The Silence of the Lambs

Factual error: Many of the vehicles in the movie have Pennsylvania inspection stickers on the lower driver's side windshield. This is not surprising being that most of the movie was filmed in Pennsylvania. However, they should have been removed when the car is suppose to be from another state. For example, the Senator's daughter, just before her abduction in Tennessee, is seen driving a car with Pennsylvania inspection stickers. Also, the driver for Yourself Storage in Baltimore also has Pennsylvania stickers on his car.

Factual error: In the scene where the police are preparing to raid the house in Calumet City, IL, you can see hills in the background. Calumet City is about 25 miles south of Chicago - there are no hills like that for hundreds of miles in any direction. (01:37:30)

Factual error: In the scene with the ambulance in Memphis, the Tennessee license plate on the ambulance says Davidson County. Memphis is in Shelby County, while Davidson County is Nashville. (01:21:33)

Factual error: When Starling leaves from Memphis, the jet shown taking off is in St Louis, not Memphis. This can be noted by not just the McDonnell Douglas sign, but the fact that the sign is on their Headquarters Hangar, which is in St. Louis. I have lived in St louis all my life: there is no mistaking this sign and building (even in the dark) for another hangar or sign in another city. It also helps to know McDonnell Douglas had no hangar in Memphis, nor any buildings with any signage at the time of the movie at all.

dablues7

Factual error: Jack Crawford lists Clarice Starling's accomplishments saying that she has a double major in Psych (ology) and Criminology and graduated "magna." Clarice talking with the creepy Dr. Chilton establishes further that she graduated from UVA, where she also followed Crawford's seminar. Problem is, the University of Virginia did not offer a Criminology major in the 90s (does now, but began only in the 00s) and to this day it does not have Latin honors. (00:06:30)

Sammo ★

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

Suggested correction: Some colleges/universities allow "self-designed" majors. If UVA offered enough Criminology courses at the time, it would be possible for Clarice to have this double major.

KeyZOid

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Mistakes

Revealing mistake: When Clarice is at the archive, she sees two articles, one entitled "Baltimore Psychiatrist Receives Highest Honor" and "New horrors in 'Cannibal Trial'." The column beneath both titles to the right is exactly the same, and in the first article, that same column is repeated at the leftmost and rightmost columns and in the second, is repeated at the rightmost column. That same column is scattered on every article she sees. (00:21:35)

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Quotes

Hannibal Lecter: I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner.

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Trivia

Trivia: None of the moths seen in the film are actual Death Head moths. In the interest of avoiding the hassle involved with actually shipping moth eggs over, then halting filming so they could be raised to the proper level of maturity, the production crew simply went with a similar looking domestic breed of moth, and glued false fingernails painted with the trademark skull like visage onto their bodies.

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Questions

Question: What was that rotting corpse lying in the bath at Buffalo Bill's basement, minutes before the light is shut down? Who did it belong to and what has happened to it?

Answer: The body in the bathtub is Mrs. Lippman, the previous owner of Jame Gumb's home. Notice the long grey hair coming from the scalp. He would have wanted someone young, large, and whole.

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