Other mistake: When Jenny Lind is on stage singing 'Never Enough' during her American debut, she is in a very large theater with a crowded audience, and full orchestra. Obviously she would have to be miced, and have her voice amplified, for such a large space. When she is actually singing, her character's voice (or rather the dubbed voice of Loren Allred) is greatly amplified, with sound effects. But during this actual scene, there is no microphone or amplification system present. She does not have a microphone stand in front of her. There is no microphone hanging from the ceiling, or anywhere on stage that we can see. Technology was limited at that time, so she would not be using any type of cordless headset, or wireless microphone, which cannot be seen anyway. Her character's voice is obviously amplified a great deal through a microphone, which doesn't seem to exist.
Continuity mistake: At the start of Come Alive, PT stands in front of his museum and is on a wet patch of ground. Camera cuts and now the floor is dry. (00:25:15)
Continuity mistake: Throughout Rewrite the stars, the marks on Phillip's trousers are constantly changing between shots. (01:03:00)
Visible crew/equipment: Near the end of Come Alive, one of the dancers in a white dress spins around, and when she does so, what appears to be a black mic pack is visible on her back. This black item is not visible in other shots of her during the song.
Continuity mistake: When the song "the Other Side" starts, Hugh drinks his shot with his right hand. It cuts to a side shot and Hugh drinks his shot with his left hand. Then back to the front shot, and again he drinks his shot with his right hand.
Factual error: The bottle of Moet champagne is a very modern design - the 1850's design was a similar bottle shape but had a different style of label. (01:09:00 - 01:10:00)
Continuity mistake: When Charity's father slaps young Barnum for making her laugh he is wearing the partially tailored suit. Then he walks past him an instant later and he is not wearing it.
Audio problem: During "This is me", when they enter the room and get to the "oooh oh oh" part if you watch the albino the sync is out as their mouths open after the music has ended on that part.
Continuity mistake: During The Other Side, the peanut shells keep appearing and disappearing between shots. (00:37:05)
Continuity mistake: When PT is showing the family his museum, he picks one of the girls up with her facing him. Camera changes and now she's facing away from him. (00:18:00)
Other mistake: When Charity makes her wish the spinning cage has almost stopped. However the lights continue to spin at speed around the family. (00:15:20)
Continuity mistake: When Charity is playing on the roof with the girls, she is around 6ft away from the washing basket in one scene and right next to it after the camera changes. (00:12:20)
Continuity mistake: When Young PT is offered the apple, his position changes in relation to the poster behind him. (00:07:30)
Continuity mistake: At the start of From Now On, Tom Thumb pushes two pump handles to pour some mead. However only one pump has mead come out. The barman then hands PT two tankards full of mead. (01:22:10)
Continuity mistake: During Rewrite the Stars, Phillip is lifted up by the rope holding Ann. When they land, Ann manages to get a rope of her own from nowhere. (01:03:30)
Other mistake: Ann rolls down the rope and lands in Phillip's arms just as the camera changes. In the second camera shot, the rope that Ann has just rolled down is perfectly still. Not possible after Ann rolled down the rope less than half a second before. (01:03:00)
Factual error: P.T. Barnum did not enter the circus business until 1870, when he was 60 years old.
Factual error: When Philip and Anne are at the theatre, Philip's parents confront him about being with "the help." Anne leaves and walks out the door next to a revolving door. Revolving doors were not invented until 1888. PT Barnum's Museum opened in 1842 and burned down in 1865. (01:02:31)
Continuity mistake: When Charity is about to leave her home to go off with PT Barnum, she is inside her house, walking down the stairs. She is wearing an elegant outfit, with what appears to be a dark green satin skirt. But after Charity and PT Barnum leave the house, and are walking outside, Charity's skirt changes to blue.
Continuity mistake: When PT is handing out flyers you can see there is none on the floor. However a few shots later the floor is littered with flyers. More than was handed out. (00:18:50)
Answer: In those days that would be a normal punishment for P.T.'s behaviour. His father could have said something but did not want to lose a customer. P.T. also did not want his father to lose a customer because they knew getting money was worth taking the hit. If they had enough money to miss one customer it may have been different.
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