Stupidity: The scene in the outdoor Parisian cafe is incredibly daft. First, the cafe owners call James Coburn's bizarrely-accented Australian to the telephone to keep him out of the way as their accomplices assassinate three uniformed German officers seated in the cafe in a drive by shooting. They then toast the killings with cognac, and that is the mistake - not the shootings, not the luring away of Coburn - the mistake is that the cafe proprietors celebrate the assassination of the German officers in broad daylight, in the open, without even stopping to think that such an action would have them shot, because all of this is done in the direct view of passers-by in broad daylight. Do they think those three German officers were the only ones in Paris? How did they know Coburn wasn't an undercover Gestapo agent or a French collaborator? Don't they stop to consider that in an occupied city machine gun fire is going to draw some attention from the authorities, who might just wonder what a couple of bullet riddled corpses are doing lying about the place?
raywest
8th May 2006
The Great Escape (1963)
18th Feb 2004
The Great Escape (1963)
Corrected entry: After the men escape they are all standing at the train station because the train was late, or there was a hold up of some kind. Was this possibly a ribbing kind of gesture at the term used in Nazi Germany "The government stinks but at least the trains run on time"?
Correction: That wasn't about Nazi Germany, it was about Fascist Italy. The phrase "He made the trains run on time" was coined by one of Mussolini's propagandists, and became widely believed, although there was little or no truth to it (source: Montagu, A. and Darling, E. (1967) The Prevalence of Nonsense, Dell/Delta, New York. Page 19).
I believe (but I'm not 100%) that Patton once said the Nazis made the trains run on time when, after the war, he was questioned about not removing them from official posts in the Austrian Government. That is from memory and I might be wrong.
Correction: The late trains were directly due to the POW escape. The Germans were scouring the countryside searching for the escapees and knew they'd be trying to board trains and other public transportation. They'd be checking every station and depot in the vicinity as well as boarding buses and train coaches to search them, thus delaying the regular transportation schedules.
2nd Feb 2008
The Great Escape (1963)
Corrected entry: The 'Australian' has no Australian accent whatsoever.
Correction: So? Coming from another country doesn't automatically mean a deep accent.
Correction: He definitely has an Australian accent. American actor James Coburn wasn't perfect, but one can definitely tell it is supposed to be Australian.
18th Jun 2018
The Great Escape (1963)
Factual error: A convoy of open trucks arrive at the camp bringing the latest batch of prisoners, many of whom are carrying rucksacks and tote bags of clothing and other possessions. Where did they come from? Combat servicemen in World War Two did not carry overnight bags with them - a change of clothes or a handy supply of toiletries was the least of their concerns. A prisoner of war arrived in the camp with the clothes he stood up in and nothing else.
Suggested correction: These prisoners were being transferred from other camps to this camp. As Big X said, "they are putting all their eggs in one basket." It's likely they are carrying possessions they've acquired during their time in captivity.
What "possessions"? Do you think they had Oxfam shops in POW camps during World War 2? They would be dressed in their combat fatigues and nothing else.
They would have possessions as they would receive parcels from home and Red Cross parcels.
Prisoners of war would receive Red Cross parcels, and may have also scrounged, made or been issued a few other bits and pieces. In particular, they'd probably have a change or two of underwear, some toiletries and a few books or games at the very least.
POWs acquired possessions by hand-making, scrounging, care packages, 'selling' watches and rings to guards or local civilians.
They were universally known for their trading and scrounging abilities. Remember these were the "worst of the worst" in offending.
Just to clarify. They weren't exactly the "worst of the worst" for bad or incorrigible behavior. They were the best at attempting to escape POW camps or otherwise subverting their German captors. The fed-up Germans decided to contain them all in one prison to stop the constant breakouts. They only succeeded in creating a POW "think tank" by pooling together the most talented escape artists who combined their skills and knowledge.
In international conflicts, in addition to prisoners regularly receiving Red Cross care packages, the Geneva Convention requires captors to treat all POWs humanely, and provide food, clothing, housing, medical treatment, and hygiene. As mentioned, these prisoners brought their belongings with them from other camps. International Red Cross inspectors monitor POW camps for compliance. Failure to comply with the rules constitutes war crimes, which are adjudicated after a conflict. Germany was generally compliant. POW camps were to detain captured soldiers and prevent them rejoining the war. They did not punish detainees as "criminals" but disciplined them when they were non-compliant or for other misbehavior. Once the war was over, POWs were repatriated.
The Great Escape was from a POW camp specifically set up to hold trouble makers from other camps. Also, sometimes people expect to be captured and prepare to for it! Today, during funeral of John Lewis, speakers repeatedly mentioned that he was carrying a backpack with 2 books, an apple, an orange and a tooth brush. Which haven't been seen since his head was beat in. A least one German Fortress commander, sworn to defend his fort until he and all those under his command were dead, surrendered with multiple suit cases to make his incarceration more comfortable. Like the character Yossarian in Catch-22. [Spoiler alert: he makes elaborate preparations to the paddle in a life raft from Italy to Sweden.].
15th Apr 2019
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
Factual error: The word "floaties "was not used to refer to pool toys in the 1950's.
1st May 2020
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
Corrected entry: When Midge is doing her skit for the soldiers she is pretending to read articles off a magazine. Yet instead of flipping the magazine, she is swiping as if reading off a smartphone.
Correction: "Swiping" is not specific to smartphones or computer tablets. People often do this to speed through books, magazines, or documents, often by slightly moistening the index fingertip, rather than individually turning pages. Midge is pantomiming this her act, so her action is naturally a bit exaggerated for effect.
6th May 2020
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
Factual error: Midge talks about a 2 for 1 pantyhose sale but pantyhose weren't introduced until 1959.
26th Aug 2005
White Christmas (1954)
Trivia: In the scene where Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are escaping the club where the sisters are performing, you see Bing Crosby hail a cab. Notwithstanding that there happens to be a cab in the alley, but moreover, when Bing "whistles" you can hear that he wasn't able to do it. It comes out as a "flub" sound. Not really a mistake, but kinda funny.
Suggested correction: Regarding the cab, it didn't just show up. When Danny Kaye is telling Bing Crosby about the girls' predicament with the sheriff, he tells Crosby to get a cab. Being that this is a busy nightclub, there would be cabs hanging around, waiting for fares. There is then a fair amount of time while the sheriff is being stalled and before all four exit out the back of the club to the waiting taxi. Crosby, probably with the friendly club owner's help, had the cab pull around to the back alley.
10th Jan 2003
White Christmas (1954)
Corrected entry: Wallace and Davis escape from the sister's show room, out of the window and get a cab. As they are in a rush they don't take anything with them. However, then at the station when catching the train they have all their luggage. How did they have time to get their luggage in such a rush?
Correction: The guys were at the nightclub where the girls are performing. Their luggage is most likely wherever they were staying.
Correction: Wallace and Davis are huge stars. Their plans were to leave by train that night, but first went to the nightclub to see the Hanes sisters' act. The stage employee who had gotten Wallace and Davis their train tickets and arranged their itinerary would also have had their luggage delivered to the train station. Once the luggage arrived, the porters would deliver it to their rooms.
15th Dec 2007
White Christmas (1954)
Corrected entry: Ever wonder why Vera-Ellen is always shown in the movie wearing a high collar dress/shirt/pajama top/etc.? She was suffering from premature aging effects (she was only 33 at the time) from what is believed to have been anorexia. It showed predominantly in her chest and neck - hence, the desire for her to have her neck covered.
Correction: At the Academy Awards for the 1954 movies Vera-Ellen is in a evening dress which is completely opened in the front showing her neck no signs of anorexia. That was nothing more than a myth. It was her trademark to wear scarfs or high neck shirts or collars several necklaces around her neck.
Correction: Vera Ellen was a tall, willowy woman with a long, slender neck. Edith Head, the costume designer, likely designed the high collars to make Ellen's neck appear a bit shorter and fuller. In contrast, Rosemary Clooney had a curvier figure, a shorter, fuller neck, and mostly wore costumes with a v-shaped neckline, elongating her neck and torso and making her appear more proportional to Vera Ellen, who is playing her sister. These are common fashion techniques used to enhance or minimize women's physical traits.
5th Mar 2021
White Christmas (1954)
Other mistake: In the Christmas party scene all the soldiers are in uniform wearing military boots. Except Bing Crosby, who is in his uniform wearing brown dress shoes, in a war zone. (00:03:00)
Suggested correction: Crosby is wearing dress shoes because he is on stage, entertaining the troops with dancing and singing. It would be hard to do a "soft shoe" tap dance in combat boots. Danny Kaye is wearing boots, but he only does a few simpler dance steps. Crosby is the main entertainer and he would change back into his combat boots once the show was over.
Bombs dropping around them. So shiny brogues were out of the question... and you can't call what Bing does was a dance.
4th Apr 2019
Passengers (2016)
Corrected entry: Aurora said she was on a return voyage, but we learn the ship is incapable of putting passengers into hypersleep, as this can only be done with advanced equipment on Earth. How was she supposed to get back?
Correction: Jim talks about the facility and prep they went though before going into the pod. The Homestead II could easily have the same equipment. The equipment is not on the ship since there should be no reason for anyone to be put back into hypersleep.
Correction: There would be facilities at the destination point that would perform the procedure to put people back into hyper-sleep. The ship's crew, once awakened towards the end of the journey, would then have to be put back to sleep for the return journey to Earth. Jim and Aurora could not simply hop back into the pods and be put to sleep, which is what Jim was referring to.
Correction: They could have a ship that has prepped pods to put people back into hyper sleep for the return trip. Not this ship obviously as nobody was supposed to go back straight away, but the second ship to arrive. Once a pod has been used though, it can't be used again.
21st Jun 2021
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Continuity mistake: When the letters start flying through the letterbox they are coming in with the address facing down and the red seal facing up. When Vernon says they are going away, the letters are now addressed side up and red seal down. (00:12:15)
29th Oct 2015
Crimson Peak (2015)
Corrected entry: The Sharpe's dilapidated mansion has had a huge hole in the roofing for some time that allows snow and rain to fall through into the foyer. However, there is no sign of water and weather damage to the foyer area except to a portion o the floor directly beneath. The foyer walls, staircase, and furniture look completely unaffected by being exposed to the weather when they should be stained, faded, moldy, warped, or buckled.
I am only referring to the foyer area, where the huge, gaping roof hole is several stories directly above, and not the rest of the house. Other than the floor, the rest of the room looks practically pristine, unaffected by the mold, mildew and humidity that would be caused by the rain and cold.
24th Dec 2012
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Corrected entry: Near the end, there's a huge parade in downtown Chicago being held in the middle of a school/work week with no explanation about why it is in progress when parades are typically held on the weekend. Despite that, hundreds of people, who would normally be working, are there watching it with their kids who, like Ferris and his fellow truant pals, should be in school.
Correction: First off, it's made very clear it's the Steuben Parade (a very popular German-American parade held in Chicago in September). While there is no "explanation" in the movie, parades are held in the middle of the week for various reasons, such as bad weather on the scheduled day, etc.
The Steuben Day Parade is held on a weekend day in September, not in the Spring shortly before high school graduation. In most cities, it is the third Saturday of September. It is inconceivable that if a parade of that size and duration was unexpectedly cancelled for any reason that it would just be moved over to the middle of the week. The logistics are such that it would either be cancelled or rescheduled for another weekend which would take months to arrange due to the tremendous time, planning, and physical work involved to establish staging areas, issue new permits, transport the floats, reschedule marching bands, drill teams, and other participants, set-up food and souvenirs vendors, close streets, reroute traffic, handle crowd control, arrange security, do promotion, etc.
This correction was done in my infancy of joining the website. I was trying to correct the mistake of what the parade was for (but did acknowledge it's a September parade) rather than accept the Steuben parade was out of place and wouldn't have been scheduled for the following year if the film was meant to be set 1-2 months before graduation.
22nd May 2021
Friends (1994)
The One With The Fake Party - S4-E16
Factual error: Phoebe says in the show that she's three months pregnant. Not only is she way too big for that, but the fetus also kicks for the first time. Women don't feel fetal movement until 16 weeks at the earliest, and for a first pregnancy it may not be until 25 weeks or so.
Suggested correction: Phoebe's size could partially be explained in that she was carrying triplets, though Lisa Kudrow was pregnant in real life, and was further along than her character. Her pregnancy had to be written into the show and the gestation timelines did not match up. Phoebe feeling "movement" could just be her imagination, as her character is supposedly somewhat psychic and often perceives things that are not necessarily discernible to others or isn't even real.
21st May 2021
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Corrected entry: When Tommy Lee Jones is attacked by one of the other women in the halfway house as she's being arrested, he calls her "Libby."
20th Mar 2005
Roseanne (1988)
Corrected entry: The exterior stock shot of the Conners' house doesn't match the interior. In the stock shot, the front door is all the way to camera left; inside the living room, the door to the outside is near the center of the room.
Correction: The stock photo still matches the inside of the Conner House; there is approximately a three foot space alongside the door. On the inside of the house there's a cabinet piece on that wall, beside the door, and the TV in the living room is directly across from it. In the credits for the Season Finale of Season 8, we see the TV is pushed up against a wall, where normally the cameras are.
Disagree with the correction to this entry. The Conner living room's dimensions do not match the stock photo at all The photo shows the space right of the door is far too shallow to be the Conner living room. The real house is located in Evansville, Indiana, and its living room is situated to the left of the entry where the big windows are. Also, the front porches are completely different lengths. There are photos of the real house's interior on Zillow.com that show the differences: https://www.zillow.com/homes/619-Runnymeade-Ave, -Evansville, -Indiana_rb/77104997_zpid/.
10th Mar 2011
Roseanne (1988)
No Talking - S2-E12
Factual error: When Becky locks Roseanne out of her bedroom, Roseanne heads to the garage for a screwdriver to take the door off the hinges - an impossibility since the hinges are on Becky's side of the door. In the next scene, the door is off the hinges.
Suggested correction: Roseanne could have waited until Becky opened the door at a later time. She would have to come out at some point. Dan could also have ordered her to open it, and Roseanne then took it off the hinges. It was also Darlene's room, so Becky would have to let her in. Roseanne was making a point and to make sure Becky didn't do it again.
This is the most ridiculously convoluted "correction" ever. It was a monumental mistake, or at the very least, they hoped viewers wouldn't notice.
Yeah, not an impossibility whatsoever considering even if the door had to be forced open, it was going to be taken off the hinges. Classic 80's/90's parenting.
21st Apr 2014
Roseanne (1988)
We're Going to Disney World - S8-E17
Corrected entry: In the scene where David is trying to make airline reservations for their trip, he tells Roseanne there are only six seats available, and they need eight. They would actually need 11: Dan, Roseanne, David, Darlene, Becky, Mark, Jackie, DJ, Bev, Andy & Jerry. (00:12:00)
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Suggested correction: Regarding the French cafe proprietors making a toast, if questioned, they could simply claim they were celebrating surviving the incident and/or needed a calming drink. Considering any ensuring panic and confusion after the shooting, pedestrians would hardly notice the waiters. Attention would be on the dead Germans. French citizens most likely wouldn't care or cooperate with the authorities. Being indifferent to German officers getting killed is not proof of involvement. Most French hardly be remorseful over their enemies' deaths. Antagonism toward the Germans was normal. It would be more suspicious if the proprietors showed concern. As far as helping James Coburn, it was pretty obvious he was neither French or German, and they took a chance to protect an innocent bystander. Also, it was to inject some subtle levity into the scene.
raywest ★
Rubbish. During the occupation Paris was crawling with collaborators and undercover German agents. The cafe owners are drinking champagne - not much of a nerve stiffener! - and they clink glasses in celebration of the shooting of the German officers. Their actions are beyond obvious to anyone that can see them. They simply would not take the risk and would act as if they were horrified to see their customers shot dead in their cafe.
Nope. Even if collaborators were "crawling" around, no-one would expect any French citizen to care about Nazis being killed. If questioned they can claim it was for the other reasons already stated (and they are not drinking champagne). It does not prove their involvement. Little would come of them being interrogated. As mentioned, this is a movie, and the scene injects subtle humor and is intended to show the audience that they are involved in the coordinated plan.
raywest ★
Again, rubbish. The Nazis occupying Paris arrested anyone suspected of belonging to or assisting the Resistance on the slightest pretext, and the cafe owners who were celebrating the deaths of three German officers would be in a Gestapo prison cell before the bodies of the dead Germans were cold. What they do after the Germans are shot is blatant, irresponsible, dangerous and completely unnecessary. They could have saved their celebrations for later when it was safe.
Once again, NOPE. Clinking glasses is not proof of possibly belonging to or aiding the Resistance. They also were not wildly celebrating. It was a quick, low-key action, and they looked both nervous and relieved. Also, I re-watched the scene on YouTube. When the car pulls up to shoot the Nazis, the street around them is completely empty. No witnesses anywhere. People are only seen far in the background. The phone call just before the shooting is a signal and indicates this was well-coordinated and timed. Secondly, the story needs to move quickly, and insignificant characters would not be seen toasting later. This also showed James Coburn (and us) that the waiters were potential allies.
raywest ★
You think the Nazis needed proof of someone's involvement in the Resistance? They arrested, tortured and shot innocent people on the unsubstantiated word of pro-German informers! No witnesses anywhere? What about Coburn? They didn't know who he was or where he was from. For all they know he could have been a Gestapo agent himself. The scene is absurd. Nobody is so stupid as to do what they did at the risk of dying horribly if caught doing it.
It should also be noted that the cafe owners duck behind their counter before the car carrying the gunmen shows up, and they get Coburn to do the same. They just provided incontrovertible evidence that they knew about the assassinations ahead of time.
Yes, they absolutely were part of it, and the hit was timed and planned in advance for the opportune moment. This was not a random act, and the phone call is the signal that sets the events in motion. When they made the toast, they knew the street was completely empty and obviously felt it was safe to do so. Also, if Coburn was a spy or collaborator, he would have warned the Nazis, not hidden behind the counter. THIS IS A MOVIE, NOT REAL LIFE.
raywest ★