Best movie mistakes of 1963

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

The Great Escape picture

Factual error: Why is Hilts not wearing a uniform? A serving officer captured behind enemy lines in civilian clothing risked being shot as a spy. If a prisoner's uniform was too worn or damaged to wear, it was routine for the German authorities to replace it - a P.O.W. in civilian clothes is an obvious escape risk. He is wearing a pair of tan chinos, a cut off sloppy Joe sweatshirt, both ridiculously anachronistic - Sixties hipster fashions - and nowhere even close to a World War 2 uniform. He is also wearing Army Type III Service boots - something that would never have been issued to a fighter pilot.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Hilts was a POW for some years, so his current clothing would not reflect what he wore when captured, so he would not be considered a spy. After multiple escape attempts, his original uniform was probably ruined. POWs would have traded and swapped clothes. If prisoners died at the camp, their uniforms would be repurposed, regardless of branch or division. The Geneva Convention required that POWs receive shelter, food, clothing, medical care, etc. The Red Cross also delivered care packages to POW camps with food, miscellaneous apparel, and other essentials. Sweatshirts have existed since the 1920s and changed little. 1940s sweatshirts were similar to 1960s styles. Chino pants have been around since the late 19th century and were used for U.S. military uniforms.

raywest

And none of them would have been available to a prisoner in a German POW camp in Poland in the mid 1940s. Not one single item of hipster fashion would have found its way into the camp. Even if it did, do you really think the German authorities would allow a prisoner to lounge about in civilian clothing? Talk about an escape risk.

Other than the sweatshirt, Hilts is wearing military clothing - a leather bomber jacket and U.S. Air Force khaki trousers. So not "hipster" civilian clothing. The sweatshirt could just be something he had or acquired at another camp and appears to be his only shirt. He and two other POWs are the only Americans, so their uniforms are different. There's no way to say definitively what Hilts and other POWs would be allowed to wear. That was up to the camp commandant, who was shown as being rather disdainful about Hitler and his minions.

raywest

More The Great Escape mistakes
McLintock! picture

Character mistake: On the day Rebecca arrives home, Junior Douglas says that he was "Valedictorian, Class of '95." Earlier, Drago talked of almost killing Running Buffalo "during that trouble back in the '40's," which would have been about 50 years earlier. That would mean Drago and McLintock were fighting Indians when they were babies, or possibly before they were born!

More McLintock! mistakes
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World picture

Continuity mistake: In the wide-angle shots of the blue Willys (Jeep) wagon, the windshield is a 2-piece version with a vertical divider in the middle. The close-up shots don't have the divider.

More It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World mistakes
Lilies Of The Field picture

Continuity mistake: At the end of the scene when Homer first goes to Juan's diner, the amount of orange juice in Homer's glass changes when he and Juan introduce themselves.

HuskyMiller

More Lilies Of The Field mistakes
The Birds picture

Continuity mistake: A blond boy in a light brown shirt is attacked by a crow and goes from having no blood on his neck to having a lot of blood smeared on his neck between shots. (01:14:10)

????

More The Birds mistakes
From Russia With Love picture From Russia With Love mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: When James Bond shoots down the helicopter, then it crashes. He emerges from the rocks to run from the crash site to the right of the picture, just as you see Sean Connery emerge from behind rocks from the right in the same scene. So, for about a second, there are two James Bonds in the picture. One is the stuntman, and the other is Sean Connery. (01:38:05)

More From Russia With Love mistakes
Cleopatra picture

Factual error: The Forum shown in that film is smaller than in real life. Also, Cleopatra is shown passing through the Arc of Contantine, a monument that was built centuries after her death.

More Cleopatra mistakes
Jason and the Argonauts picture

Continuity mistake: When they arrive on the island of Talos, the bronze giant, Hercules and Hylus find the statues atop huge plinths. In close up, they are looking up at the statue of Talos, then in a wide shot they start to walk towards it across bare rocks, then in close up they are back where they were with plants behind them.

More Jason and the Argonauts mistakes
The Pink Panther picture

Continuity mistake: When Princess Dala is drunk on the tiger rug, her champagne glass jumps from her right hand to her left just after she says "tally ho .... no more virgin queen".

jle

More The Pink Panther mistakes
Carry On Cabby picture

Audio problem: When Sarge is giving instructions to Allbright over the taxi radio Allbright replies "I don't know what the union's going to say about all this" to which Sarge replies "**** the union". His mouth doesn't open while the noise sounds to cover up his swear word.

More Carry On Cabby mistakes
Summer Holiday picture

Plot hole: When the gang go out for the night, Don tells the girls that they have 30 minutes to get ready, but there is no way that Mimsy (the blonde one from the singing trio) did her hair the way she does in 30 minutes, plus got dressed.

More Summer Holiday mistakes
Lord of the Flies picture

Other mistake: Take a look at the size of the rock that the boys push onto Piggy. A rock of that size, falling from that height would've exploded Piggy's head like a ripe melon. It also would've crushed his body into a mangled heap.

More Lord of the Flies mistakes
Thrill Seekers picture

Continuity mistake: The flight deck of the plane does not exist. It is a made up console that looks nothing like the one on the 747-200 (the plane shown in the air).

More Thrill Seekers mistakes
PT 109 picture

Other mistake: In the scene in which two Japanese Zero fighters bomb and strafe a PT base, shots of the attacking planes show them carrying no bombs. During the attack, they still drop around 20 bombs anyway, which is considerably more than the actual carrying capacity of the two planes.

More PT 109 mistakes
The Raven picture

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the two men are carrying the coffin with the cross on it down to the crypt, the coffin is being held with the cross pointing towards the last man. But in the next shot the cross is pointing towards the first man, as the coffin has been turned around. Then in the next shot the coffin is in its original position, with the cross pointing towards the last man. There is not enough time for the coffin to rotate this many times between the two men carrying it.

More The Raven mistakes
The Sword in the Stone picture

Continuity mistake: When Arthur is out hunting in the woods, Arthur is lying on a tree branch. In one shot, his pants leg is coloured brown, whereas, in the next shot, it is skin colour (as if he isn't wearing any pants). In the next shot, the brown pants leg has returned.

More The Sword in the Stone mistakes
The Prize picture

Continuity mistake: Paul Newman and the Count are in the car heading to the rehearsals. When they are about to arrive, the background behind the Count shows a pier, but when the angle changes the background behind Newman shows the car surrounded by buildings.

Sacha

More The Prize mistakes
Carry On Jack picture Carry On Jack mistake picture

Revealing mistake: After a carriage rolls over Midshipman Poop-Decker's sword, he can be seen pushing some kind of trigger with his thumb to make the sword split in two. (00:05:05)

Madstunts

More Carry On Jack mistakes
The Nutty Professor picture

Continuity mistake: In the beginning, Jerry Lewis makes his special drink and it is the consistency of a milk-shake. Later in the movie he makes the same drink and it looks like cloudy water.

More The Nutty Professor mistakes
Charade picture

Continuity mistake: When James Coburn is about to leave the phone booth where he's been lighting matches, the number of matches he leaves on the top of the phone changes between shots.

Sacha

More Charade mistakes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.