Character mistake: When Clouseau and Ballon are playing billiards, and Clouseau accuses Ballon of murdering the chauffeur out of jealously, he accidentally refers to Ballon as "Inspector Ballon". (00:46:20)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Blake Edwards
Starring: Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, George Sanders, Elke Sommer
Other mistake: Subtitle (English) appears to be incorrect: "He is setting the scions of criminal investigations back 1000 years" should be "He is setting the science of criminal investigations back 1000 years." "Scions" is a description of the branches of a tree. (01:11:00)
Dominique Ballon: Well, shall we settle this thing now or do you intend making me late for the recital?
Benjamin Ballon: We can't just fire her. She's given us no cause.
Dominique Ballon: Cause? We are up to our necks in dead bodies! What are you waiting for, the last act of Hamlet?
Benjamin Ballon: If you are going to compare the Ballon household with a Shakespearean tragedy, I suggest that Macbeth would be more appropriate.
Trivia: Maria (Elke Sommer) cannot refrain from laughing at Peter Sellers' antics during the interrogation. She is trying to stifle her laughter. (01:31:40)
More questions & answers from A Shot in the Dark
Answer: In this particular film, he's referred to solely as "Commissioner" and is then Chief Inspector in every subsequent Pink Panther film in which he appears (up until "Son of the Pink Panther" [1993], Herbert Lom's last appearance in the role, when he is again Commissioner). If you're after a reason, there likely isn't an official one, though perhaps Dreyfus's murder spree and mental breakdown in this film led to his demotion.