Goodfellas
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Revealing mistake: In the scene where Karen is too afraid to accept free clothes from Jimmy and speeds off, the yellow NY state license plate falls from the parked car to reveal the modern white one underneath. (02:11:35)

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Pauly talks to Henry and the restaurant owner about Henry's possible involvement in the restaurant biz, Pauly is talking with the cigar in his mouth and it cuts away to him saying "No?" with the cigar in his hand. (00:25:55)

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Continuity mistake: When Jimmy and Henry are talking to Morrie and the camera angle is behind Morrie you can see him holding the phone at his shoulder, when the camera angle switches he has the phone at his ear. Then the phone suddenly disappears when you can see both of his hands and then it comes back again right before Jimmy strangles him with it. (00:37:40)

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Continuity mistake: When Henry Hill is in jail and talking with his wife, the child is playing with a stack of coloured toy blocks. The order the blocks are stacked in change in different shots. (01:24:15)

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Continuity mistake: As the wiseguys in prison are about to have dinner, there are two loaves of bread on the table. The following shot one of the loaves disappears. (01:22:15)

Lummie

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Factual error: Early in the film, when Henry Hill is selling Pall Mall cigarettes out of a car trunk and is arrested, there are UPC price codes visible on the cartons of cigarettes. UPC codes were not used on products in the 1950's when the scene is taking place. They were introduced in the mid 1970s. (00:13:20)

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Continuity mistake: When Tommy shoots Spider in the foot and he goes down, Henry is playing cards at the table, then in the next scene Henry is helping Spider up, then the very next scene Henry is back at the table watching Spider crawl on the floor. (01:09:30)

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Continuity mistake: When Paulie is first introduced the long shot shows him holding his cigar next to his waist. The shot changes to a close up, and he is now holding the cigar up near his chest. (00:03:50)

Lummie

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Continuity mistake: When Henry is in prison and he comes in to the kitchen with food in a bag, he first passes some bread to Paul. In one shot he picks up 2 jars and a bottle of wine. The next shot he is carrying the same food but suddenly has a loaf of bread in his hands. When the camera angle switches we now see Henry in front of the table about to sit at the table but now has no food in his arms. (01:22:10)

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Continuity mistake: Whilst Jimmy is choking Morrie in the wig store the phone suddenly rings and the shot changes. Between shots the way Morrie is standing has all of a sudden changed. Instead of leaning back, he is bent forward. The way he is holding the phone whilst being choked changes as well. (00:38:30)

Lummie

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Continuity mistake: When Ray's girlfriend is showing off her apartment to her two girlfriends they walk down the hall to the bedroom. The camera then changes to them entering the bedroom door and the order of girls has changed.

Goodfellas mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Henry and Jimmy are eating in a diner waiting for word about Tommy being "made". When Jimmy goes outside to make the call to find out, there is a car parked outside the diner, at this point, the car's window is open. When Jimmy starts kicking over the phonebooth and Henry comes outside to join him, the car's window is closed. (01:51:35)

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Continuity mistake: After Henry beats up Karen's neighbour with his pistol, he puts the gun in Karen's hand. In the close up the gun is resting in her palm, but in wide shots of Karen and Henry she is holding the gun more by its barrel. (00:40:50)

Lummie

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Continuity mistake: When Henry has just shown De Niro the guns and he returns to his car, you see him light up a cigarette. When the shot changes the cigarette has vanished. (01:54:45)

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Continuity mistake: While Henry and Jimmy are beating up the guy in the car, Henry is holding a gun up to the guy's face. A few times during the scene, it changes back and forth from the gun pressed right up against his face to the gun a little away from his face. (01:17:50)

Lummie

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Visible crew/equipment: When James is in the phone booth and he gets the call about Tommy, the camera moves in really quickly. The reflection of the lens is visible for some time as James talks on the phone. Left of screen.

manthabeat

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Continuity mistake: Henry picks up Karen from a phone booth after her neighbor tries to attack her. The left side of her shirt is dirty. When Henry drops her at home and beats up the neighbor, Karen's shirt is completely clean. (00:39:36 - 00:41:10)

Ben's Mom

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Continuity mistake: After Henry gives Paulie a share of the money he took from the air port, Paulie tells him to say that he got the rest of the money playing Craps in Vegas. Paulie's left hand is around Henry's back with his hand flat out on his shoulder. When it cuts to a close up as Paulie is playfully slapping his cheek with his other hand, his left hand is now suddenly balled up in a different position on Henry's shoulder. (00:35:30)

Quantom X

Continuity mistake: When Paulie and Jimmy go to visit Henry at his girlfriend Janice's apartment to talk to him, after Paulie sits down and begins the conversation with Henry, both a Star of David pendant and a crucifix pendant can be seen hanging from the necklace around Henry's neck. At first the Star of David is hanging over the crucifix, then it has switched to the crucifix hanging over the Star of David. (01:16:15)

More mistakes in Goodfellas

Tommy DeVito: You know Spider, you're a fuckin' mumbling stuttering little fuck. You know that?

More quotes from Goodfellas
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: False. Joe Pesci told the anecdote to Scorsese in the earliest stages of the movie. Scorsese asked him to add it during previous script readings and further rehearsals while notes were being taken by crew members. Then it was finally shot following those rehearsals and notes. In this video all the actors involved tell how Scorsese works and even he himself says he rewrote that scene 4 times. Minute 13:04: https://youtu.be/_bbzUZuxEB8.

Sacha

I have actually seen interviews where they admitted it was improvised. The reactions from the other actors was genuine.

lartaker1975

Just submitted a link to a video where they tell how they improvised during rehearsals and then scripted it.

Sacha

More trivia for Goodfellas

Question: In the scene where Tommy believes he is being made, right after he walks into the room you hear him say "Oh no!" right before he is shot. Tommy obviously realizes that he was set up. However, what is it that he sees in the room that tips him off?

Answer: He was expecting a crowded room full of friends congratulating him. Also it was common knowledge among the mafia that being walked into an empty room when you were due to be made meant you were about to be executed, so Tommy likely knew he'd met his end just moments before the shot.

William Bergquist

Answer: A man being 'made' is an event shrouded in ceremony. The top people in the family are there, among others to congratulate the new soldier. Tommy walked into an empty room.

Just as others have pointed out, the film implies Tommy realised something was wrong the moment he walked in and saw the place was empty...no other "made men" there for the ceremony. However, I always wondered why he hadn't caught on to what was happening when he saw there were only a couple vehicles parked out in the driveway.

Answer: Either the fact that the room was empty (being made is a big ceremonial event with many people) or he felt the gun pressed against the back of his head right before they shot him.

Answer: There should have been more people waiting for him.

Answer: Wasn't the floor covered with a plastic sheet? That would have given it away.

Or it was a floor with no carpet (tiled, I believe)...easier to mop up.

More questions & answers from Goodfellas

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