Best thriller 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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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)

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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)

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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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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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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

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The Haunting picture

Continuity mistake: When Theo and Eleanor decide to explore the house, before the arrival of Luke and Dr Markway, they are in one of the dark corridors of the house. When Eleanor speaks the leaves of a plant shake, close to her right shoulder, but Eleanor is standing perfectly still, touching the right hand side of her chin with her right hand. Eleanor then hears a gasp, and we hear her thinking. In the next shot of Theo, Eleanor, now in the background, has moved a meter or two away from the plant, she is more to the centre of the archway. The next shot shows Eleanor standing next to the plant again.

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