Cotton Comes to Harlem

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)

31 mistakes - chronological order

(1 vote)

Revealing mistake: During the messy situation in front of the precinct, one of the militia guys throws one hilariously fake Shoryuken-like punch at someone, missing him by a mile (the head of the guy is not in view, behind other people in the crowd and still you can tell he's not anywhere in range). (01:05:10)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: As Digger shoots the hippie's hat, bystanders around the white guy change position between shots. (01:05:10)

Sammo

Cotton Comes to Harlem mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When O'Malley's lawyer arrives in front of the precinct, no protester is left in the street, at least the part behind him - in the following close-up though, in the background a few extras populate the frame. (01:06:05)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: At O'Malley's release, he is approached by a man wearing a red fez. The people in the background change position at the close-up (the guy in orange turtleneck gets much closer to the one in a blue suit, for instance). (01:09:55)

Sammo

Cotton Comes to Harlem mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Reverend Deke unmasks the guy in blackface, he lowers the hand he had on his shoulder. Return to the close-up: the hand is again present. (01:23:40)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Backstage, Deke begins to carve open with a hook the famed bale of cotton. Multiple wads are spread around the main opening. When Coffin Ed throws him on the bale, the smaller bits have vanished. Same happens in a much shorter timespan when he punches him in the gut: clean bale, but multiple wads were scattered a moment before when he threw him on it. (01:26:15 - 01:28:00)

Sammo

Revealing mistake: As the final chase for Deke starts, Ed tosses a wicker basket at Iris. The toss is already pretty weak looking, but to make matters worse, Judy Pace tosses the gun on purpose in front of her a moment after being 'hit'. (01:28:55)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: At the end, Digger is holding the picture in his right hand, the one he has on the steering wheel, shown in the background. Of course, he never keeps the hand that steady on the wheel in the rest of the scene. And in the last shot of the sequence, as Ed keeps reading, the hand has dropped down already. Also, technically he had the hand on the steering wheel but not holding it, while in the close-up with the animated picture, he is gripping it. (01:35:10)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Iris enters the house of the widow with no problem, just turning the knob, and just lets the door close behind her - yet when O'Malley has to escape, people outside the door are frantically trying to open the door to no avail.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: As the swindling painter tickles/pats the chin of the lady his compadre is snatching the money from, he does that with his thumb outwards or inwards as we switch from shot to reverse shot.

Sammo

Cotton Comes to Harlem mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the police catches the pickpocketer at the beginning, they literally lift him off the ground. There is a close-up shot in between, and the lack of continuity is apparent in the hand position of the man. Not just that: vehicles obviously disappear and appear in every cut.

Sammo

Coffin Ed: What the hell do the attorney general, the state department, or even the President of the United States know about one god-damn thing that's going on up here in Harlem?

More quotes from Cotton Comes to Harlem

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