Continuity mistake: Before the birds fly out of the fireplace the pillow that Melanie is sitting on is behind her back. She doesn't touch it but after she gets up the pillow is against the side of the couch. (00:54:30)
Continuity mistake: Before the birds fly out of the fireplace Mitch puts his napkin on the table to his right with the dark green side up. As the birds fly out of the fireplace the napkin has been flipped over to the light green side without being touched. (00:54:30)
Continuity mistake: The top magazine piled on the table to the left of Lydia is seen protruding out over the edge in front of the others. It's moved back after the birds fly out of the fireplace. (00:54:30)
Continuity mistake: As the birds fly out of the fireplace the silver ashtray on the table to the right of Mitch moves closer to him. (00:54:35)
Continuity mistake: The napkin that Cathy has under her plate changes position and becomes more spread out between shots as the birds fly out of the fireplace. (00:54:35)
Continuity mistake: When Melanie looks over at the fireplace and sees the lone bird standing there the logs are brand new and ready to be burned. When the rest of the sparrows come down the chimney the logs are burnt. (00:54:40)
Continuity mistake: There are two red books on the living room table next to Mitch's napkin. No one goes near them but later in this scene when everyone has left and the birds are flying around Mitch's dinner plate is there but the red books are not. (00:54:45 - 00:56:10)
Continuity mistake: Lydia puts her plate of food on the table in front of her as she gets up. She never touches it again, but later on in the bird attack the plate of food has been moved onto the couch near Melanie's plate in front of the red pillow. (00:54:50)
Continuity mistake: As the birds start flying around the room Lydia gets up and the green pillow behind her is on the left and the red pillow is on the right. When Mitch overturns the table the red is on the left and the green on the right. (00:54:50)
Continuity mistake: As the birds are flying around the house we see in the close-up that the fireplace has three logs. The right half of the log in the middle moves up onto the log in the front between shots. (00:55:05)
Continuity mistake: As the birds fly out of the fireplace, the pillows that Lydia was sitting on have been fluffed up between shots. (00:55:15)
Continuity mistake: As he places the table over the opening of the fireplace Mitch's hands change position between shots. In the second shot he's holding the leg of the table, in the first he's not. (00:55:15)
Continuity mistake: Mitch takes two pillows from the couch and stuffs them into the openings between the fireplace and the table. Right after he does this each pillow falls but in the later shot the crew has tacked them up again in different spots. (00:55:15)
Continuity mistake: Mitch picks up the table with both hands holding the legs and this is how he places it up against the fireplace. Later we see it again as everyone exits the house and the table has been moved 90 degrees so that one lone leg is now at the top. (00:55:15)
Continuity mistake: Mitch puts the table up against the opening of the fireplace twice. The first time the bottom of the table is pushed up closer to the fireplace than the second. (00:55:15)
Continuity mistake: Earlier when the birds come out of the fireplace Mitch puts his plate of food down on the table in front of him. Later when he turns the table over, the plate of food is not there. (00:55:15)
Other mistake: In the close-up of Melanie holding Cathy Lydia starts to laugh as she tries to fend off all those birds. (00:55:30)
Visible crew/equipment: As the birds fly around the house there's a close-up of Melanie holding Cathy with Lydia in the background. If you look closely near the picture on the left wall you can see the shadow of the wires holding up some of the birds. (00:55:30)
Continuity mistake: When the birds invade the house from the fireplace Melanie's hairdo is completely messed up. In the very next scene with the policeman, Melanie's hairdo is perfect. (00:55:32 - 00:56:00)
Continuity mistake: In the scene with the policeman, Melanie suggests that she should stay for the night. Look closely at the mantle above the fireplace to in the right of the picture there is a jar with something sticking out of it. In the previous shot this jar is empty. (00:55:55 - 00:57:45)
Answer: The movie takes place in the 1960s, so presumably gas pumps worked a bit differently back then. This is also a small town and probably the gas station had not modernized. There may not have been automatic shut-offs, or if there was, it was faulty.
raywest ★
The automatic shut off is in the handle of the hose. When a person grips the handle they have to lift a levered switch to allow gas flow; the lever is spring loaded so that if it is released the gas will stop flowing. I have looked at older antique gas pumps and they are all the same; even the visible glass gravity flow ones. If that hose was dropped the the gas should have stopped flowing.
michael g