Best war movie factual errors of 1965

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Shenandoah picture

Factual error: After the birth of the baby, James Stewart and "Doc" Witherspoon are discussing the course of the war. "Doc" relates that he has always lived in Virginia and that his son died at Gettysburg at Little Round Top. No Virginia regiments fought at Little Round Top - only Alabama, Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas regiments.

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Battle of the Bulge picture

Factual error: None of the German tanks are accurate representations of German WWII types. They are all post war US variants. ie. M47 Patton Tanks. [Still a mistake, but an elaboration: This is a common problem in depicting German tanks: few, if any, survived the war. The few museum examples wouldn't be released for movie work, and certainly WHERE, some 20 years after the war, would one find a brigade's worth of running Tiger II tanks? Never mind that Kampgruppe Pieper, which Hessler's command is loosely based on, actually used Mark IV and Panther tanks. There was one King Tiger battalion, and it was in reserve well behind KG Peiper. The M47s versus the M24 Chafees (mistakenly called "Shermans" at times) is a fairly accurate comparison of the respective sizes, firepower, and other combat capabilities of the respective tanks. Some other movies, like "Kelly's Heroes", have their "Tigers" mocked-up with sheet metal, wire mesh, and sacking over a different type of tank (in that case, T-34/85s of the Yugoslav army are mocked up as Tiger Is, a fairly decent job).]

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In Harm's Way picture

Factual error: Throughout the film the characters are often seen riding in M151 jeeps (horizontal grill slits) which were not in production until the Vietnam era. Odd because they did have a few correct era Willy's jeeps on the set, usually seen in the background.

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The Heroes of Telemark picture

Factual error: The daylight air-raid on the Norwegian Heavy Water plant in 1942 was done by Boeing B17G bombers, with the distinctive chin gun turrets. These planes did not come into service until 1944, when they were introduced to counter the head-on attacks by German fighters.

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Doctor Zhivago picture

Factual error: This movie is set in a part of the world that is well known for its harsh cold weather and frigid temperatures. Yet despite countless scenes of people outdoors in what is supposed to be the bitter cold of winter, you never see the vapor from anyone's breath.

HuskyMiller

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Von Ryan's Express picture

Factual error: Sergeant Bostick tells Colonel Ryan he is from the 113th Armored Division. The U.S. Army never had a 113th Armored Division in WW2.

Scott215

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Is this actually an error? I believe the British Regiment who feature in this film are The Ninth Fusiliers. Well, there never has been a Ninth Fusiliers in the British army, either! For that matter, there never was a Colonel Joseph L Ryan, or a Major Eric Fincham, or a Major Battaglia. While this film is set in the Second World War, it is openly admitted that it is a wholly fictional story. Some Second World War films (A Bridge Too Far; The Longest Day; The Battle Of the Bulge) were made to recreate historical events, and so refer to soldiers and military units who existed. Other Second World War films like this one (Sahara, Escape To Victory, Ice Cold In Alex) while referencing actual events, and, showing sequences of events that are not beyond probability, are still stories. Since this is a fictional, imagined story, is it acceptable for soldiers to serve with fictional regiments or imaginary fighting units?

While some fictional accounts can be taken for granted and not counted as errors (even films based on true stories can have fictional characters), there are limits when setting films in the past. To have a 113th Armored Division is a valid mistake as the highest number in WWII was the 20th Armored Division, unlike Infantry Divisions that went into the 100's. This could almost be the same as giving a character an 8 or 11 number phone number.

Bishop73

The anonymous drive by hit and run "contributor" (not referring to you, Bishop73) may not have seen another post I made about Sgt. Bostick wearing a 4th Armored Division patch on his uniform: he says he is from the 113th A.D. (which never existed) but wears the 4th A.D. patch, which did exist in WW2, but did not see service until France in 1944.

Scott215

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Operation Crossbow picture

Factual error: In a wide shot of a battle, pictured in the background is a cooling tower for a nuclear plant. These did not exist during this time period.

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36 Hours picture

Factual error: When an older lady working for the German cause is collecting items from the US Soldier's room (Garner), she picks out a letter with stamps on it that were not issued until 1954 and 1961...even though the year of the movie and scene is only 1944.

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The Hill picture

Factual error: When the prisoners are taking a shower Roberts says to another prisoner as he goes to turn on the water "not that one, it turns on the gas" - a reference to Nazi death camps that used shower rooms to gas people. But this film is set during WW ll when this info was not known by rank and file soldiers - it only became known near or even after the end of the war.

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Major Dundee picture

Factual error: The US Cavalry are careful not to run into Confederate cavalry from Fort Davis, who are shown in the distance. Fort Davis was indeed occupied by the Confederates from 1861 to 1862, but was then abandoned until 1867. The film is set in 1864, so there would be no Confederate troops at Fort Davis.

Necrothesp

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