Revealing mistake: In one of the river flooding scenes after the dam bursts, you can see a modern day vehicle (most likely a pickup truck) for a few seconds on a highway next to the river. (01:50:30)
Factual error: An old man appears with children following him. This is supposed to be pedagogue Janusz Korczak. It appeared as if he was just wearing a suit and a Jewish arm band. In the Warsaw Ghetto, Mr. Korczak never wore an arm band and wore his WWI Polish Army Uniform, both as acts of defiance. He was beaten and almost put to death (he had connections) for not wearing an arm band so having one on in the movie is inaccurate.
Continuity mistake: At the fair when Isabelle goes to give Suzanna the baby, she actually hands it to her in one shot, but in the next (a split second) Suzanne shows no sign as if the baby ever left Isabelle's hand. (01:38:24)
Factual error: When William Holden visits the Special Operations HQ for the first time a black vehicle is seen pulling in to the complex. The car is a 1948 Dodge or other Chrysler product which had not yet been manufactured.
Factual error: During the scene where Clint Eastwood is trying to convince Don Rickles to join in the heist, there is a box of Almond Joy candy bars behind Don's head. They weren't introduced until 1946.
Other mistake: In the opening scene of this German movie from 1944, a panoramic view of the city of Potsdam is shown with the subtitle "Potsdam 1813". In the background, the two high radio masts of the Potsdam Military Communication Central can be seen very clearly before the sky.
Continuity mistake: There is genuine wartime footage of Spitfires of the the right type for the period, but other scenes have later (maybe even postwar) versions flying about.
Revealing mistake: Near the end of the film, a B-52 seen flying across the screen. The bracket holding up the model is visible.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the movie, when Ed Leland is about to enter the Customs Office, the insignia on his hat is intact, but when he enters it has disappeared.
Continuity mistake: The film is supposed to take place in 1917, but several of the german soldiers our heroes encounter are armed with Bergman M18 sub-machineguns which didn't appear until a year later. To make things even worse all the guns comes with a magazine-type that didn't appear until the mid-thirties.
Continuity mistake: After the "car chase" the white car gets put in the barn. When the black car arrives it is covered in mud (so much they have to wipe it off the windscreen) from the dirt track. The white car only has a few specks of dirt.
Other mistake: In the opening scene on the airplane, one of the men tells Lt. Cable, "The captain wants to know if you'd like to sit up in the cockpit with him?" Buzz Adams, the "captain" referenced in this line, is only a lieutenant. Admittedly, "captain" is a standard aviation term for the pilot of an aircraft, but it would be unlikely to be used in this situation, since the term has a specific military meaning.
Factual error: At the end of the 'Goodbye' the men all board a train which leaves along a track on a seaside pier. The shot changes from this stylised vision to a shot of an Edwardian Lady alone on a railway platform. In the background is a 1970s, ie. modern, diesel train.
Continuity mistake: Nellie is called into Captain Brackett's office one day. Later, one of the girls asks her "What did the old man want this morning?" However, the scene at night between Billis and Cable shows that a whole day and night must have passed in between these two scenes. Therefore the nurse should have asked "What did the old man want yesterday?"
Continuity mistake: Charlie, disguised as a tree, enters a pipe to escape a German. When the German tries to pull Charlie out he separates the lower part of the tree costume along with Charlie's shoes. When Charlie emerges from the other end of the pipe he is still wearing shoes.
Other mistake: The kids dare each other in a decrepit water tower which is mysterious in a number of ways: 1) Draining the water causes a powerful vortex, but the water level is not going down. 2) No one seems to work the bottom valve, but the vortex comes and goes. 3) It is absolutely impossible that anyone could swim through such a vortex, but Stu does. 4) The rotten roof breaks under the weight of little Billy (the ice-cream excess?) but carries his brother who weighs about 4 times as much. (01:27:00)
Continuity mistake: When the Austrian Emperor and Gustav's father die on the same day Gustav puts their photographs on a sideboard. The close-up of Gustav's father's picture shows a white background, in contrast to all wide shots. (00:44:15)
Factual error: During the first scenes of the film the Greek flag used is the current one, and not the one used at that time. The flag that should have been used is a white cross on blue.
Continuity mistake: Throughout the movie, Ho is referred to as "Captain Ho", however in the closing credits, his name is "Colonel Ho".
Continuity mistake: The position of the needle and thread lying on Peter's body differ in the wide shot and following close-up. (01:59:10)
