The Quiet American

Factual error: At the end of the movie, Harry Truman is quoted in 1954 in laying out the domino theory, but it was his successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower who did that.

Continuity mistake: When Pyle comes to Fowler's place on the night of his assassination his dog leaves a footprint in the uncured concrete in the hallway where some tiling work hasn't been finished yet. In close-up the line of tiles at the border has a step that wasn't there before. (01:12:45)

NancyFelix

More mistakes in The Quiet American

Thomas Fowler: I have never thought of myself as a correspondent, just a reporter. I offer no point of view, I take no action, I don't get involved. I just report what I see.
Alden Pyle: But you must have an opinion.
Thomas Fowler: Even an opinion is a form of action.

More quotes from The Quiet American

Trivia: The officer speaking French is true to historical facts: it was mainly the French Foreign Legion fighting in Indochina at the time. However, the troops were predominantly of German origin (ex Wehrmacht and SS soldiers) and there is no detectable German accent in their French. True, this could be a fully French unit, thus no mistake. In live movies and interviews from the time, German accents in French are common.

Airborne60

More trivia for The Quiet American

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.