High Noon (1952)
Goofs
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Anachronisms (10) |
Continuity (20) |
Crew or equipment visible (1) |
Factual errors (2) |
Miscellaneous (1) |
Revealing mistakes (1) |
Spoilers (12)
Anachronisms
In a number of scenes there are Pabst Brewing signs seen on the inside and outside walls of the saloon. Although Pabst did brew in 1848, it did so under the name Best and Company and did not change to Pabst until 1889; the 37-star flag suggests the setting dates are between 1867-77.
In the climactic crane shot when Kane is alone in the town square, modern-day buildings, high-voltage power lines, and telephone poles are clearly visible in the skyline.
Although the 37-star flag suggests the setting date is within the 1867-77 frame, the date on the large boarding house at the end of the street as Amy and Helen are taking the buckboard out of town is "1888".
The pre-gummed rectangular envelope that Kane puts his folded Last Will and Testament into was not the type used in the 1867-77 era that the 37-starred US flag suggests and was not made until about the 1890s. Envelopes in that era were diamond-shaped with the user having to provide the sealant (wax, for example).
When Will and Ann return to town in the wagon, you can clearly see a telephone pole with three crossbeams between the branches of a tree just right of the center of the shot.
Just after Kane leaves the barber shop and walks up the street, sunlight can briefly be seen reflecting off cars passing by the set in the distant background. It is reportedly more noticeable in the theatrical release than on TV screens.
In the high crane shot shortly before the gunfight begins you can see modern industrial buildings in the distance, which are located on what is now Interstate 5. Just beyond the studio lot you can see a number of private homes.
Although the film is set in the 1870s, the wedding dress worn by Grace Kelly clearly had a zipper up the back. The zipper did not go into production until the 20th century.
As Judge Mettrick rides away you can see the top of a nearby soundstage in the distance. As Amy and Helen are driving out of town, Helen looks back at Kane. High in the background you can see another, even more massive, soundstage in the background.
In the church scene, the front wall behind the pulpit is illuminated with wall-mounted candelabras, each one holding what appears to be lighted candles. The church scene is an extended scene, but throughout the scene, none of the candles' flames flicker, waver or smoke, as would be typical of real candles. These are obviously electric candles with electrically-powered bulbs, but judging by the setting and time period, it's clear that the story takes place before modern electricity.
Continuity
When Ramirez sells her store, her clock is at about 11:20, then in a later scene Kane comes to see her and the clock is at nearly 11:15.
When the mayor makes his speech in church there are children sitting in the pews with the adults. Then the children disappear, but they're back in the next shot.
When Kane is in his office and puts his head down on his desk,
he did not have a badge on when his head went down, but he has a badge when his head comes up.
When Kane enters Ramirez's hotel room, he drops his hat on a
chair to his left. Next shot he holds his hat in his left hand.
Amy's luggage has been loaded onto the train, which we see pull off without any unloading, but it reappears on the cart in the final scene.
While walking around in the city looking for help, Will Kane's vest alternately opens and closes between cuts.
In the two shots where we see Kane and then Harvey enter the livery, the sky is covered with clouds. In all other scenes, the sky is clear.
Amy's shawl changes position on her left arm when she and Kane ride off after their wedding.
In the church scene, a young girl is still in the church next to her mother after all the children have been "dismissed"; in the very next shot she is not there.
When Will Kane goes to visit Martin Howe, the house door has a different arrangement of panels on the outside from the inside.
When Amy is looking out the office window at the showdown, the very next shot is from a high angle. This gives the impression that she had been looking from or above the second floor.
The position of Kane's hat during the scene where the judge is packing to leave.
When Kane scribbles the note saying "Back in 5 minutes", the frontal camera shows the sentence beginning with "Back" being written at the top left of the page. However, the view changes to a camera behind Kane and he is still writing, but this time we can see the "Back" has begun halfway down and nearer the center of the page.
When Kane and the judge are arguing while the judge packs, as Kane asks, "Why?" in close-up his head is turned slightly to his left. It then cuts to a longer shot and his head is turned visibly further to the left.
When Gary Cooper goes to the church to solicit help, the children are asked to leave. Later a mother stands to say her words of disagreement (her daughter is sitting beside her). When she is again shown in the scene her daughter is gone.
The name of the small town newspaper changes from the "Chronicle" to the "Clarion."
Kane writes the "Back in Five Minutes" note on the back of a printed document, then tacks it on his office door with his note facing out. When he returns to his office, the printed side is facing out.
As Kane and Pell are standing outside the Marshall's office, a small clock in the bottom of a store window reads 10:50. A minute and a half later, when the two are inside the Marshall's office, the clock on the wall reads 11:02. Their conversation takes around three minutes (until 11:05) then the scene cuts to Helen's room, when Pell are already in the middle of a conversation. When Pell walks out, it is 11:05. By then it should have been no earlier than 11:10.
When Kane is in Helen's room advising her to leave, the clock in her room is at 11:11. Fifty second later when Kane goes down the stairs the desk clerk sets the time on the grandfather clock to 11:15. Later, after Miller starts to ride back into town, Pell walks into the saloon. The clock on the saloon wall says 11:10, stepping us back in time by five minutes. When Miller arrives at the saloon, it is back to 11:15.
By the presence of mountains in the distance, the town is in northern New Mexico. The hotel lobby has tall plants by the door, which are a variety of banana trees. They would not be able to survive in such a dry climate, nor survive by doors in a climate that usually has freezing temperatures in the winter.
Crew or equipment visible
When the three friends of Miller are arriving by horse at the train station, an airplane is visible in the sky as the last rider crosses the tracks.
Factual errors
When Will and Amy start leaving in the beginning, they appear to travel a substantial distance away from the town, but when they get back, the clock shows only ten minutes have passed. This would be virtually impossible for a horse-and-buggy ride.
At about the 17:22 point on the DVD, the 37 star US flag is clearly seen. It has 5 rows of stars arranged in diagonal columns. There were 3 official versions of the37 star flag and this flag does not match any of them. The official design with 3 rows of 7 stars and 2 rows of 8 stars has the stars lined up in 7 horizontal columns with the column closet to the staff with only 2 stars.
Miscellaneous
During the last minute before noon, Kane looks at the clock on his office wall twice. The clock in the first instance was made by the Gilbert Clock Company and it includes a dial for the date and day of the week. The second time he looks at the clock, it has changed to a Seth Thomas clock with pendulum and without the date dial. Even so, both clocks are correct for the period.
Revealing mistakes
Due to weather problems, the climactic crane shot at "high noon" was actually taken at 3:00 pm, so the shadows are wrong for a a "high-noon" shot.
Spoilers
Anachronisms
In the climactic gunfight, after Kane has shot Ben Miller, we see Kane running between buildings into a back alley area off the main street of town. He stops by a tree and looks back to see if he is being pursued. As he sets off again, we see the back of a brick building with an air conditioning unit mounted on the outside of a second-story window.
It might not be widely known, but many of the buildings used for permanent sets doubled as production offices. This was one of them.
Continuity
When the barn is set on fire, it can be seen burning with lots of flames and smoke. Less than five minutes later, and during the final scene, Kane and Amy ride right by the barn in the background and there is no damage and no smoke.
As a result of the barn fight scene between Kane and Pell, Kane is left with a large abrasion on the right side of his face and goes to the barber shop to get cleaned up. The abrasion is gone while he is in the barber shop, but it can be seen in subsequent scenes.
After Will shoots Frank, Frank's hat is on the ground at his feet between him and Amy. When the scene changes to Will walking toward them, Frank's hat is on his head.
After Amy shoots one of the bad guys in the back, there is a shot of Will Kane looking out a window holding his gun in his left hand. There is an immediate cut to a shot of him holding the gun in his right hand. The left-handed shot appears to have been done to make the composition of the shot more dramatic.
The stains on Kane's collar and shirt after the fight with Pell change when he goes to the barber shop.
When Kane approaches the church to ask for help from the people inside, a very large column of black smoke can be seen in the background just to the right of the church. That smoke was from the burning barn that is seen later on in the film, although it was actually shot before the church scene.
When Will is shot in his left arm, at first there is no tear in his shirt and no visible wound on his arm. In the next shot, both the tear and the wound are visible.
After Will shoots Frank, Amy's position on the ground changes. Will should have been walking towards her feet, not her head. Frank's position and the
shadows are different also.
Factual errors
Once the showdown began, the first time Kane is fired upon by an off-screen gunman, the bullet strikes the side of a barn about a foot over his left shoulder. At the same time Kane grabs his upper left arm as if he is wounded. His shirt from that point on is torn as if damaged by a bullet. The ballistics involved for that scenario just don't add up; the bullet would have had to bounce off Kane's arm in an impossible trajectory.
Miscellaneous
At the final stage of the shootout, just after Amy / Grace Kelly scratches Miller's face, Kane / Gary Cooper shoots Miller twice. Not once is the gun barrel actually aiming at Miler at the moment of the gunshot: it is always aiming to the ground some feet in front of where Miller / Ian McDonald is standing.
Revealing mistakes
When Kane throws his badge on the ground at the end of the movie, a star from a previous take can be clearly seen immediately behind his left boot.
