Goofs

When Reardon goes to visit Lubinsky, it appears that neither Lubinsky nor his wife has been informed of The Swede's death. By the end of their conversation, Lubinsky talks about having claimed The Swede's body and informs Reardon that the burial is later that day.

As Kenyon is reading the story of the robbery in a voice over, the scene shows the gunmen escaping and exchanging shots with the factory guards. The story says the guard was hit in the groin, but as he falls he grabs his shoulder.

There were several errors involving the firearms used. When The Swede robs his cohorts, the gun is obviously not real, probably rubber, because the barrel is pointed downward from the frame. If he were to shoot at someone's chest, the bullet would probably hit below the belt. When Reardon is holding his pistol on the bad guy, he says it is a .45, but a trained eye can see that it is either a .32 or .380, most likely of Spanish origin. When Reardon asks Lubinsky if he has another .45 for him, Lubinsky says yes, but the gun turns out to be a .38 revolver instead.

In the police car on the way to climactic final scene, Jack (Edmond O'Brien) tells the officer driving the car to turn off the siren. The officer's hands never leave the wheel, yet the siren turns off.

However, at the time of this film, in many emergency vehicles, including fire engines, the siren is operated by a foot-switch (much like those for high/low headlight beams), so the officer's hands would not leave the steering wheel.

When Reardon enters the insurance company's home office, he passes by an open glass door with the company's name on it (as seen from the inside of the office). When closed, the name would be facing the inside and not towards the outside of the office.

At the hat company, the employees' paper time cards and the time clock are all outside exposed to the weather - including rain which would ruin the time cards. Also, none of the employees are seen stopping to punch in at the time clock.

When they're making their getaway from the robbery, the camera crew is reflected in the windshield of the truck they're hiding behind.

In the jailhouse, Charleston (Vince Barnett) tells The Swede (Burt Lancaster) of his love for the stars. As he looks out the window, he says that he says he sees Orion and a prominent star, Betelgeuse. He says that Orion is the "Great Bear" and that Betelgeuse is the "brightest star in the sky." Orion is actually The Hunter. Ursa Major (containing the Big Dipper) is the Great Bear. Betelgeuse, while quite bright, is the 10th brightest star.