Niagara (1953) - 85 mistakes

Continuity: When the Canadian motorcycle police drive up and speak to the boat keeper about George Loomis they're all in direct sunlight with no trees anywhere near them. When they leave several shots later it must be an entirely different time of day because shade from the trees across the street covers the entire set.

Continuity: Mr. Qua and the Cutlers walk away from the Loomis' room after talking to Marilyn. If you look closely the stonewall to the left of them is not in direct sunlight as it was a few shots earlier when they walked up to the door.

Continuity: When the Canadian motorcycle police drive up and speak to the boat keeper about George Loomis one is wearing a white shirt and the other a blue shirt. In the next close-up shot their both wearing blue shirts.

Continuity: George Loomis goes over the falls and Polly is safely on an island in the middle of the river with green trees on it. Several shots later the trees are purple.

Continuity: George Loomis tries to steal the boat and pulls the ignition wires straight out from under the lock. No one touches them but the next time we see them they're hanging differently.

Continuity: Inspector Starkey gets into the police car before Ray Cutler, who sits in the rear driver side seat as they pull away. Several shots later we see them again in a close-up chasing George Loomis and their positions in the rear of the police car have reversed.

Continuity: Two Canadian motorcycle police drive up and speak to the boat keeper about George Loomis, and a prominent tire mark is on the side of the road in front of the black car. The next time we see this spot as Ray and Mr. Kettering run to the boat it's not there.

Visible crew/equipment: George Loomis talks to Polly in the boat and looking outside the window it's easy to see that there's no island in front of them. A few shots later it's obvious that the island is superimposed on the falls.

Continuity: George Loomis throws a lit cigarette at the ash tray on the table to the right of the door as Polly Cutler knocks. We see the cigarette smoldering on the table but two shots later after she enters we see the same spot again and it's gone without anyone going near it.

Continuity: Ray Cutler decides to leave the Rainbow Cabins and says to Polly, "Give me a hand with this stuff, will ya, Honey". As he says this he picks up a suitcase which has nothing on top of it, but when we saw it earlier in the scene there were clothes on top of it.

Continuity: During the outdoor party at the Rainbow Cabins Marilyn walks out and asks the DJ to play "Kiss". No one goes near them but the three chairs that she passes on her right move about a foot closer to the record player when she walks away.

Continuity: Both Marilyn and Jean's faces are dry as bones in the scene below Niagara Falls but Marilyn's lover is drenched.

Continuity: As Polly and George Loomis are rushing down the middle of the Niagara River a tree appears above Polly's head on the back of the boat.

Continuity: As George Loomis tries to steal the boat there's an ice bucket underneath the table to the right of the steering wheel. Later Polly comes back with some beer and grabs for the ice bucket, which has been rotated 45 degrees even though no one went near it.

Continuity: Before George Loomis strangles Marilyn in the bell tower she knocks everything out of her pocketbook looking for a dime to make a call on the second floor pay phone. We see the items on the floor as George walks past on his way to kill her, but later when he returns and picks up her lipstick everything has been moved.

Continuity: Polly Cutler enters cabin B in order to put some Mercurochrome on George Loomis' cut and the do not disturb sign on the door knob is tilted to the left. No one goes near it but later in the scene it's been set straight.

Other: In Canada the Cutlers take the Scenic Tunnel tour, and if you look closely the cash register keeps ringing up zero as they and the people in front of them purchase tickets.

Continuity: At the bottom of the Scenic Tunnel Tour, Polly runs into Marilyn kissing her lover. At first the gentleman has his hands around her waist. Then in the next shot his right hand is holding her face.

Continuity: At night the Rainbow Cabins has a little outdoor party. The Cutlers are dancing together, and when the song stops Ray has his arms around Polly's shoulders. In the next shot his arms are around her waist.

Continuity: As the Cutlers drive into the Rainbow Cabins it's clear to see that Polly's vent window is closed. She doesn't touch it but when the manager helps her out of the car it's open.

Continuity: The Cutlers drive up to the Rainbow Cabins and Ray reaches for the ignition to turn the car off as they speak to the manager. In the next shot his right hand is leaning on the front car seat.

Visible crew/equipment: At the Rainbow Cabins the Cutlers sit in their car and the manager says, "I've got you down for cabin B". The shadow of a boom mike moves across his face as he approaches the car.

Continuity: The Cutlers drive into the Rainbow Cabins and the manager walks up to them pointing at his clipboard with his right index finger. In the next shot he's holding the clipboard with both hands.

Factual error: The Rainbow Cabins are on the Canadian side of the falls and when Ray Cutler looks over at the shredded wheat plant he should be looking at the American side. But the error here is that they show the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station which is also on the Canadian side of the falls.

Continuity: After they leave the customs officer Ray Cutler says to Polly, with a wide grin on his face, "You should have told him we're on a delayed honeymoon". In the next shot he's not smiling at all.

Visible crew/equipment: The Cutlers drive over the bridge into Canada and speak with the customs officer. If you look closely when the camera films over the customs officers back you can see the reflection of the crew standing behind him in the windows behind the car.

Continuity: Ray Cutler says to the customs officer, "I'm going to catch up on my reading" and his right arm is leaning on the seat of the car. In the next shot his arm is at his side.

Continuity: Ray Cutler decides they should leave the Rainbow Cabins and picks up one of two stacks of books on a table to the right of the front door as he talks to Polly. No one goes near this spot but earlier in the scene there was only one stack of books along with a pocketbook (which is now on the floor) on the table.

Visible crew/equipment: After his supposed death we see George Loomis back at the Rainbow Cabins and he's standing by the garbage cans in the back of cabin B. We see him through a window and if you look closely a crew member's thumb can be seen on the window at the beginning of the shot.

Continuity: Polly decides to take a nap in cabin B and the ash tray on the night table moves to the edge during the scene without her going near it.

Continuity: Mr. Qua is watering the flowers and as Polly Cutler speaks to the Kettering's we see the front of the car and there's no water on the gravel by the tire. After they get into the car and drive away in the next shot, there's a lot of water on the gravel.

Other: The Cutler's now occupy cabin B at the Rainbow Cabins and just before we see George Loomis by the garbage cans in the back of the cabin Polly decides to take a nap. When she gets up from the bed to close the Venetian blinds we see the pillow case and it's white, but two shots later after the blinds are closed she lays down again and the pillow case has a huge dark make up stain on it from several previous takes.

Continuity: George Loomis chases Polly at the Cave Of The Winds and she almost gets killed braking apart the wooden rail as she runs into it. The part of the railing hanging on the left changes position between shots.

Continuity: Marilyn walks up to the ticket booth and gets a refund for one of the tickets to Chicago that she bought earlier in the movie. Looking at her luggage we see no marks on it at all. She picks it up the same way she puts it down, but in the next shot a large black mark appears on the front of it.

Continuity: As Polly Cutler lays out on a beach chair sunning herself Ray steps back and decides to take a picture of her sitting there. Niagara Falls, which are always seen behind them are not in this shot, which has obviously been filmed on a sound stage. The bushes against the stone pillar are also different.

Continuity: Marilyn's lover writes a one line message to her on a postcard and places it back into the postcard rack. She walks over and reads it and we now see that there are 6 lines written on the back of the card.

Factual error: Marilyn and the Cutler's follow Inspector Starkey down to the bottom of The Scenic Tunnel Trip to identify George's shoes and when they come up Marilyn hears the song "Kiss" chiming from the bell tower. This is an obvious mistake as the shot of the bell tower that we see here is taken from the American side of the falls and The Scenic Tunnel Trip is on the Canadian side of the falls.

Continuity: At the Scenic Tunnel Marilyn's lover writes a message to her on a postcard and places it back into the rack. She walks over and reads it but it isn't in the same place that he put it as the postcard next to it is different.

Continuity: Several dark marks appear then disappear and then reappear at different times on the Loomis's front door to cabin B. The marks are there during the party when George Loomis storms out and breaks the record, but then they're not there as Marilyn walks back into the room after speaking to the Cutler's.

Continuity: In bed in their room Marilyn says, "Get me some orange juice Georgie" as she lays in bed on her side. In the next shot she's lying on her back.

Continuity: As Marilyn walks into room 7-A of the City Morgue to identify her husband George she's carrying her pocketbook in her right hand. After she sees the body she faints and falls to the floor but we never hear the pocketbook hit the floor because it has been neatly placed next to her before she fell.

Continuity: George Loomis goes over to the front door and shuts the light so that Polly Cutler can see the falls in the dark. The blinds on the left of the door are half open but when we see them again later in the scene, they're fully open even though no one has gone near them.

Revealing: As Marilyn walks out during the outdoor party at the Rainbow Cabins, we see an artificial painted backdrop of Niagara Falls behind her that is nowhere near the actual falls that we saw earlier in the movie.

Revealing: During the outdoor party at the Rainbow Cabins Marilyn asks the DJ to play "Kiss" in order to drive her husband George nuts, and after a couple of minutes he comes out and smashes the record. As he walks back to cabin B it's obvious this is a set as there's nothing inside the room except a blank wall.

Continuity: Polly Cutler enters cabin B in order to put some Mercurochrome on George Loomis' cut hand. At first the yellow notice on the left door post is entirely in the light, then in the next shot as she walks through the door the lighting has changed and it's in the shade.

Continuity: As George Loomis goes over to the front door and shuts the lights so that Polly Cutler can see the falls in the dark, a pink sweater appears on the red and white chair behind him.

Continuity: After Polly Cutler enters cabin B in order to put some Mercurochrome on George Loomis' cut hand the model car that he has been assembling sits on the table to the right of the front door. It moves closer to the ashtray as the scene progresses.

Continuity: The Cutlers take the Scenic Tunnel Tour and the attendant on the left is handing a gentleman a pair of boots. In the next shot he's standing around getting ready to laugh.

Continuity: Mr. Qua and the rocking chair that he's sitting in as the Cutlers pull up, are in the shade. Now a few minutes later, Marilyn walks past Polly as she leaves the cabins, and the rocking chair is in direct sunlight.

Continuity: As the Cutlers set sail on the "Maid of The Mist" it's mid-day. Two shots later we see the boat in a long shot and it's late afternoon.

Factual error: The Cutlers decide to take a ride on the "Maid of The Mist" and we hear the announcer say that it's "the most famous boat in America". The "Maid of The Mist" is in Canada.

Continuity: Ray Cutler drives off to park the car as Polly stands alone in front of the Rainbow Cabin's office. On the left of the screen we see a curled up garden hose leaning against a small pine tree. No one went near it, but earlier it was in front of the pine tree.

Continuity: Marilyn walks past the office as she leaves the cabins, and the blinds on the window are down. No one was in the office, but several shots earlier, as the Cutlers drove in, the blinds were up.

Continuity: When the Cutlers drove into the Rainbow Cabins, the manager threw the newspaper he was reading onto his rocking chair. No one goes near it but when we see the chair again, as he speaks to Marilyn, the newspaper is not there.

Continuity: The manager knocks on the door to cabin B and the stone post in the background on the left of the screen is in direct sunlight. Two minutes of uninterrupted movie time goes by but as the Cutlers get ready to leave the stone post, and the falls behind them are no longer in direct sunlight.

Continuity: In the first scene of the movie Marilyn is in bed smoking a cigarette and the shadow of the light coming through the Venetian blinds goes across the sheets from left to right. She hears George coming into the room, puts out the cigarette and in the next shot the shadow from the blinds has been rotated 90 degrees and is now extending from the foot of the bed to the head board.

Continuity: After the Cutlers leave the customs officer, Polly says to Ray, "Delayed or not" and the bottom half of her face has a shadow falling across it. In the next shot it's gone.

Continuity: The gash on Lomas' head changes between scenes.

Factual error: Joseph Cotton spends the second half of the movie trying to get out of Canada, but in the scene at The Cave of the Winds with Jean Peters, he must have forgotten that he was already on the American side of the falls.

Deliberate "mistake": Jean Peters' face is dry on the Maid of the Mist boat ride.

Continuity: Sunlight is coming into this room from all directions. At first it is coming from the right of the screen. Then when Denis O'Dea goes into the kitchen (screen left), sunlight is coming from the other direction.

Continuity: In the bell tower the shadow is at about 45 degrees, but when Marilyn walks there the sun is overhead.

Continuity: Polly is safely on an island in the middle of the river as we see the helicopter coming to rescue her. Unfortunately when we see her they're showing us the falls from the wrong direction and we can see the island she's supposed to be on behind her.

Continuity: George Loomis gets the engine of the Myra III running then proceeds to untie the two ropes from the dock leaving them dangling off the side of it. In the next shot as the boat sails away we see no ropes.

Continuity: George Loomis strangles Marilyn who falls to the floor of in the bell tower holding a yellow scarf near her face. In the next shot it's held away from her body.

Continuity: As the Canadian motorcycle police drive away George Loomis hides across the street behind a boat and some items that look like they belong in a tag sale. In the next shot as he walks away all of the items on the right of the boat have been rearranged.

Other: The first time we see George Loomis back at the Rainbow Cabins after his supposed death he's by the garbage cans in the back of cabin B with a brick wall on the left. The next time we see him two shots later the film has been reversed with the brick wall now being on the right.

Continuity: Marilyn sleeps in her hospital bed as the song "Kiss" plays from the bell tower. At first she's sleeping on her back then in the next shot she's on her side.

Continuity: At the Rainbow Cabins, Mrs. Kettering hands Polly Cutler a bouquet of roses and the pink bow is on the left. In the next shot the bow is rotated 45 degrees to the right and is now facing Mrs. Kettering.

Continuity: At the Rainbow Cabins, Polly Cutler lays out on a beach chair sunning herself as Ray comes out to talk to her. There's a second chair about 10 feet to her right but the in the next shot it moves right up next to her.

Continuity: Ray Cutler runs out of the cabin office and says to Polly, "How do you like that?". In the overhead shot you can see tire marks on the gravel driveway but in the next shot there are none.

Continuity: After George Loomis shuts the lights Polly Cutler looks to the left at the falls in the dark, through the back window. This is the wrong direction as we see later in the movie as Marilyn has to look to the right to see the falls during the day.

Visible crew/equipment: After the manager helps Polly out of the car she says, "Cabin B is ours?" and you can see the shadow of the crew moving on the dashboard of the car.

Continuity: Marilyn speaks to the cabin manager and says, "It's the first good sleep he's had in over a week" and the fur on her collar is motionless. In the next shot the wind is blowing it continuously.

Continuity: The manager knocks on the door to cabin B and Marilyn comes walking out. The shades to her right are closed but two shots later they're opened.

Continuity: In the first scene of the movie we see Marilyn in bed with a cup and saucer on the edge of the night stand. She doesn't touch it but as George walks in the room the cup moves about six inches back from the edge of the night stand.

Continuity: As the Cutlers drive over the bridge into Canada the officer directing traffic is standing on the median. In the next shot he's in the middle of the road.

Continuity: When the Cutlers drive up to the customs officer you can see the luggage behind them in the backseat. A few shots later as they're leaving the customs booth the luggage is not there.

Continuity: As the Cutlers drive up to the Rainbow Cabins, before they speak to the manager the pages on the clipboard hanging next to the door are sticking out. Two shots later without anyone going near it, the clipboard has been moved as the pages are now flush with it.

Visible crew/equipment: In the close-up of the Cutlers as they drive away from the customs booth an equipment shadow appears on the right side of the hood of their car.

Visible crew/equipment: The scene when Jean Peters jumps onto the little island is very well lit. You can see the reflections of 10 or 15 spotlights on her.

Continuity: After fishing on the Niagara river with the Cutler's, Mr. Kettering pulls his boat up to a dock that is in the shade. In the next shot the dock is in the sunlight.

Continuity: The boat keeper throws his newspaper onto the ground as he runs to the boat that George Loomis is stealing. Later when Ray Cutler runs past that spot the newspaper is now on the chair.

Continuity: At the Rainbow Cabins, Polly Cutler speaks to the Kettering's and holds a bouquet throughout the scene, and it keeps changing positions between shots.

Continuity: Marilyn's shadow falls on the door as she speaks to Mr. Qua and the Cutlers, and after finishing she goes back into her room. In the next shot the lighting has changed and Mr. Qua's shadow falls in the opposite direction onto the Cutlers as he speaks to them.