Continuity mistake: As Melanie drives up to the school to check on Cathy her car is dripping a nice straight line of fluid on the gravel behind it. This is the second take of this shot because there is a lighter straight line of fluid in exactly the same spot in front the car as she drives up. (01:08:15)
Continuity mistake: Melanie's car changes positions from the time she parks near the front steps of the school. As Melanie walks out of the school to sit by the monkey bars to when she runs back to the school, and then when the children run out of the school. (01:09:30 - 01:11:40)
Continuity mistake: At the school, as Melanie sits down to have a smok,e the dark markings on the upper plank of the wooden fence behind her move higher between shots. (01:09:50)
Continuity mistake: When Melanie takes her cigarette case out of her pocketbook she holds it in her right hand between her thumb and four fingers. In the next shot her index finger is inside the case. (01:09:55)
Continuity mistake: After coming back out of the school Melanie sits down to have a smoke and the strap of her handbag is in the crook of her arm. In the next shot it's around her wrist touching her watch. (01:09:55)
Continuity mistake: When the first bird perches on the monkey bars behind Melanie the sun is behind her as you can see by the long shadow she casts as she walks to the chair. In the close-up she casts a shadow in the opposite direction on the fence. (01:09:55)
Continuity mistake: As the birds gather on the monkey bars behind Melanie she looks to her right and straight up and sees one lone bird flying past a television antenna. This is incorrect because first of all she's looking up to high and second we've seen in that direction and there is no house there, just a hill. The house is across the street. (01:11:10 - 01:33:05)
Continuity mistake: When Melanie gets up and looks at the birds massed on the monkey bars the area behind her is a tree and a field. This background changes entirely when she and Mitch walk up to find Annie's body and there is what looks like a junk yard with a valley behind it. (01:11:20 - 01:30:00)
Continuity mistake: Before Melanie runs back into the school to warn them about the birds, the sun was behind the school. Now her shadow on the steps is in the wrong direction, going in front of her. (01:11:45)
Continuity mistake: As Melanie runs to Annie in the classroom and says, "Close that door quickly," all the children's jackets and sweaters and everything on the bench below changes between shots. (01:12:00)
Continuity mistake: As Melanie runs to Annie, the pile of papers on the left of her desk changes between shots and a blue booklet appears on top. (01:12:00)
Continuity mistake: When Melanie runs back into the classroom Annie's hands are by her sides. In the next shot they're up higher. (01:12:00)
Continuity mistake: As the children leave the school none of them go to the coat rack to get their coats. Later many are wearing their coats while running down the hill. (01:13:05)
Continuity mistake: As the children start running down the hill away from the school the road is wet. In the next shot of the same spot it's dry. (01:13:30)
Continuity mistake: The kid in the purple plaid shirt and white pants is the first down the street way in front of everybody else. But in the next two shots he's in the back of the pack looking back at the school both times. (01:13:30)
Continuity mistake: As the school children start running down the hill Melanie holds her hand out to a little girl in a mustard colored sweater. In the next shot the little girl is running alone in middle of the pack near the left of the screen. (01:13:35)
Continuity mistake: As the school children are running down the hill a white fence appears between shots in the background on the right of the screen. (01:13:40)
Continuity mistake: As Melanie drove past the propane tanks down the road from the school the sun was to her right casting a shadow to the left of the car. As the children pass the exact same spot the sun is over their left shoulders, casting a shadow in front and to the right of them. (01:13:40)
Continuity mistake: The second shot of the background of the school and the children running down the hill is superimposed behind the five live action children in the front. Watch the boy to the right in the red sweater very closely because in the next shot he doesn't change but the five children in the front do. (01:13:40)
Continuity mistake: The blonde girl in the red with the red bows in her hair has a crow on her head that suddenly jumps to her right shoulder between shots. (01:13:45)
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