The Blob (1958)

2 factual errors - chronological order

★★★★★

Directed by: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., Russell S. Doughten Jr.

Starring: Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe, Olin Howland

Factual error: Steve McQueen remarks that the chunk of meteorite is hot - though this is a common misconception (and probably belongs on several movies' boards), meteorites are almost invariably cold, given that by the time they hit Earth their frigid inner layers are exposed by the friction of air drag. (00:20:40)

Factual error: In the police station, when Dave receives a call from Jim, the phone sits atop a phone book marked "Seaford/Laurel" on the spine. The towns of Seaford and Laurel are next to each other in Maryland, while the movie takes place in Chester County, Pennsylvania, notably around Downingtown and Phoenixville. Laurel is over 100 miles from Chester County. There is no reason for a Chester County police station to have a phone book from towns 100 miles away. (04:03:33)

William Lanigan

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Mistakes

Continuity mistake: When everyone is running out of the theater, a woman with a red belt and yellow purse can be seen exiting with the other terrified patrons. A few seconds later, the exact same woman is seen running out of the theater again.

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Quotes

Steve Andrews: You sure you want to go with me?
Jane Martin: Yes.
Steve Andrews: I wouldn't give much for our chances, us running around in the middle of the night, looking for something that if we found it, it might kill us.

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Questions

Question: At the end of the movie, we see the frozen blob dropped from an airplane over Antarctica using three large cargo parachutes, where hopefully it will remain frozen forever. My question is... If the goal was to destroy the blob, why did they bother wasting parachutes on it? Why not just kick it out of the plane and let it splat when it hits the ground?

Answer: It could shatter into a million pieces. Even the most microscopic piece could float away to international waters, thaw out, and go on a rampage again. It needed to stay intact. Not one piece should get away. The Blob wasn't dead; it was frozen.