Stupidity: Clarice enters the ward with the most dangerous inmates, which is guarded by at least 2 male nurses and an officer, with CCTV and through 2 gates with bars that let the sound out perfectly. Before she enters, Barney the nurse even tells her he'll be watching, and Lecter is obviously the most important patient of the very small wing of the hospital. Clarice stays there barely a couple of minutes; the inmates begin to make a big ruckus, screaming wildly, but there's absolutely nobody to be seen at the gate, where everyone within earshot of the screaming patients would at least peek. Especially counting the fact that she already broke the regulation about getting close to the glass rather early in the chat, which should have alerted the guards. (00:12:00)
Sammo
10th Apr 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: On ground floor in Memphis, the female police officer says "No, nobody went up." Sgt. Tate at this point starts to croak something, and behind him as shots as heard one of the men behind him is walking forward. The feet of that person are in the circular section of the floor decoration, but in the next shot both policemen coming from that direction are a couple steps behind that spot. (01:18:50)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: The two guards approach Hannibal's cage and put down the tray with the lamb dinner. Lt. Boyle murmurs "Wonder what he wants for breakfast." He is passing the club to Sgt. Pembry holding it with his right hand on the tip. In the next shot, when he finishes quipping "Some damn thing from the zoo?" his hand is on the opposite end of the baton, past the handle. (01:15:10)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Clarice is at the desk of the Courthouse in Memphis. She hands the ID to the agent, who holds it with both hands. Cut, and he's holding it with just the right hand. The female agent next to him in the second shot is leaning against her own left hand, but she had both on the desk in the first shot. (01:05:30)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Other mistake: In Memphis, the vain Dr. Chilton is giving an interview in front of the courthouse. So the captions say, because the building he is talking in front of (in actuality the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburg) has just a dimly lit "Shelby County War Museum" sign. From the look of the hall, the latter seems to be correct. (01:05:10)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Immediately following the bit where Chilton has to sign without his precious pen, there is an establishing shot of the Memphis airport runway. Look at the Senator's limo, and her staff; she has three men with coats (1 grey 1 blue 1 camel) to her right, and to her left a man in a blue coat and one in a white coat at great mutual distance. But in the following close-up on Senator Ruth Martin and her posse, the two men on her left are one attached to the other, and the men on her right overlap starting in positions inconsistent with before. (01:02:25)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Dr. Frederick Chilton infamously leaves a pen on Hannibal's bed. The pen changes position between shots in a rather obvious way, doing almost a 180° turn. (01:00:15)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: When Buffalo Bill lowers the basket towards Catherine, the hair on her forehead changes wildly position between shots several times. (00:58:45)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Revealing mistake: In the examination of the corpse at the funeral house, a bug is removed from the throat of the victim. The bug is lodged deeply into the throat of the girl, to the point that when they pull it out, air is released from the throat it obstructed. But if you look at the first shot when Agent Terry puts his tweezers in the girl's mouth, you can already spot by the molar the tip of the cocoon - the bug is not that big, if the agent had already pulled it by that much the gas release would have happened already. (00:45:15)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Agent Terry drops the bug cocoon in the glass container 'face' (the end with the proboscis) down. In the next shot, Clarice is looking at the jar she closed, and the pupa is 'looking up'. (00:45:45)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Revealing mistake: During the autopsy at the funeral house, Agent Ray Terry is taking pictures, aided by the funeral home assistant, Lamar. The actress playing the dead body does a great job throughout the scene, but exactly when it's time to take the first picture you can see her blink right as Lamar's hands pass over her eyes. (00:44:35)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Character mistake: Dissecting the chrysalis, Dr. Roden says that "Somebody grew this guy. Fed him honey and nightshade." Nightshade is indeed one of the typical plants eaten by the Death's head moth, but since "he" is only a pupa, would have not eaten honey, which is something only the adult specimen eats. (00:48:50)
Suggested correction: I don't see this so much as a mistake, but rather a shortcut so there would be no need to explain the entire metamorphosis process. Feeding "it" would refer to the larva stage, necessary to reach (grow to) the pupa stage. "It" may have transformed, but "it" is still the same "it." The men working there are experts and would know what he means, not interrupt and say, "Pupae don't eat, dumb @$$." Likewise, having to specifically say that someone fed the larva "honey and Nightshade" so that it would become that pupa doesn't seem to be necessary given the nature of the film. [And the larva - not just "adults" - might eat honey.].
Sorry, I don't really understand the point of the first part (like, 90%) of the correction; at no point I was disputing the concept of 'feeding a pupa', but just what it could have eaten to be raised to that stage. The only relevant part of your correction is that last phrase; "And the larva might eat honey." Which is not how it works from what I understand. If you want to correct this entry, please dispute that aspect; I never bred bugs (...on purpose!) and surely not of that kind, but the larvae of that species are strictly herbivores, and the honey plays into their diet only later in life - to the best of my knowledge they can't even process it at that stage. Assuming it can (which I have no particular reason to believe), it would be an exception and not what an entomologist would say to describe a well raised specimen. For what it is worth, also, Harris' novel never mentions honey, but specifically leaves, although it's a different plant.
Sorry if I misconstrued what you were trying to say. By writing that the pupa would not eat something only the adults eat, you left the impression that the pupa eats other things (just not the honey). I think I understand now. Your answer is specific to the honey and my response addressed how much information the experts needed to present about metamorphosis and food/no food to the audience. I hope this helps you understand at least some of that 90%.
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: En route to the funeral home, Crawford praises Clarice's profile and asks her if she has any question. Behind Jodie Foster there are several cars and a pretty characteristic configuration of the wood and hill. Brief cut to Jack Crawford, and when the camera is back on Jodie Foster, the landscape behind her has changed completely. (00:38:05)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Audio problem: On the plane, Crawford is talking about the first victim. He's out of frame as he mentions that she was the only victim he took the trouble to weigh down. Except for a brief moment, when you can see his lips, not in sync with his voice. (00:36:35)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Other mistake: Clarice on the plane with Crawford is flipping through the report about the first victim (third found). Despite being a report on a victim of a case already thoroughly analyzed, it is lacking pretty much every detail about the victim other than the name and an incomplete address, and the data about the coroner in its second page point at Cleveland but with a California 408 area code (this page is realistically visible in detail only through slow motion, even if the relevant aspects - zip code and town name - can be spotted at normal speed). Finally, when Clarice turns page in the next shot to get to the photo part, the page is different. (00:36:15)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: In her second visit to his cell, Clarice asks Hannibal Lecter "What did you mean by 'transformation', doctor?" When he answers the towel on the sink has shifted, even if slightly, to the left, it is suddenly wrinkled as opposed to being almost perfectly straight earlier. (00:30:35)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Clarice uses the car jack to lift the storage unit door. In close-up, the blue part of the jack is dimly lit, but the car lights in the wider shots cast a much stronger light on it. Moreover, when she operates it in the shot between the close-up and the one when she says it got stuck, there's a string dangling by the jack that was not there earlier. (00:24:15)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Clarice is looking through the archived articles. She turns the knob of the microfilm reader, then it cuts to a close-up; the pen she holds between her teeth did a 180° turn, as shown by the metal clip switching side. (00:21:40)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Continuity mistake: Agent Starling is hit by Miggs' produce, which left no trace on his hand, and despite landing on her hair and eyelashes leaves no trace on her face in the next shot, but suddenly some drips on her jacket in the last close-up - again gone when she hastes back to Hannibal. (00:19:00)
19th Mar 2020
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Factual error: Jack Crawford lists Clarice Starling's accomplishments saying that she has a double major in Psych (ology) and Criminology and graduated "magna." Clarice talking with the creepy Dr. Chilton establishes further that she graduated from UVA, where she also followed Crawford's seminar. Problem is, the University of Virginia did not offer a Criminology major in the 90s (does now, but began only in the 00s) and to this day it does not have Latin honors. (00:06:30)
Suggested correction: Some colleges/universities allow "self-designed" majors. If UVA offered enough Criminology courses at the time, it would be possible for Clarice to have this double major.
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