Goofs

When the passengers are disembarking the ship, Staples gives Dancer the address of the couple as "9020 Jackson". Dancer then relays it to his driver, McLain, as "2090 Jackson". McLain then drives to the correct house on 2090 Jackson Street, which was then being used as the headquarters of the California Historical Society.

The dark colored (black) 1957 Dodge sedan used by the police changes back and forth between the high end Custom Royal model and the low end Coronet model.

When the 4:30 siren blows, the shadows under the police cars are almost vertical; more like noon.

Seaman Warner is pointed out to Dancer at the ship just before the noon siren sounds. The next scene shows Warner signing into the steam room at the Seaman's Club. After he is murdered, the police ask the steam room attendant when Warner signed in and are told 11:05.

The calendar in Lefty's room establishes the exact date the heroin is to be picked up, but that date is over two years prior to the release of one of the films playing at a cinema that Sandy drives past.

Silencers generally do not work on revolvers in the way depicted. Silencers do reduce muzzle report on revolvers, but not to the degree shown in the film.

Cindy Bradshaw claims she used the white powder (pure heroin) to powder her doll's face. In actuality, if she had powdered the doll with the heroin, she would have inhaled the powder or gotten it on her face and hands, and would have ingested the drug and suffered from an overdose. Even if she hadn't overdosed, she would have suffered the effects of being drugged, and her mother would have had the ship's doctor care for the girl.

The police say that if the hollowed out figurine was filled with heroin "it would be worth a million dollars". In 1958 it would have taken a life-sized statue to be worth that much money.

When Officer Don Moore is "killed" by the speeding cab, he obviously jumps out of the way in time to avoid being struck.

When Dancer comes out of the bathroom while searching Dorothy Bradshaw's hotel room for the contents of her daughter's doll, the inside of the studio wall can be seen just above the shower wall.

After Dancer shoots the seaman he walks to the steam room door. But the "steam" moves with him, showing that it's not really steam but instead is a just a camera effect.

Despite its high street value, Staples doesn't assign Dancer and Julian to recover the heroin in Dressler's statuette.

When giving driving instructions to Sandy, Dancer says "2090 Jackson, the Mark Hopkins, and the Seamen's Club - in that order", but they go to the Seamen's Club first.

The police scientist would not have tasted the powder. He would have tested the powder (as he did after he tasted it) to find out what the powder was. No intelligent person, let alone a police scientist, would taste an unknown powder that was smuggled into the country in a piece of sculpture. He would naturally assume the powder was an illegal drug.