Factual error: Inspector Clouseau's watch may be broken but Hercule's doesn't keep very good time either. They synchonise watches at 7:47. 18 seconds later, Hercule says he has 7:47 and 23 seconds. (01:28:14)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
1 factual error
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)
Dreyfus: What about the maid?
Clouseau: The maid?
Dreyfus: Was he jealous of her too? He strangled her.
Clouseau: It is possible that his intended victim was a man and that he made a mistake.
Dreyfus: A mistake?.. in a nudist camp?
Clouseau: Nobody's perfect.
Dreyfus: Idiot nincompoop lunatic.
Trivia: When Clouseau spins the globe in his office after the first interrogation of Maria, the part calls for him to catch his hand. Peter Sellers ad-libbed a line about Africa being all over his hand. Just before the dissolve to the next scene, the actors start to grin at the ad-lib. (00:35:45)
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.