Continuity mistake: At the Mar Vista rest home, as he smashes Claude Mulvihill's head into the front railing, Claude drops his gun to the floor and we see Jake's hat on the ground next to it. Mr. Palmer walks over and tries to pick the gun up as Jack kicks it away and we now see the hat is overturned even though Jack and Claude moved away from that spot during their fight. (01:19:30)
Continuity mistake: After Mr. Palmer walks over and tries to pick up Claude Mulvihill's gun (which Jack kicks away) we see Jack's hat on his left. In the next shot as Jake picks it up it's now on his right. (01:19:40)
Continuity mistake: Back from the Mar Vista rest home, Evelyn and Jake have a drink at her house and the tape on Jake's nose is flush with his nostril. In the next shot it's peeling off. (01:20:50)
Continuity mistake: After their visit to the Mar Vista rest home, Evelyn and Jake have a drink at her house and both glasses have more liquid in them between shots. (01:20:50)
Continuity mistake: In her bathroom Evelyn dabs Jake's nose with a piece of cotton and gets some blood on it. In the next shot it's another piece of cotton without any blood on it. Then in the shot after that the blood is back. (01:22:35)
Visible crew/equipment: After they make love Evelyn and Jake lay in bed and she says, "You really don't like to talk about the past, do you?" Listen closely as a crewmember moves around in the background. (01:24:20)
Continuity mistake: After he takes a shower Jake draws his shades and the light goes dark from the wrong direction, behind him instead of from the window. (01:35:45)
Continuity mistake: After he takes a shower Jake's stitches are very visible as they stick straight out of his nose. In the next shot they are different and you can hardly see them. This happens many times throughout the movie. (01:36:20)
Visible crew/equipment: As Jake drives up to Ida Sessions' house the crew can be seen filming across the street in the reflection on his car door. (01:37:50)
Continuity mistake: When Jake walks into Ida Sessions' house he looks into her bedroom and the shade on the left window is three quarters of the way up and in the dark. Several shots later we see this spot again and now the window is lit up and the shade is halfway down. (01:38:55 - 01:42:10)
Continuity mistake: At Ida Sessions' house, Lieutenant Escobar shows Jake his phone number on the wall above her phone. In the close-up of the phone number there's a card stuck in between the wall and the phone and if you look closely the left edge is frayed. When Jake walked into the room it wasn't. (01:41:00)
Continuity mistake: At Ida Sessions' house, Jake's tie has been retied and his collar changes if you look at them throughout the scene. (01:42:30)
Continuity mistake: Jake goes back to Evelyn Mulwray's house only to find the gardener working in the back yard. As he walks over to talk to him the shadow on the circular brick walkway goes from half shaded to totally shaded between shots. (01:46:05)
Continuity mistake: Jake spots Hollis Mulwray's glasses in the pond and the gardener goes in to fetch them. At first we see the glasses sitting on a rock in about six inches of water with hardly any seaweed around them. In the next shot he reaches in about two feet of water and pulls out the glasses encrusted in seaweed. (01:46:35)
Audio problem: At 1972 Canyon Drive, Jake pulls into the driveway and the sound of screeching wheels continue even after the car has stopped. (01:47:10)
Continuity mistake: At 1972 Canyon Drive, Jake walks up to the front door, which is in the shade. In the next shot, as he walks in, the door is lit up. (01:47:20)
Visible crew/equipment: When Gittes goes to Evelyn's house before she tells him the truth about her and Katherine, one of her servants opens the door and you can see in that precise moment the shadow of the camera on the door jamb on the left and on the wall next to the stairs while approaching to the actors. (01:47:23)
Continuity mistake: At 1972 Canyon Drive, the shadows on the left stairway wall change radically between shots as Jake walks in. (01:47:40)
Continuity mistake: At 1972 Canyon Drive, Evelyn Mulwray says to Jake after he walks threw the door, "Have you slept?". The pearl necklace she's fiddling with is over her collar in one shot and under it in the next. (01:47:45)
Continuity mistake: After Jake walks threw the door at 1972 Canyon Drive the mirrored makeup case in front of the staircase moves between shots. At first the top is angled slightly, then when we see it again it's opened fully and straight up in the air. (01:48:10)
