The Poseidon Adventure

Continuity mistake: Just as Susan jumps down from the overturned table, you see a shot of her feet, and she is not wearing shoes. Then when she lands in the curtain, she has her shoes on.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where they start going through the pipe and end up in the funnel thing Gene Hackman takes off the pipe cover and leans it against the wall. After everybody gets into the funnel it shows the water lapping at the pipe. In the background you see the cover is leaning against the pipe, not the wall.

Continuity mistake: In the dining room, after the ship has turned over, Scott tells Mrs. Rogo she has to take off her gown because she can't climb in it. Mr. Rogo says "she's got nothin' on under it." To which she answers, "Panties, what else do I need?" She changes into her husband's shirt. However, when they are climbing through the ventilation shaft, just before she gets onto the ladder, she's wearing a bra.

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Suggested correction: Clearly she was referring to what was covering her bottom half, as the shirt would cover the top half.

Not quite sure about the accuracy in that response... if responding to the bottom half only, Rev. Scott would not have jumped at the shirt idea so quickly. When being told "just panties" it told the Reverend that she most likely was topless and also why Mr. Rogo got angry about taking the gown off in general. If a bra was on her, Mr. Rogo most likely wouldn't have blown up like that.

Continuity mistake: When Gene Hackman shakes the metal doors that lead to the shaft, in a close-up he unlatches the small latch holding the doors together. After a cut showing some water filling up the passageway, it cuts back to the shaft where the metal doors are shaking, but the hook is now latched again. (01:04:15)

Continuity mistake: Just before Shelley Winters tries to persuade the others she should be first to swim the underwater corridor to the engine room because she used to be an underwater swimming champion, watch closely what she is doing with her hands in each shot before she speaks. In one shot she is fondling the medallion hanging on a chain around her neck; in cutaway shots you can see the medallion is hanging free and her hands are nowhere near it.

Continuity mistake: When Manny leaves Belle behind to join the others in the propeller shaft, a crew member is lying 'dead' behind him. As Manny passes him, you can see the crew member move his arm, possibly to get it away from the fire below him.

Continuity mistake: When Gene Hackman is about to swim through the passage to the Engine Room, Red Buttons hands him a lit flashlight. The camera changes to Gene under the water, and he is turning on the light again.

Continuity mistake: When Terry falls from the table into the skylight, you can see passengers standing around on the ceiling. A moment later, everybody is lying strewn around.

Continuity mistake: During the capsizing, the piano crushes two passengers against a wall. When the piano falls to the ceiling/floor, you can see the same two people fall, but are very much conscious/alive.

Continuity mistake: At the end of the capsizing, Terry falls from the table into the ceiling light, and there are people standing around, clutching each other, which shouldn't be because they wouldn't have had time to recover. When the emergency lights come on, everybody is strewn and about to recover, nobody is standing clutching each other.

Visible crew/equipment: When Rev. Scott swims up the first stairwell, after pushing aside the dead crew member, as his head comes up the shaft, you can see, very quickly, the flippers of a crewmember swimming out of the shot behind him. (01:22:55)

More mistakes in The Poseidon Adventure

Mr. Manny Rosen: My wife can't stand to see anybody not married.
Mrs. Belle Rosen: No, it comes from caring.

More quotes from The Poseidon Adventure

Trivia: The scene where Belle (Shelly Winters) dives into the water was actually rehearsed by having her jump into the water. She decided to dive in while filming the scene and that take was used.

More trivia for The Poseidon Adventure

Question: How is it that when Ackers falls in the large body of water (assumingly boiling) in the funnel, he dies - yet Mr. Rogo jumping in to try to help is submerged for many seconds underwater and then climbs out alive and overall, not burned?

Answer: Because he doesn't boil, there's no suggestion that the water is that hot. After Ackers falls in, and while Rogo tries to save him, there are two large explosions in the shaft; we can presume that, while Rogo was able to escape, Ackers was injured/trapped/otherwise incapacitated below the surface, and drowned.

More questions & answers from The Poseidon Adventure

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