking for the Fran version on MP3 for years to no avail!

PAINKILLER JANE

they mention it in the starting credits

@DarkScipio Try goolge;) Or look at soundtrackcollector dot 'c'om. It'll be on the first cd listed in Henry Mancini's name ;)

C'est la version de Fran Jeffries ....

Thanks, where did you get this information?

So, is it Elsie Bianchi singing it or Fran Jeffries? The suspense is killing me!

She sounds like Liza Minelli.

I wonder why there was never a recording on any soundtrack of Gina Carroll’s version. She’s not even credited as singing this song in the credits. Very weird. There’s a choral version but it sucks compared to this. All other versions are too jazzy or fast.

@galapogodriver though it's a great movie, i think the producers should have done a better job at connecting it to the sellers/clouseau movies that bear the label "pink panther". for example, they should have named the movie "pink panther: a shot in the dark". the actual title can make it easy for someone to not hear about the movie when he's trying to find pink panther movies. likewise, i love the cartoon graphics that are used, & yet they should have had the panther make an appearance in there

Hoe can it be called "an unknown song"?

why the hell are some of the comments removed? what are they saying?

I agree but it's not Elsie Bianchi - it's Fran Jeffries.