The Great Dictator (1940) - 37 mistakes

Continuity: During the middle of the film, a butler comes in and out of the Dictator's office several times repeatedly. The door is open and shows the corridor outside the office, casting the shadow of a window off-screen. The shadow changes from small to big bewteen shots.

Audio problem: When Hynkel refers to the peace treaty and says "I'll sign it," you can hear the sound quality change abruptly, and when Hynkel is saying "Napoloni the grosse peanut, the cheesy ravioli," his lips are not in sync.

Continuity: When Mr. Jaeckel says he's found the coin in the pudding his white handkerchief disappears.

Continuity: During the famous "flatable world" scene, the Dictator climbs up the curtains. His leg changes from bent to straight between shots.

Continuity: When Hynkel is removing Garbitsch's medals, a medal with a cross, close to the left armpit, disappears without Hynkel having touched it.

Continuity: When Mrs. Napoloni gets trapped by the guards, notice the people around her from left to right: ambassador, thin man with loose hair, elegant man, man with beret. Closeup shot and the thin man has disappeared and a man with a white rounded hat appears out of nowhere, close to the elegant man.

Continuity: The first time the barber enters his shop he leaves his hat and cane in a coat rack. He exits and when he comes back they've disappeared.

Continuity: The plane crashes against a tree trunk, with its nose close to the trunk. In a closer shot the plane has magically moved several feet further and the tail is now close to the trunk.

Continuity: At the end of the movie, during the famous speech, right before Chaplin says "Hannah, can you hear me?", Chaplin raises his left hand, lowers it to touch his hair, then the scene changes to a shot of Hannah and when back to Chaplin his hand is up again repeating the prior movement.

Continuity: Inside the train, Napoloni says "I never get out without a red carpet", and then he faces left. A split second later he is facing the opposite side.

Continuity: During The dictator's first speech, the back side of his tie changes from long to short between shots.

Continuity: During the dictator's first speech, after the translator says "His excellency has just referred to the Jewish people", Chaplin crosses his arms and his tie changes from straight to slightly folded around the arms.

Continuity: Hynkel and Napoloni salute the masses and Napoloni's hand changes from resting on his belt to his hip between shots.

Continuity: When Hynkel and Napoloni walk towards the press to have their pictures taken, Napoloni's cape switches between covering his chest to covering just his shoulders.

Continuity: When in the plane, after the German officer cries "Well loosen it", Chaplin is about to fall off the plane and the angle changes. The officer's white scarf then disappears, or at least stops moving, which is very strange since they're flying.

Continuity: When Chaplin is about to deliver his final speech, he walks towards a stone wall with the word "Liberty" engraved on it. The word ends where the staircase begins, and close to it is a staircase with a bare stone wall behind. But when Chaplin ascends the steps the engraving has moved to the very center of the staircase.

Continuity: The second time the storm troopers enter the Barber's shop, the "W" in the word "jew" changes from partially visible to partially erased without the barber having touched it (probably because of previous shootings).

Continuity: In the first sequence in the Ghetto, inside Hanna's house, the man reading the newspaper's left hand swaps from being inside his pocket to holding the newspaper between shots.

Deliberate "mistake": When Hannah is lying on the floor there's a mild breeze blowing, causing the flowers and her hair to move. Seconds before the movie ends, Hannah hears Chaplin's words and looks around. Although the flowers in the back keep moving, her hair is still for several seconds until the camera comes closer to her. Then the music starts in crescendo and her hair comes to life again, which makes a more dramatic ending.

Continuity: When the train station sequence begins the Bacterian ambassador extends his arm to salute twice.