L'Idiote

L'Idiote (The Idiot) is a comic mystery play by Marcel Achard. It was first performed in France under that name at the Théâtre Antoine in Paris in 1960-1962.

An English version was staged on Broadway in 1961–62 with the title A Shot in the Dark, adapted by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Harold Clurman. The cast included Julie Harris, Walter Matthau, and William Shatner as an incompetent Examining Magistrate. Matthau's performance earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

When adapted to film in 1964, it was extensively rewritten in order to replace the Examining Magistrate with the inept police Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, who had earlier originated the character in The Pink Panther.