In deciding whether the film was originally planned as a comedy you might look, for instance at the names of the Director, the screenwriter, and the cast.
How many films did Peter Sellers make which were not comedies, for instance? His entire reputation was in comedy, from the time of his earliest beginnings in radio with 'The Goon Show'.
Blake Edwards was not known for making Shakespearean drama, nor even for making contemporary drama. He was not Irwin Allen, who directed 'Towering Inferno' and 'The Poseidon Adventure'. Nor was he Cecil B DeMille.
It is a mistake to suppose that the lead actor, Sellers, can re-write the screenplay. Only the director of the film can do that; and if the actors wish to make changes, this cannot be done without the agreement and support of the director.
Sellers had the ability to make a humorous screenplay funnier in performance than it might appear on the written page; but unless the director was making a comedy, Sellers had no chance of getting laughs, if that was not Edwards' intention.
Then again, why hire Sellers at all, unless you were making a comedy?
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