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Ethan Hawke in Tesla (2020)

Goofs

Tesla

Edit

Factual errors

The narrator claims "George Westinghouse was sixteen when he enlisted in the Civil War, served in the Navy on the northern side, and was promoted to Corporal." This is incorrect. In 1861 at the age of fifteen, Westinghouse enlisted in the New York National Guard (a land unit) but was later called home by his parents. In 1863 he re-enlisted in the 16th New York Cavalry (another land unit) where he attained the rank of Corporal. In 1864 he joined the Navy, serving on the USS Muscoota as Acting Third Assistant Engineer. While "Ship's Corporal" was a position (not a rank) in the Union Navy, Westinghouse never served in that position.

Miscellaneous

Ann Morgan, the daughter of J.P. Morgan, says that her favorite painting that was purchased by her father is A Lady Writing a Letter. This painting was actually done by Johannes Vermeer, but the subtitle says that it was painted by "Remere."

Anachronisms

In a scene set in 1884, Edison chides Tesla as being from Transylvania and drinking blood. However Bram Stoker did not written Dracula until 1897, thirteen years later, and at that point Transylvania would be not be associated with vampires and an obscure province of Eastern Europe not widely known in the US.
This film is full of purposeful anachronisms. At the end of a hypothetical, faked meeting in a bar during the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893 between Tesla and Edison, Edison uses a cell phone.

Crew or equipment visible

While having tea at Colorado experiment lab, Nikola Tesla is seen drinking from a cup which has a shopping printed label at its bottom much like modern labels, labels have been in use since 1930.

Character error

Edison was 32 when he patented his electric light, yet the actor is 61 and looks at least 70 with his jowls and baggy 'turkey neck'.
In the early stages of the movie, Edison mentions sailing across Lake Erie to Vienna, Ontario. He pronounces it "VeeENah" however the the town in Ontario is pronounced locally as "VaiENah", which Edison's family would have pointed out to him.

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Ethan Hawke in Tesla (2020)
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