Sammo

Problem at Sea - S1-E7

Plot hole: In the original novel, the victim's voice is described as "shrill." In here, it's quite the opposite. When the trick for the alibi is performed, the relevant lines are not read by John Normington, thus Poirot's exposition at the end, with the girl providing the voiceover, indirectly further exposes its unbelievability.

Sammo

Problem at Sea - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: When Mr. Russell interrupts Hastings' plans of randomly shooting in the middle of the Alexandria harbor, an empty brandy glass is on the table next to him in the first shot, and comes closer the second time he's in frame. (the two shots are not strictly consecutive but there's no reason why the frail old man, still in the same position both times, would pull his empty glass a couple inches closer when off-camera). (00:26:20)

Sammo

Problem at Sea - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: Clapperton demonstrates how he can deal cards of his choosing at will and therefore he refrains from playing bridge. In the close-up of his hand and table you can see the cards he dealt are stacked irregularly, but when he deals the last 4s the cards are more neatly arranged, spread in a fan. (00:17:10)

Sammo

Factual error: It's common in movies of certain eras to have cars catch fire when in real life they would not, and the car flip that concludes the chase at the beginning of the movie offers an example of that...but goes even further, much further, when you see the armored van impacting against the roof of the flipped car causing it to explode with such violence and inferno of flames coming from within the passenger seats you'd swear it had to be driven by giant dynamite sticks with arms and legs. (00:15:25)

Sammo

Revealing mistake: When the guy who was stealing money from the lady's garter gets run over by the getaway car, it's obvious that the actor stops way before connecting with the corner of the car - and the trajectory of his bump afterwards does not make any physical sense. (00:15:15)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the sequence when Gravedigger and Coffin toss up in the air one of the guys who walked up to them provoking them, all the dynamic of the toss is just plain odd looking, he continuity of the guy standing up is choppy, and the light appears to be changing radically as well. (00:08:40)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Legate smears the face of Lindsay Tate with the ice cream in a close-up. In the wider shot, the pink goo has gathered mostly to the point of the chin, unlike the previous shot. (00:35:00)

Sammo

This Property Is Condemned mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Robert Redford's shirt is heavily bloodstained in the close-ups after he gets beaten up, but has just a couple little blood drips before and after, when Alva helps him get up. (01:09:25)

Sammo

19th Sep 2019

Bird on a Wire (1990)

Audio problem: When the cop comes out of the windshield of the SUV the train smashed into, he utters a "Goddamn" dubbed in, his lips not even moving. (00:40:30)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Factual error: The mysterious venom used to perpetrate the murder comes according to the English coroner from a "Vilitilio Occius", said to be a horn viper. Nothing wrong with artistic liberties making up animal species, but the name itself appears to be pseudo-latin with no real meaning or any closeness to other snakes, so not a particularly believable one.

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Factual error: At the end of the report on the findings of the crime scene, the "Italian" inspector tells to his subordinates what literally would translate as "Removes this meddler from here, no more access to the prisoner, that you understand?", which is just wrong in accent, cadence and construct. (00:36:30)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Factual error: When Poirot leaves customs with Mademoiselle Lyall, one of the supposed Italians asks in that language "What's happening, what is this noise?", which does not make sense in context, especially with the officer just shrugging and showing him the card. (00:32:55)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: Sitting down with Miss Lyall as she coughs, Valentine invariably has her left hand up when shot by the right side, just the elbow on the armrest, while every time she is shot from the left side she has the whole arm leaning on the chair, hand down. (00:29:00)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Other mistake: The man in front of Poirot in the line to embark argues supposedly in Italian with the officer: he does it in broken Italian but trying to pronounce informal words (even an incredibly explicit and vulgar curse at the end!) with unnatural cadence and a very thick Spanish accent. (00:28:30)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Deliberate mistake: The day of his scheduled departure, Poirot overhears conversations (mainly the one from the window of his room) he couldn't possibly be hearing given the long distance outdoors and the tone of voice. His reactions are shown as if he could hear and not simply see and infer the meaning. (00:23:00)

Sammo

Triangle at Rhodes - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: Poirot at the ruins meets Mrs. Gold, and he starts telling her more about the local findings. You can see in the faraway shot how next to the fence two guys are working by the goat. One of them has a black beret, the other the typical saharienne outfit. Change shot, and as Poirot lets out a "What a beautiful day" remark, the dude in black becomes another man in khaki instead. (00:13:20)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: At the dinner table, the doctor says "My sole concern is for the welfare of my patients." Pay attention to Lockhart during the two following reverse shots: in both those shots the same two elder patients walk by in the background crossing the screen from left to right carrying their plates. (00:46:00)

Sammo

Stupidity: During the movie, the bad guys keep the main character alive and free to roam the facility at will (even if they made him sign an incriminating form at the very beginning stating he's an inmate) doing absolutely nothing to restrict his freedom till the very end - he even retains personal effects like his broken Rolex and lighter, his wallet full of cash! He breaks into every forbidden area, picks up fights, damages property, escapes multiple times and 'corrupts' the person the whole facility is built for. He is worth absolutely nothing to them and has nobody waiting for him or that will look for him.

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Back after the little adventure at the burg, Hannah gets up from bed. By the window she turns and asks the doctor "When?" and clings to the doll bringing her hands closer, but in the subsequent shot (when Volmer says "Come here") her grip has loosened again and her hands are at distance. (01:23:00)

Sammo

Factual error: Speaking with Miss Watkins, the protagonist learns of the backstory of the complex, and how in 1814, the local baron was running all sorts of experiments on "his own peasants." The movie though is set in Switzerland, where the power of nobilty was considerably lower and less traditionally 'feudal' than in most neighbouring countries (and stayed as such even after the Congress of Vienna). In particular this castle supposedly is in the canton of Graubünden (aka Grisons), where within the context of the Three Leagues you'd have been hard pressed finding a 'baron' ruling lands, a radical prohibition of nobility, titles and particles having been enacted, surely with no life and death powers over his serfs.

Sammo

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Even though Swiss nobilities were prohibited doesn't mean anyone with a nobility wasn't allowed to own land in Switzerland. They were simply not priviledged as a noble anymore. He could have been made Baron in Italy, Austria or France. The Count de Salis-Seewis is still a count to this day, with land and mansions and everything, in Grisons. Of course a Baron could still live in a castle in Switzerland in 1814, even in Grisons. The acts he performed on his serfs were illegal and criminal, but he held it secret.

lionhead

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.