The Green Mile (1999) - 16 mistakes

Revealing: Just before John Coffey is about to be executed, he's sitting on his chair in the cell. As he stands up, you see him lift his leg onto a platform. The platform was used to make him look about a foot taller than he actually is.

Revealing: When Coffey is first brought into the Green Mile and he and Edgecomb are having the "Am I going to have any trouble with you, big boy?" conversation, take a close look at Coffey's handcuffs. The cuffs are so huge he could easily slide both hands out. In fact, it almost looks like he is holding on to the handcuff chain to prevent them from falling off.

Revealing: When the guards are fighting to get control of "Wild Bill," Edgecomb gets kneed in the groin. If you watch closely, you'll see that Wild Bill's knee actually hits Edgecomb on his left thigh/buttocks area.

Factual error: During one scene, Hanks mentions a hospital intensive care unit, which did not exist in the 1930's.

Continuity: When William "Wild Bill" Wharton spits the Moon pie into Brutus "Brutal" Howell’s face you can see that the Moon pie lands on his shirt, tie, lapels of his coat and on the right shoulder of his coat. In the next shot when Brutal and Paul throw Wharton into the padded room, you can see that the right shoulder of Brutal's coat is completely clean, but the Moon pie is still on his shirt, tie and lapels.

Deliberate "mistake": When John Coffey is first brought into the jail cell, he shakes Paul Edgecomb's hand. Look closely at the size of Paul's hand. It is a child's hand, to make John's hand seem much larger. But when John is in the electric chair, Paul reaches out to shake John's hand and it is now the size of a normal adult male.

Continuity: When they tape Percy's mouth shut before putting him in the restraint room, the handkerchief is partly outside his mouth and gets stuck to the tape, when they let Percy out, the handkerchief has moved. If he's been locked in there with the straight jacket on, there is no way he could have moved it.

Continuity: When Paul Edgecomb is in the cell with new arrival John Coffey, there is a definite blue square behind Paul. Later when the camera angle is changed, it disappears and only the brick wall is there.

Continuity: When Percy is grabbed by John Coffey, he drops his nightstick during the struggle. You can plainly see the short thong on the handle as it hits the floor. When Percy turns to walk away however, the nightstick is dangling from his side.

Continuity: Roll on 1 means to crank up the generator all the way. On top of the machine are light bulbs that all light up when the generator is turned up. However, when they are executing Del they have a sideshot of Brutus and you can see the lightbulbs all lit up, but Percy hasn't said Roll on 1 yet.

Factual error: When Paul returns home, his wife asks him what the doctor said. He replies "...gobbledygook mostly." The trouble is, the word "gobbledygook" wasn't coined until 1944. This scene takes place in 1935.

Continuity: When John first steps into the bedroom at Hal's house, Melinda's nightdress is up by her thigh. Yet in the next shot, it is down over her knees.

Factual error: The movie is set in 1935 Lousiana, and all of the executions are through electrocutions. However, executions by that method in that state didn't happen till 1941.

Revealing: When the Indian inmate (first one executed) is in the electric chair, after they've hooked him up and before they begin the electrocution they show him up close with the black hood on breathing hard. You can see that he already has the markings and blood on his forehead from the electrocution before they even begin electrocuting him.

Continuity: When John came in to help Howell's wife with her brain tumour if you look at the clock the dial is not on the same beat as it clicks. It almost looks like the dial is moving in slow motion.

Revealing: When John Coffey is with the dead girls you can see that the girls are dummies.