Goofs

Books' hair (John Wayne's toupee) goes from being parted on his left to his right then back to his left after he tells Marshal Thibido he's a dying man when they first talk in Books' room.

Towards the end of the movie, before the final gunfight, Sweeney drives up and parks his automobile outside the Metropole. As he gets out of the auto, he raises the tiller. Moments later when Books arrives at the Metropole, the tiller on Sweeney's auto is in the lower position.

After Books and Gillom practice shooting at a tree, they go for a walk. Gillom pulls out a whiskey bottle. In the cut just before Books takes the bottle from Gillom's hand, the bottle position changes from Gillom's left hand to his right hand. The level of the whiskey in the bottle changes as it is handed back and forth between Gillom and Books.

In the final shoot-out the mirror behind the bar is real at the beginning and up to the first shot when it shatters. Thereafter it is replaced by something which is obviously not mirror glass and which punctures rather than shatters.

In the final shootout, Books fires his belly gun four times, before he drops it, and his holster gun three times. The two nearly simultaneous shots through Sweeney's table are so fast, they have to be one from each pistol. After Gillom takes the holster gun and fires it three times at the bartender, it should be empty. But as he prepares to throw the gun away, it is obvious there are still loaded rounds in at least two chambers.

Dr Hostetler asserts that the strongest analgesic available at the time (January 1901) is laudanum, or tincture of opium. This is untrue. Both morphine, isolated in 1803 and commercially available from Merck from 1827 on, and heroin, isolated in 1874 and commercially available from Bayer from 1895 on, would give far better pain relief. Those substances would be administered intravenously, however, and laudanum had the advantage of being administered orally.

When Books arrives in Carson City, the newspaper he buys says "Monday Morning January 22, 1901" at the top. 22 January 1901 was actually a Tuesday.

When Books is riding the trolley for the last time and talking with a young lady, a modern garage door is visible behind him when he mentions 'Fall Spring'. This type of garage door was not invented for another 25 years.

When Bond and Books first meet, Books tells Bond that his name is William Hickock, former marshal of Abilene. Bond tells Gillom what Books said, and Gillom tells her that Wild Bill Hickock died before he (Gillom) was born. Wild Bill Hickock's name was James Butler Hickock, not William Hickock.

Hickok's legal birth name was James Butler, but he called himself William like an alias. That's why people called him Wild Bill. So for Gillom to call him William is not a mistake. Someone from that time might have never heard his real name.

The newspaper is dated January 22, 1901 and says Queen Victoria is dead. She died at 6:30 p.m. that day making it impossible for the town to have received and printed the news the same day.

That said, London is eight hours (or more, Standard Time not having been implemented yet) ahead of Carson City, so it would depend on what time the paper was finalized for printing.

In the movie, a trolley car is seen (and used) several times. In each scene the street name of the car changes, yet the car number itself is always '16'. The route signs on trolleys change, depending on where they are on the route. Being on a circuit, it would change it's destination sign at at least two points.

During the attempted robbery of Books, he shoots a shotgun laying on the ground. The shotgun flies in the opposite direction of what it should when being shot at from where Books was.

When Books shoots Cobb in the final scene in the bar, Cobb's blood pack is clearly visible beneath his shirt.

When Gilliam picks up Books gun after the bartender shot him, there is red on the end of the barrel, apparently Books blood. When Gilliam shots the bartender, the red is still visible on the end of the barrel, but when he throws the gun away, there is no red on the end of the barrel.

In the opening scene labeled as being set in 1871, a pair of Colt Peacemaker revolvers with 4-3/4 inch barrels is shown. This model was developed for the US Army in 1873. Civilian sales started in 1875, and the 4-3/4 barrel length wasn't available until 1877.

(at around 53 mins) As Books is leaving the boarding house and walking to the woodshed, a jet contrail is clearly visible in the sky.

The first line spoken by the robber in the beginning of the movie is not in sync with his mouth.

In the final shootout, when the bartender shoots Books, the squib detonation wires are visible on the ground and leading up each man's leg.

When Sweeney drives up and stops his automobile outside the Metropole, there is a visible "stop" device for the car placed on the ground at the left front wheel.

When Sweeney is coming at Books with the table in front of him, the squib detonation wires are visible on the floor. The same wires are seen when Books falls to the floor after being shot by the bartender, and when Gillom shoots the bartender the second time.

At the end of their bargaining for J.B.'s horse, Moses accidentally calls him "Brooks" instead of "Books".