June's voice is heard before Peter's, and she is then seen before Peter is, but the closing credits "in order of appearance" begin with Peter David Niven.
Peter walks slowly up a very wet beach, shedding his flying gear and one boot. The camera switches to a long shot showing a line of gear and Peter in completely dry sand, the surf a long way off. Also, his shadow jumps to a different direction, indicating the passage of at least 3 hours. The pile of clothes behind him also differs between the close and the long shots.
While Peter is riding up the stairway with Conductor 71, they pass the statues (on the left side of the staircase) of Lincoln, then Plato, then Mohammed, and then Solomon. When Peter realizes he needs to go back down the stairs, the statue of Lincoln can again be seen as the next statue coming up. Then, after he stands up to leave, the statue of Mohammed is once again next to him. However, a representation of Mohammed, correctly, is never seen; only the base of the statue with his name plate on it is seen.
When Conductor 71 and Peter are talking in their first encounter, right after Conductor 71 says "law is law", he puts on his monocle on. In the next shot, he puts it on again.
During his "final" radio broadcast, Peter tells June that he is 26 years old. When being questioned by the doctor later, he says he is 27.
When the prologue shows the Earth and Moon, the sunlight is falling on them from different directions. Also, their motion is in the wrong perspective with that of the stars as the viewpoint moves; some stars seem to be farther away than the Earth, but closer than the Moon.
In the trial a cricket commentary is played and the commentator mentioned a crowd of 50,000. No cricket ground in England even these days can hold 50,000 people.
To an English ear, the cricket commentary says "15,000" with a West Country burr.
In several scenes, the overseas hat worn by June has gold piping for an officer, yet she was a Tech Sergeant. The piping on June's cap is, in fact, yellow and green, the colors of the Women's Army Corps. June wears the collar branch insignia of the WAC.
The prologue narrator refers to stars and regions of gas between them, then says that "the starlight makes the gas transparent, and where there are no stars, it appears as dark obscuring clouds." Transparency is actually caused not by starlight but by the absence of dust; starlight will either have no effect on the appearance of gas, or will cause it to be illuminated or, perhaps, to fluoresce. Dark, obscuring clouds are those that contain dust and are not illuminated.
The opening voice-over states that the movie opens on May 2, 1945, an hour after a 'thousand-bomber raid' (shown as somewhere in the area of Berlin). However, the last area bombing raid of the war in Europe took place on the April 15, 1945 against Potsdam (just west of Berlin). The last large-scale bombing effort was on April 25, 1945 against Pilsen in what is now the Czech Republic and the railyards around Berchtesgaden in Bavaria.
At the end, Conductor 71 says "Don't forget your book!" and returns the book on chess to Peter. However, Peter had said earlier that this book is actually the doctor's.
Peter originally had the book in his possession. Regardless of the "true owner" of the book, Conductor 71 is simply saying that he is returning to Peter that which he had earlier had in his possession.
Peter originally had the book in his possession. Regardless of the "true owner" of the book, Conductor 71 is simply saying that he is returning to Peter that which he had earlier had in his possession.
After Peter's second encounter with the Heavenly Messenger, this time in Frank's library, the doctor and June desperately attend to Peter's condition. June kneels in front of Peter and begins to giggle uncontrollably, then expertly hides herself behind Frank to avoid the camera.
Whenever time stands still and characters are supposed to be completely frozen, they can actually be seen to move slightly.
On the first closeup of the supposedly deceased Flying Officer Bob Trubshawe, the character's left eye clearly twitches and his nostrils move.
Conductor 71 says that while they talk, nothing can move. Yet even as he is talking, the flowers and branches are moving.
Conductor 71 stops time right after Peter asks June whether she'd like a drink, yet he is still able to pour out more alcohol even though gravity shouldn't be able to act on it.
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