Continuity mistake: As Marlowe walks into room 428 in the Fulwider Building the light switch on the right of the door is lit up. In the next shot from the other side of the door it's not. (01:30:00)
Continuity mistake: Inside Eddie Mars' nightclub Marlowe talks to one of the hostesses at the coat check counter. The strap on the pocketbook in front of him is on top of the counter but in the next shot as she walks away the strap is draped over the edge of the counter. (01:06:10)
Continuity mistake: As she sits on his desk Marlowe asks Lauren Bacall, "You don't know any reason why they want $5,000 dollars for it?". At first he's touching the fingertips of both hands to each other then in the next shot his hands are folded. (00:34:25)
Continuity mistake: Marlowe and Lauren Bacall are both sitting on his desk and as he gets up she has her left hand wide open and is twirling her ring with her right hand. In the next shot her hands are folded in her lap. (00:36:50)
Continuity mistake: As Marlowe goes up to the front desk the librarian asks him, "Did you find what you wanted?" and another librarian is helping someone else. In the next shot that other librarian is not helping anyone and has her back towards the camera. (00:13:30)
Continuity mistake: Art Huck runs away after Marlowe fires a warning shot at him coming out of the house. Marlowe watches him as he runs away but looks in the wrong direction behind his car instead of to the front left where we see him running. (01:42:15)
Continuity mistake: After his car pulls up, Canino gets out and lights up a cigarette that he quickly throws to the ground when Lauren Bacal screams. Later, when Art Huck runs away after Marlowe shoots, we see that same spot again and the cigarette is now bent in half and in a different spot, almost under the car. (01:41:30)
Continuity mistake: When he first meets Gen. Sternwood, Marlowe takes off his coat and a book of matches appears behind his glass of Brandy on the table to the right of him. Later it disappears again. (00:03:30 - 00:06:10)
Continuity mistake: After she puts them down, the letters on the table that Carmen was looking at are rearranged when Norris the Sternwood's butler calls Marlowe in to see Gen. Sternwood. (00:02:30)
Continuity mistake: As they talk about Vivian and Carmen, Marlowe says, "both pretty, and both pretty wild" to Gen. Sternwood and sweat appears on Marlowe's entire shirt which was previously dry. (00:04:50)
Continuity mistake: In the restaurant Lauren Bacall pays Marlowe and says, "I hope this is satisfactory". When she hands him the check she's holding it from the edge but in the next shot she's holding it from the bottom and he's holding it from the edge. (01:02:10)
Continuity mistake: In the DA's office Marlowe says to Capt. Cronjager, " That's all, I was in a tough spot, I was probably wrong but I wanted to protect my client" and Marlowe's hat is on the DA's desk right next to his left arm. In the next shot an ash tray with a smoldering cigarette is next to his left arm (1945 Version on DVD). (01:04:45)
Continuity mistake: Joe Brody's killer, Carol Lundgren, gets into Marlowe's car and looks directly through the windshield. In the next shot when Marlowe gets into the car Lundgren's head is turned to the right looking at him getting in. (00:58:05)
Visible crew/equipment: Marlowe and Carmen Sternwood meet up with Eddie Mars at Arthur Gwynn Geiger's house and Mars says to him, "your story didn't sound quite right" but the closed caption is wrong and says "your story sounds wrong". (00:43:25)
Continuity mistake: After taking Carmen Sternwood to her bedroom, Norris the Sternwood's butler helps Marlowe put on his over coat as he prepares to leave. Marlowe wasn't wearing it when he came into the house though and there's no indication that he had it in Carmen's car because when they left Arthur Gwynn Geiger's house he didn't have it on. (00:27:15)
Continuity mistake: Before Marlowe throws Carmen Sternwood onto Arthur Gwynn Geiger's sofa we see a close-up of his coat which is wet from the rain. Two shots later he takes out the camera hidden in the hollow sculpture and his coat is dry. (00:23:15)
Continuity mistake: Marlowe goes into Geiger's house again to snoop around and he finds that Geiger's dead body has been removed. As he stands over the spot where the body was his shadow falls right on the bloodspot. In the next shot of him kneeling down and touching the blood stained carpet there's no shadow. (00:28:00)
Continuity mistake: In the Acme Book Shop, Marlowe says to Dorothy Malone, "I got my carÂ…" and her hands go from being at her sides to out in front of her playing with the pencil between shots. (00:17:10)
Continuity mistake: After Eddie Mars falls back threw the door bullet holes are sprayed across Geiger's door. A few seconds later Marlowe kicks the door shut and the bullet holes are not in the same place on the back of the door as they were before. (01:51:55)
Continuity mistake: Carmen Sternwood walks down the steps and picks up and looks at the mail when she first spots Marlowe. If you look at the handles on the side of the flowerpot you'll see that the centerpiece of roses on the table is rotated and rearranged between shots. (00:01:35)
