Best drama movie mistakes of 1963

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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

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(1963)

8½ picture

Audio problem: While Marcello Mastroianni is waiting at the station and Sandra Milo's train can be heard arriving off-screen, we hear much whistling by a steam train, but when it finally appears, the train is being hauled by a diesel locomotive. [As a side note/explanation - all sound in Italian movies, including the dialogue, is recorded afterwards, sometimes by different actors, eg. Claudia Cardinale in real life has a regional accent.]

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55 Days at Peking picture

Factual error: The weapons for this film, save for the American Krag-Jorgensen rifles, British Lee-Enfield MLE rifles, and German Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles, are completely wrong. The Russians, who had Mosin-Nagants, are portrayed with Mausers. The French are for the most part correctly poratrayed with Lebel Mle. 1886/93 rifles, but a few have Berthier rifles that weren't used until 1907. The Austro-Hungarians are portrayed with a mixture of Mausers and Berthiers when they would have had Mannlicher M88/90's or perhaps Mannlicher M95's. The Japanese are equipped with Mausers and would in reality have had Muratas. The Italians have a mix of Berthiers and Mausers, but would've used Vetterli-Vitali rifles. The Chinese Imperial troops and Boxers both have Gewehr 98 Mausers. Although they did indeed have Mausers, they had the far earlier Gewehr 71's and Gewehr 71/84's.

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The Running Man picture

Continuity mistake: Rex takes off in the experimental glider, which detaches its wheels onto the runway as soon as it's airborne. When the camera angle changes, the plane is still at the same height, but the dropped wheel assembly has disappeared from the tarmac. (00:23:00)

Jean G

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Goliath and the Sins of Babylon picture

Continuity mistake: Goliath's two new friends grab him by the arms and carry him between the horses to escape from the guards; as the bad guys give chase, there's no consistency between shots regarding the shadows; they gallop through shadow areas that are entirely exposed to the sun when the baddies are coming, and vice versa. (00:08:00)

Sammo

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The Incredible Journey picture

Continuity mistake: Before the bear attack, the quail Tao hunts is male. After the bear attack, when he goes to pick it up, it's male, but as he brings it to Bodger to eat it is female. (00:25:50 - 00:29:56)

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Spencer's Mountain picture

Factual error: When Clay Spencer and his brothers begin work on his dream house, they mix and pour the concrete for the foundation, then immediately begin putting up the framing. The concrete would have to cure for at least two weeks before the framing could be started.

mdwalker

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