Continuity mistake: The length of Edward G. Robinson's necktie rises and falls, often within the same scene.
Visible crew/equipment: After the ship's captain delivers the Falcon to Sam Spade's office, he collapses on the leather sofa in the foreground. Just after Spade's secretary says, "Is he ...?", the shadow of someone's head passes over the sofa.
Factual error: There's a scene when Barbara Stanwyck hides behind an open door to avoid beeing seen by Edward G.Robinson leaving Fred MacMurray`s apartment. To make this possible the apartment door opens outside into the corridor, which is an elegant solution for this situation in the movie. But in the real world no apartment door would open by swinging into the corridor because this would give a visitor standing there a punch on the nose when the resident opens the door.
Other mistake: Marlowe fires several shots at Art Huck and Lash Canino but if you look at the chamber when he takes the gun out from under the dashboard, there are no bullets in it. (01:41:45)
Factual error: When Bruno is on his way to Union Station, he's heading on a bridge away from the Lincoln Memorial, which means he's leaving Washington D.C. for Arlington, Virginia, or in other words, he's going the wrong way.
Revealing mistake: When John Garfield is trying to stop Lana Turner from calling the District Attorney, Garfield holds the receiver up in the air off the hook. Then the phone rings. But a phone cannot ring when it is off the hook.
Continuity mistake: Doc Riedenschneider calls on Cobby in a dark hallway with brick walls and a door in the end with a half-open transom. Through this door, in the adjacent room, there are several gangsters seated a table. They go down the hallway and enter this room. In the next scene they have entered and the seated gangsters are suddenly no longer there. Nor is there a transom over the door. The hallway viewed from this room has white walls now instead of brick.
Continuity mistake: When George Loomis comes back to the cabins, after the lover tried to kill him at the falls, he wears the lovers shoes. But after he walks on the grass, just before the end of the shot, the top of the shoes is not white anymore as if he was wearing his own shoes. (00:45:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When Joe Gillis returns to the mansion, after Betty Schaefer has just revealed her love towards him, when he enters his room, you can see a hand wearing a watch in the mirror. (01:26:50)
Other mistake: About two-thirds of the way in, Robert Young re-visits the 'scene of the crime'. While climbing up the steep bank from the ravine, he reaches the top and, and in a very short shot (a few seconds), his shadow is cast upon the painted background scenery.
Audio problem: When Willa Harper is lying in bed talking to Harry her mouth movements are out of sync with the dialogue.
Continuity mistake: In the film's final scenes at the fuel storage facility, full sunlight is streaming through the overhead rafters. Moments later, it's completely dark and the plant's floodlights are all turned on. A few shots further on, the lights are off and it's daylight again.
Visible crew/equipment: In the opening scene, Edmund O'Brien grabs a bookie, drags him down an alley, and around a corner. When they round the corner, the entire boom and mic cast a huge shadow against a stark white wall.
Revealing mistake: When the camera is tracking in to Peter Lorre whistling in the cafe, part of the screen gets noticeably darker because the camera is blocking one of the lights. This happens in other scenes, noticeably, when the camera makes shadows.
Continuity mistake: After the operation to change Vic Brady's face, the first time the bandages come off, the scar on his forehead runs diagonal from the top of his nose to well above the eye. However when he's shot by the pool, the scar runs laterally across the middle of his forehead.
Visible crew/equipment: In the pull-back shot from "Young" Charlie while she's in the library, the shadow of the camera is visible on her back.
Visible crew/equipment: When Fabian goes into his office after receiving the package, he closes the door and the rest of this shot is through the glass. The camera and its operator (with a white shirt) are visible on the right side.
Continuity mistake: Near the end, Eddie knocks down a thug who tries to stop him from putting Toro into a cab. The man's hat falls off and lands on the concrete. He gets up as the cab drives away, then turns to retrieve the hat, which has now moved itself off the sidewalk and into the bushes.
Continuity mistake: Watch Devlin's hands in the cafe in Rio. They open and close between shots.
