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Anachronisms (7) |
Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) |
Boom mic visible (1) |
Character error (1) |
Continuity (9) |
Crew or equipment visible (3) |
Errors in geography (1) |
Miscellaneous (1) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (1) |
Revealing mistakes (2) |
Spoilers (1)
Anachronisms
Police cars use the higher-pitched style of siren commonly heard from the 1960s onward, not the lower-pitched style characteristic of the 1930s.
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When Jake gets home after following Mrs. Mulwray and his phone rings, it is clearly not the sound of a 1937 telephone. The sound of his placing the receiver on the cradle is authentic, but the ringer is no earlier than the sixties.
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Among the items in Ida Session's pocketbook, which Gittes rummages through is a social security card which is 1970s style with blue and red ink, not the 1937 style which had only one color, and a different look.
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In scene with Gittes, Mulvihill, and Yelburton ("Mulvihill! What are you doing here?"), elevator call buttons are modern, automatic elevator type - they have lights. In the 1930's, elevator call buttons were generally black and had no lights.
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When Mrs. Mulwray drives away from the Coroner's office you can hear a siren in the background. The siren is a modern electronic one. In the 1930's, they only had mechanical sirens which have a different sound.
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As Jake and Evelyn leave the nursing home, several cars from the 1970s can be seen passing on the road outside.
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During water hearings in town hall, one spectator reads a Sunday newspaper comics section in which all the panels are clearly free-form Seventies style art, nothing like you'd see in comic strips of the Thirties.
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Audio/visual unsynchronised
The tires squealing when Gittes pulls into the driveway of Katherine's house.
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Boom mic visible
When Jake is in the barbershop and has an argument with a banker he gets out of his chair to get in the banker's face. When he returns to his chair you can clearly see a reflection of a boom mic in the window in the background.
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Character error
When Gittes is driving through the orange groves, the sign says "No Trepassing." "Trepassing" should be spelt "Trespassing."
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Continuity
Gittes lights a cigarette while waiting to see Yelburton for the second time. Entering his office, he still takes a puff. But when they shake hands, the cigarette is gone.
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When Gittes get drenched by the water, he's completely immersed in it. Then moments later his suit is fairly dry looking as though he had only been splashed.
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In the orange grove scene, Gittes car has its right front tire shot and deflated, yet it is not deflated when the car hits the tree.
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When Cross and Gittes are lunching, the close-up of Jake's plate does not match, with the fish, potatoes and lemon wedge being in completely different positions.
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The bandage on Jake's nose after it has been split changes position from his office to when he meets Evelyn.
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When the "Man with Knife" (Polanski) sticks his switchblade up the nostril of Gittes, the sharp side of the blade is positioned inwards, not outwards, and the cut is made with the dull side of the knife. The following reverse angle shows Polanski holding the knife the proper way.
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When Jake first goes to Mr. Mulwray's office and lets himself in to search it (at 20 minutes), he looks through the desk's drawers. Upon opening the third drawer (the drawer before the empty one), a magnifying glass is visible (as is the red toiletries box he will remove). The camera cuts to his face, and when it returns to the drawer, the magnifying glass is suddenly covered by a booklet reading "Alexandria- Los Angeles". It was not there originally, but after appearing, it remains until the drawer is closed.
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When Gittes and Escobar pull Hollis out of the channel at the reservoir, Gittes has on a brown suit with a tan shirt under it. A scene later, when Gittes and Escobar confront Mrs. Mulwray, Gittes has on a tie similar to Escobar's in the scene before with a gray suit. Escobar's suit and tie are also different.
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When Jake tails Evelyn's car as she is going to the house where she stashed the girl, we can see that the sun is starting to come up, but when Jake parks in front of the house and starts nosing around, it is pitch black and clearly the middle of the night.
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Crew or equipment visible
Reflected in the glass behind Gittes while he signs the contract with Mrs. Mulwray.
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When Gittes visits the orange grove and crashes into the tree, you can see that a steel plate has been placed around the tree to protect it.
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Early during Jake and Evelyn's post coital cigarette, a mechanical noise is heard in the room - presumably the result of an incautious crew member.
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Errors in geography
The clerk in the Hall of Records says some of the plot maps for the northwest San Fernando Valley are in Ventura county. The county line is well to the west in the surrounding hills.
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Miscellaneous
They're in a drought and heat, yet when Jake enters the orange grove, fully ripe oranges can be seen. Oranges ripen in Winter and are all picked before Spring.
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Incorrectly regarded as goofs
When Gittes takes photos from the rooftop of Mulwray and a young woman, the scene cuts away to a shot in front of Gittes, where his 35mm camera captures Mulwray embracing the woman on the terrace below. However, the image in Gittes' camera should reflect an upside down image of the couple. According to the interview with Roman Polanski on the DVD, he deliberately chose to show the couple right-side up to make it easier for the audience. He also said that "now" (in 1999) he would have shown it as upside down, as it would be in reality.
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Revealing mistakes
At the end of the movie, the cop shooting towards Evelyn's car starts stooping on his own, before Gittes coming from behind has a chance to grab him.
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When Jake arrives at Ida Sessions's apartment at 848-1/2 E. Kensington in Echo Park, the trees in front of the building shift back and forth while the building does not, indicating a poorly executed overlay.
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Spoilers
Revealing mistakes
When Jake finds the glasses in the Mulwrays' saltwater pond we clearly see a shot of a goldfish (possibly the Black Moor variety)- a freshwater fish that cannot survive in salt water.Share this
