Trivia / A Shot in the Dark

• California Doubling: The film was specifically filmed in Borehamwood at MGM's British Studios. The biggest evidence of this is a scene where Inspector Clouseau runs through a room, out the window and into the Seine — which was just a large tank filled with thousands of gallons of water.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: The official Pink Panther Wiki description for the film claims Ballon and company were likely sent to the hospital after their car explosion, then to prison. Despite the series using Non Fatal Explosions quite often (even earlier in this very film), there is no evidence that any of them survived (quite the opposite, in fact).
• Dolled-Up Installment: The film was originally an adaptation of the play of the same name (itself adapted from a French play). Peter Sellers wasn't happy with the script, so it became a sequel to The Pink Panther (1963).
• Fake Nationality: Italian Maria Gambrelli was played by German Elke Sommer.
  • Except for a couple of French actors, nearly all of the French characters are played by British actors (and Herbert Lom, who was Czech).
  • George Sanders, as a French millionaire, takes the Not Even Bothering with the Accent approach, with his usual suave British accent retained (as he did for almost every role).
• Referenced by...: The 1986 R.E.M. album Lifes Rich Pageant was derived from this exchange between Clouseau and Maria Gambrelli:
  Maria: You should get out of these clothes immediately! You'll catch your death of pneumonia, you will.
  Clouseau: Yes, I suppose I probably will. But it's all part of life's rich pageant, you know.
• Throw It In!:
  • The "synchronize the watches" dialogue was improvised by Peter Sellers and Graham Stark.
  • According to Stark, Sellers ad-libbed the line "Look at that! I've got Africa all over my hand!"
  • Clouseau's line 'a rit of fealous jage' was supposedly a slip-up (there is an outtake where Sellers and George Sanders both crack up at it) which was later re-filmed as part of the script.
  • During one scene, Herbert Lom started winking uncontrollably after Peter Sellers winked at him. Blake Edwards loved it, and thus Dreyfus' famous Twitchy Eye was born.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The role of Maria Gambrelli was originally given to Sophia Loren, but she became ill and couldn't do it. The next choice was German actress Romy Schneider, but she had a prior commitment.
  • Walter Matthau was supposed to reprise his stage role as Benjamin Ballon.

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