Withnail & I

Withnail & I (1987)

4 corrected entries

(1 vote)

Corrected entry: In some scenes, barcodes are visible on cola cans - barcodes weren't around in the 60's.

Correction: Not true. There have been a variety of systems in place since the late 1940s and what we know now as a barcode reader has been developed from these. The online encyclopedia 'Wikipedia' (should it be believed) gives a long and 'interesting' description about the development of barcodes - it is shorter to refer to that than to list it here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode.

Corrected entry: When Paul McGann leaves Uncle Monty's cottage to buy food and firewood from the farmer on the first morning of his 'holiday', he is wearing nothing but underpants underneath his raincoat. However, less than a minute later he is wearing a pair of dark trousers and a red jumper as he approaches, and climbs over, a locked gate. (00:37:25 - 00:38:15)

Correction: Not a continuity error - time has passed for Marwood to get changed before visiting the neighbouring farm.

Corrected entry: In about the penultimate scene of the film, Paul Mcgann packs his suitcase ruefully, placing a copy of 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' on top of his piled clothes. On the paperback's cover, there is a sophisticated reproduction of a painting of a steamboat. Such printing techniques were far beyond the capabilities of Penguin Books at the time the film is actually set, when the standard cover would have comprised a series of white and green/orange bands.

Correction: Not true. The other book was Huysman's Against Nature in the black 60s Penguin Classic edition which had a pictorial cover. This was right for the period. If there was a continuity mistake it was that the other book was an 8vo yellow black Penguin Classic, a series that wasn't introduced until the 80s.

Corrected entry: Withnail's car is an ancient, battered, rusty Jaguar which looks about 20 years old. However it is H registration and so would have been brand new when the film is set.

Correction: The car's number plate is '405 SBH', meaning it predates the number plate system, and therefore would be pre 1961. The car was made from 1955 so could be as old as that.

Continuity mistake: When Monty drives Withnail & I into Penrith the radish is on his left lapel. When they arrive in Penrith a few minutes later, the radish has mysteriously moved to his right lapel.

More mistakes in Withnail & I

Withnail: Are you the farmer?
Marwood: Shut up, I'll deal with this.
Withnail: We've gone on holiday by mistake. We're in this cottage here. Are you the farmer?
Marwood: Stop saying that Withnail, of course he's the fucking farmer!

More quotes from Withnail & I

Trivia: The lighter fluid scene was based on a real incident. Writer/ director, Bruce Robinson and actor Gregory Floy have both said that Vivian MacKerrell, the principal inspiration for Withnail, really did once drink lighter fluid. Gregory Floy also said that he walked round Regents Park in the pouring rain with Vivian, when he was due to go to the US for 6 months to appear in a play. Vivian was about to leave London and return to Nottingham and that it was very like the film's ending.

More trivia for Withnail & I

Question: At the pub in London, on Marwood returning from the toilet and saying "balls to Monty", Withnail says he's just spent an hour on the phone to Monty "flattering the bugger"? Surely Marwood wasn't in there for an hour and it's unlikely Withnail would have had time to phone Monty in the short while he surely must really have been in there, especially with a threatening guy sitting outside and likely to come in the longer he spent there.

More questions & answers from Withnail & I

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