How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Continuity mistake: When JB talks to Ms. Jones on the intercom after talking to his wife on the telephone, he asks where the "You know" is. She says "It's in your top right-hand drawer." You can see him moving to his left.

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Suggested correction: Correct, but if you look at the desk in the wider angle from earlier in the scene, that would be the position of the rightmost drawer in it - the part of the desk the telephone sits on is a curve with no drawers. He has to move to his left no matter what.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: When Finch first gets the job at World Wide Wickets, he asks Bratt to light his cigar. The shot then changes to Rosemary and her friends, and when it comes back to Finch, the cigar has disappeared.

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Suggested correction: Actually, no! His left hand is not in frame anymore, but he is looking at it with a "What am I gonna do with this thing?" expression. And even after a long while and a lengthy cut to the president's nephew, at the very end of the scene when Finch says bye to Rosemary and her friends, he's specifically shown holding the cigar as he flips through his book.

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Continuity mistake: During the board meeting, watch the moment when Ponty namedrops Dr. Kildare. Mr. Bratt is a couple inches away from him, but in the reaction shot looks like he's sitting far away from him. (01:38:50)

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Continuity mistake: When Ponty's rival asks at the board meeting "May I ask a question?" the man with the cigar is smoking it, and then just holds it in his hand next. (01:37:25)

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Continuity mistake: In the executive washroom, Finch says "Wish me luck"; Mr. Bratt wishes him luck grinning like a shark. He has his left hand in his pocket, but in the previous shot his arm was folded. (01:30:50)

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Continuity mistake: When J.B.Biggley gives Finch 48 hours to present the campaign, the man next to Finch puts the cigar out of his mouth, and is chewing on it in the next shot. (01:16:25)

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Continuity mistake: Ponty just got from Miss Jones the information about his boss' Alma mater. He is then trying to tell Rosemary something in front of the elevator, but Smitty next to them seems to sorta hinder them. Smitty is putting a glove on, and in the next shot not only she has it on, but her arms are crossed. (00:38:25)

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Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie, Finch hops on the boom platform to start his day as window cleaner. His fellow co-worker on the platform is a guy with a big pompadour. A minute later Finch breaks into his song (and into the building) and his co-worker is now a different man with shorter hair. (00:03:35)

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Continuity mistake: When the chief of personnel Mr. Bratt leads Miss Hedy LaRue towards the stairs, a woman in an orange and beige dress is moving down the same stairs. In the close-up of the derrière of Maureen Arthur the aforementioned woman is coming down the stairs again and starting from one of the top steps. (00:31:35)

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Continuity mistake: J.B. Biggley at the elevators realises he's going to be blackmailed by his nephew Bud Frump. Bud's hands change position on the suitcase throughout the scene.

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Continuity mistake: There is an executive lackey next to president Biggley that tells Finch he committed "industrial suicide." If you look at the earlier part of the scene when Biggley was talking, that man was holding his newspaper at a different height depending on the camera angle used. (00:06:00)

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Continuity mistake: Finch bumps into the president of the company himself. Unscathed, J.B. Biggley tells everyone to go back to work. Finch straightens his jacket, which pops the collar of the shirt out, but in the next shot he's still hunched over with the shirt burrowed under the jacket. (00:05:55)

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Continuity mistake: When Ponty wishes Miss Jones luck at the bowling tournament, she stops and turns. She also happens to hold her notepad in completely different ways in the two shots. (00:36:50)

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Continuity mistake: During the crescendo and ending of "Gotta stop that man", the towel rests on Finch's upper arm and shoulder differently in different shots.

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Continuity mistake: Ponty rebuffs Hedy's offer and says "Rosemary's going to be my secretary" holding her by the bare upper arms in the first shot, her sleeves in the next. (01:24:55)

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Continuity mistake: At the rooftop party, the president tells the other executives that the boy is "loaded with ideas"; rather obvious continuity mistake when you look at the man on the far left, who in one shot is drinking and in the next is not. (01:15:50)

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Continuity mistake: Finch is spying Mr. Ovington; between shots the position of his brush is inconsistent and there are obvious variations in the soaped up part of the window. (01:11:40)

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Continuity mistake: Rosemary gifts Ponty a yellow flower for his new office. When she leaves and Miss LaRue saunters towards the desk, the flower is pointing the other way. (01:02:40)

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Continuity mistake: When it's time for the meddling nephew to sing his version of "Been a long day", Miss LaRue says the kid "could even name the hotel" and strikes a pose with her fingers pointing towards herself. Cut, her hand is outstretched, fingers pointing out. (00:44:25)

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Continuity mistake: During the second part of her performance in "Been A Long Day", Rosemary says "For dinner we could meet", placing entirely out of the way the magazines that she is still clutching to her chest in the next shot. (00:40:20)

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