Goofs
Anachronisms
When Mr. Stevens arrives in the market town on his way to Clevedon, a modern "National Westminster Bank" sign is seen on a building in the background as he is getting his case out of the car.
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The road markings at the junction outside the George Inn in Norton St Philip are modern; dashed double white lines were not around in the 1950s.
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When Mr. Stevens is serving at the banquet, he stands behind Lord Darlington's chair empty-handed. Then he suddenly leaves the room to receive news of his father's death, but at the end of this scene he now has a decanter in his hand, which isn't used until the next scene when the guests have left the banquet, and have been in another room for quite some time.
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Continuity
(or possibly just character error) At the very beginning Miss Kenton mentions a conference "back in 1936". At the very end of the film, Lewis asks, "Isn't this the same room where we all attended that banquet back in 1935?"
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In the scene where everyone is listening to the Baroness sing, Mr. Stevens pours Reginald Cardinal the same glass of wine twice in two continuous shots.
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Factual errors
We see a dozen bottles of Graham's Port being delivered for the banquet - but the port would have been cellared for at least six months before being decanted - vintage port is undrinkable immediately after being transported; and later Stevens takes (and breaks) a bottle of Dow 1913 vintage port- but no producers declared a vintage in that year. 1912 was a vintage year, and the next one was 1917.
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Revealing mistakes
In one kitchen scene, in preparing for the banquet, we see a meat cleaver beheading a pheasant. However, when the head is thrown away, it is obvious that the head was previously severed, as the cleaver rests on a non-severed part of the pheasant's neck.
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