Revealing mistake: When the body of Miss Lefferts is being viewed, the 'dead' girl blinks slightly. (00:34:35)
Factual error: In the scene where Lt. Exley arrives at the Night Owl after the murder, the patrol officer is wearing a Safariland velcro-fastened handcuff case on his left hip. That style of rounded cuff case was not introduced until the early to mid 70s.
Continuity mistake: Bud and Exley are sitting in their car talking - Exley looks OK. His lip and eye are almost healed and there's only a little black and blue on the upper part of his left cheek. Than in the next scene with Lyn he looks like he's been beat up again worse than before. (01:56:10 - 01:56:40)
Audio problem: When Bud White goes into the records room to 'handle' Exley, he begins to beat him. When Exley pulls out White's handgun and points it at him you hear him cock it. The next shot is of him holding the gun but the gun isn't cocked.
Other mistake: When Jack Vincennes goes to the hotel to stop actor Matt Reynolds from sleeping with the DA, he finds Matt's dead body on the floor with his throat slit. In the closeup of Matt's face, you can clearly see the living actor's pulse in the left side of his throat. (01:14:20)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Lt. Exeley resets the clock, the first time you see the clock it is exactly 5 minutes after 2. When Exeley puts on his glasses to see the time, it is clearly only 3 minutes after 2 oclock! (00:30:30)
Other mistake: When Exley talks to Vincennes about Rolo Tomassi, Guy Pearce's Australian accent accidentally slips when he says, "I just wanna solve this thing." (01:26:20)
Continuity mistake: When Bud White pulls into the driveway at Pierce Patchett's house to question him about Susan Leffert's murder, the wind is causing a tree top (top center of the frame) to sway. Before Bud opens the car door, you can see the tree come to a sudden stop in a position different than that of the last frame. (00:37:40)
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Bud is holding the DA out of the window you can see a wire attached to the DA's legs to stop him from falling. (01:49:20)
Revealing mistake: The stunt double's hairline is quite different than the actor's, when Bud White holds him over the balcony. (01:53:40)
Continuity mistake: It's the scene where Russell Crowe is holding the D.A. out of a window. On the wide shot, he is holding only one of his legs, and the other is flailing about. But in the tight shot, he is holding on to both of his legs. (01:53:55)
Continuity mistake: When Exley ends up at the boxes at the end the fight, they are in a different position than at the beginning of the scene. The third row of boxes are now pushed in so that there is a place for Bud White to put Exley's head. (01:48:20)
Continuity mistake: The extras out on the road below the ledge of DA Lowe's office are trying to be inconspicuous, but you can see that they are aimlessly walking in one direction, then the other, each time you see them. (01:53:50)
Continuity mistake: They shut all the blinds at the Victory Motel, but later some are open again. (02:00:00)
Continuity mistake: When Bud White beats up on Exley the light on the desk gets blown out. Later in the scene it's back on again. (01:48:15 - 01:48:55)
Continuity mistake: Exley's eye injury is much worse at the Victory Motel, and it's on the wrong eye all of a sudden - for the rest of the movie. (02:01:30)
Deliberate mistake: When White almost fights with Exley in the street and is pulled away, the public mailbox by the side of the road is all blue. Mailboxes back then were red on top and blue on the bottom.
Continuity mistake: Lynn gives Bud White a glass of scotch at her house but it disappears and reappears again. (00:43:35)
Factual error: During the interrogation room scene, it is very bright in the room looking into the interrogation room, and it is dimmer inside the interrogation room. Although this would mean that the suspect would be able to see everyone watching as for him to just see a reflection, it needs to be bright his side, and darker the other side. True the glass could have been slightly reflective on one side, but the laws of optics still apply.
Continuity mistake: Mrs. Lefferts' glasses move from being under her handkerchief that's on her head to on top of it without her taking them off. This is when Bud White interviews her in her home. (01:20:30)
Suggested correction: It's not uncommon for dead bodies to continue moving after death. Many internal parts of the body continue functioning in some fashion for hours after death and nerves and muscles can twitch.
raywest ★