Revealing mistake: In the kitchen scene where Sonny is talking on the phone one can see that the lower portion of the telephone handset has no internal parts. (00:48:50)
Continuity mistake: When Tessio delivers the bulletproof vest and the fish, Sonny's hands are in one position (one below, one on top of the parcel), a fraction of a second later they are in a very different position (both on top, unwrapping). The parcel is half open while Tessio is carrying it but fully closed when he puts it on Sonny's lap. (00:52:55)
Continuity mistake: Before Paulie is shot, Clemenza gets out of the car to relieve himself and walks only a few steps away from the car. As Clemenza hears the gunshot, he looks back at the car to see Paulie slumped over the steering wheel, and the car is a much greater distance away, than just the few feet he had walked away from it. As Clemenza walks back to the car, it again takes him only a mere few steps. (00:54:40)
Suggested correction: This is wrong. The shot taken from a distance is not where Clemenza is standing. You can actually see Clemenza standing just a few feet to the right of the car from this distance shot. The scene is accurate.
Visible crew/equipment: After Paulie gets shot there's a reflection of a cameraman in the small triangular side window of the car. (00:55:10)
Continuity mistake: When Diane Keaton and Al Pacino have dinner, he gets up, puts on his coat and sits down again. Now watch Diane Keaton's glass: When the camera's on Al Pacino she's holding the stem, but when the camera's on her she's holding the body of the glass. Another mistake is that at the end of the scene the amount of wine in her glass suddenly doubles. (00:58:00)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where McCluskey breaks Michael's jaw the two cops who hold Michael by his arms get replaced by two others between shots. (01:06:25)
Continuity mistake: When they're all deciding whether to wait until the Don is better before making a deal with Sollozzo, the cigar box is closed. The camera cuts away for a second, then back and Sonny closes the miraculously open box. He can't have opened it while the camera was elsewhere, because opening it would have taken the lid right past the camera. (01:09:30)
Continuity mistake: When Michael announces that he is going to kill Sollozzo, his speech suddenly is mumbled. Also the props in his swollen cheek change shape several times in this scene, as well as the way his hair is combed. (01:11:45)
Revealing mistake: When Michael is riding in the car with Sollozzo before the assassination, notice the headlights in the rear window during the close-up. You can notice that many of them move directly on top and underneath each other, impossible for real car's headlights to do such a thing. (01:21:25)
Factual error: On the way to the meeting when Michael is going to kill Solozzo, the car made a U-turn on the George Washington Bridge (GWB), which connects Manhattan to New Jersey. However, the scene is shot on the Queensborough (59th Street) Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Queens. They look nothing alike, the GWB is a suspension bridge, the Queensborough Bridge is a cantilever bridge. (01:22:35)
Continuity mistake: After Michael shoots Sollozzo in the head, he turns to McCluskey and shoots him in the throat and then in the head. But in the long shot, before he shoots McCluskey in the head, you already can see the hole in the forehead. (01:25:15)
Audio problem: When Vito Corleone is brought back from the hospital and he is upstairs in his bedroom with his other family members, after his grandson Frank gives him his gift, the baby who was just crying has his mouth completely closed while the audio has him still crying as they leave the room. (01:33:00)
Other mistake: While Michael is talking with the Sicilian father, requesting to meet his daughter, the camera jostles twice, between the close shots of both men. (01:40:00 - 01:46:00)
Continuity mistake: When they're all having a meal in Sicily, watch behind Appollonia. Two people, one in red, one in white, walk past in the same direction twice - once in a wide shot, and once in a close-up of Appollonia. (01:40:35)
Revealing mistake: When Sonny is punching Carlo under the spraying fire hydrant, he misses an audible punch by at least six inches. (01:43:30)
Other mistake: After Sonny is shot on the causeway, there are a very large number of bullet exit holes visible on the sides of the tollbooths, which could only have been made if the gunmen shot through the walls (not the windows) of the buildings from the inside. This is common in movies. In real life, bullet entry holes in wood appear as small black dots, not the more dramatic-looking splintered gashes made on the other side of the wood as the bullet exits. (01:52:40)
Continuity mistake: When Sonny is gunned down at the toll station the bullet holes in the car roof disappear and reappear. Plus, there are some dents in the roof where the bullet holes appear. (01:52:45)
Continuity mistake: Right before Sonny collapses his jacket is covered with with blood. When he is shot at while he is lying on the ground the amount of blood has gone down substantially. (01:52:55)
Continuity mistake: When Sonny is shot at the toll booth the front windshield is torn apart by bullets yet when the bodyguards arrive thirty seconds later, the windshield is intact. (01:53:20)
Factual error: In the scene where all the heads of families meet shortly after Sonny's death, there is an exterior shot of a large grey-brick building with an American flag hanging from it. If you look carefully, the flag is a current flag with 50 stars, with alternating rows of indented stars. But, the scene is takes place circa late 1940's when there were only 48 states and all the rows of stars were even. (By the way, the flag inside the meeting room is the correct one.) (02:01:05)
