American Graffiti (1973) - 27 mistakes

Factual error: In one scene a parked car is sitting along the street - it is a '67 Chevy. Yet the film is set in 1962.

Continuity: In the first part of the film, when John Milner is cruising he pulls up next to a car and chat to Zuto. When he sits back in the driver's seat after the conversation, you can see Mackenzie Phillips sitting in the passenger seat facing Milner for a split second before cutting to the next scene. She shouldn't have been there.

Other: During the film the black 55 Chevy driven by Harrison Ford has nice wide chrome wheels, however after the crash scene at the end of the film when the 55 Chevy is upside down, you can clearly see the wheels are now simply standard steel rims spray painted silver.

Visible crew/equipment: As Milner and Carol get out of his hot-rod to vandalize the girls' stopped car, a bearded man with a mustache can be seen in the car window's reflection as it's being rolled up. The man is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with what appears to be a maroon sweater-vest. I believe the man to be George Lucas, as he appears to be directing in an upward motion with his left arm.

Revealing: When Falfa's Chevy flips over, we can see that it has no fuel tank at all in it. However, in the next shot the fuel tank re-appears and explodes.

Factual error: In one scene, Milner does a U-turn and you see a postal box on the curb. The logo on the box is the current white eagle drawing, but that was not used until well after 1962.

Continuity: Terry wears blue jeans throughout the whole film. Except when Debbie starts talking to him about how she likes tuck and roll interior, he gets out of his car and all of a sudden he's wearing khakis.

Continuity: After Falfa crashes his chevy, he walks away from the crash with his hat in his hand. In the next scene John is holding the hat and hands it back to him.

Continuity: After Carole is hit with the water balloon thrown from a passing car, she tells John Milner to catch them at the light, where he's to flatten their tyres while she sprays the windshield with shaving cream. Carole sprays the front windshield, then starts to go to the back of the car to spray the back window. The front windshield is clean, even though Carole just emptied a can of shaving cream onto it.

Continuity: When Toad turns the 58 Impala around to pick up Debbie. She walks past the same Blue Corvair twice. She then steps from the curb to talk to Toad. The Corvair is parked next to the curb. When they switch to the long shot the Corvair has been replaced by a gold coloured Buick. When they drive away the Corvair reappears in its original position.

Continuity: In close ups of Milner driving, watch the rolled up package of cigarettes in his T-shirt sleeve. In different shots you can see the front of the pack and the back of the pack, when there has not been time for him to have another.

Continuity: The girls - whose car tires are about to be flattened and windows about to be sprayed with shaving cream - roll up their passenger window twice during the same brief scene. Once as Milner and Carol are getting out of his hot-rod, and again as John and Carol approach the car.

Continuity: Just as John was about to stop his car to let Carol in for the first time, he passed a dark color 4-door sedan parked at the curb. Then Carol runs around to get into John's car, the dark sedan disappeared and there is a blue 1955 Plymouth in its place.

Factual error: Shortly after Milner picks up Carol they make a right hand turn off the main street. There is a White 1971 Toyota Corolla at the intersection directly in front of a white 1960 Pontiac. The movie takes place in 1962.

Continuity: After the opening credits, when the guy drives up on the scooter, he crashes into a garbage bin. In the short time it takes Richard Dreyfuss to walk over and join them, the bin is back together and the scooter has changed position.

Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, a red first generation Mustang coupe is parked across the street from Mel's drive-in. Mustangs didn't come out until 1964.

Factual error: The Citroen 2CV that Kurt drives is a 1972 model. ten years after the film takes place.

Deliberate "mistake": The Studebaker in which Carol is first riding bears the license number JPM 351, which interestingly enough, is not only the same license number that Steve's 58 Chevy has, but is also worn by the car Curt is sitting on when he first meets the Pharaohs. To top it off, the Edsel driven by Cindy Henderson has plates reading PRC 596, which are also used by a silver 57 Chevy and a red pickup.

Continuity: When the '55 Chevy crashes, it comes to rest upside down with the trunk lid open. Moments later when it bursts into flames, the trunk lid is closed.

Continuity: During the first set of cruise scenes, you can see a shot of a yellow '56 Chevy parked on the opposite side of the street with the hood raised and a coupe of guys working on the engine (just after a purple-ish '40 Ford rolls past). In the very next shot, you can see the same car for a very brief moment, this time with the hood down. A few shots later, you see the same yellow '56 yet again, but this time being driven. Finally, in the very next shot, Milner drives past it yet again, still parked on the side of the street, with the hood down.

Continuity: When John is driving in his Ford and talking to the girl in the Studebaker, he drives past the same store "Marin Cameras" twice.

Revealing: At one point John is complaining about the Beach Boys playing on his car radio, he reaches to the center console and motions turning the radio off. In a few other shots though, we see that the car appears to have no radio at all, the center console seems to have a large tachometer and speedometer there, but that's all.

Factual error: Although the movie takes place in 1962, at least one car is wearing a black background California license plate -- which were not issued until 1963.

Continuity: The movie takes place in 1962, yet the band at the dance is playing The Kingsmen version of Louie Louie which didn't come out until 1963.

Continuity: When Wolfman Jack was eating a popsicle, it had a cellophane wrapper, in those days they only had paper wrappers.

Factual error: When John Milner is getting the ticket from the cop, he pulls over in front of a movie theater. The poster for the movie "Cabaret" is clearly visible in the background several times. You probably wouldn't know this unless you are old enough to have seen the movie in a theater, as "Cabaret" was in theaters only a year or so before Graffiti came out, so isn't appropriate for the time AG is set.

Continuity: A windshield wiper is visible on Milner's coupe in only three shots. These occur when Carole gets into the coupe from the Studebaker and shortly after, when Milner is pulled over for a defective license plate light. All other shots of the coupe show only the stub of the wiper mechanism.