CC

The Bonfire Of The Manatees - S17-E1

Factual error: Alec Baldwin, as an expert on manatees, says that they are also called dugongs. Manatees are found in Atlantic coastal waters and in the Amazon and tributaries. The dugong is a distinct species found in the coastal waters of the Indian and southwest Pacific oceans.

CC

Factual error: As director Ronald Neame himself points out in his commentary to the DVD, immediately after Sandy has been heating a piece of bread in the fireplace, she grabs the end of the fork on which it is placed and does not burn herself. (00:19:00)

CC

Factual error: The famous battle between Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex (which is incorrectly depicted as having three claws) never took place: Stegosaurus was extinct before Tyrannosaurus evolved. (Stegosaurus lived in the Jurassic, Tyrannosaurus in the Cretaceous.)

CC

Factual error: One of the operetta excerpts shown in the movie is the humorous song "This Helmet I Suppose," during which Princess Ida's three brothers are supposed to remove their armor piece by piece, finding it heavy, hot and awkward. Partly as a result of this, the three are soon afterwards quickly and easily defeated in combat. In the film, however, only Arac, the brother singing the verses (played by Richard Temple (played by Timothy Spall)), removes his armor. The others simply stand still. (This might have made the battle scene end differently if it was shown on screen!)

CC

Factual error: When Gilbert's rehearsal accompanist Mrs. Russell, who is bilingual in Italian and English, becomes exasperated, she says, "Ma non posso lavoro così." ("But I can't work like this.") This should be "Ma non posso lavorare così." ("Lavoro" would be either the first person singular of the present tense indicative ("I work") or the noun "work.") Her accent is spot on, however.

CC

Factual error: This film deals with the events leading up to and including the creation and original production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "The Mikado." The performance of the trio "Three Little Maids From School" includes a bassoon solo (occurring twice after the words "freed from its genius tutelary") that was not actually added until years later. However, performing the piece in a form other than its definitive and improved version would certainly be carrying authenticity too far.

CC

Factual error: Oswald says that "Vermeer only painted twenty-six paintings and three of those are dubious." There are in fact thirty-five known to be extant (one recently stolen) of which only one is regarded as dubious. In addition, there have been descriptions of six (or possibly eight) others that seem to be missing. (00:35:10)

CC

Factual error: In explaining the failure of her first pregnancy, Alba says, "I had an infection: mercury poisoning." Mercury poisoning is not an infection. (00:17:40)

CC

Factual error: This is not an error in the film itself, but in some supplementary material on the DVD, in which Margot FitzSimons, the actress who plays Bridie, is identified as the sister of Maureen O'Sullivan. She is in fact the sister of Maureen O'Hara.

CC

Factual error: Alba Bewick tells Oliver that she wanted to have twenty-six children. Her first child, Alpha, did not survive; her second was her daughter Beta. Oliver tells her there aren't twenty-six letters in the Greek alphabet, there are only twenty-three. There are in fact twenty-four. [This is quite possibly the character's mistake rather than the author/director's. There is a scene later in which Oliver and Oswald playfully and deliberately give Beta bits of obviously wrong information (00:39:27). Besides, director Peter Greenaway delights in playing games with his audience - to put it mildly. Also, at one point Oswald mentions that Vermeer painted twenty-six paintings, of which three are dubious (00:35:13-15). This gives us the same totals as Oliver's two alphabets. Was a connection intended (whatever the point might be)? At another point (00:53:12), Oswald catches Oliver in an egregious error, establishing his fallibility.] (00:17:45)

CC