Revealing mistake: In the letter to Mike Gallagher attached to the newspaper, subscription is misspelled. Sally Field is a reporter, so she should have caught that. (01:19:43)
Factual error: There could never be an aircraft of World War 2 vintage with the call sign "Yankee Zephyr". If it was a US aircraft (it appears to be) it would have the call sign "Yankee Zulu". If it was an RAF aircraft it would be "Yoke Zephyr". This all changed when the phonetic alphabets were standardised by NATO in the Fifties, but the DC3 in this film is supposed to have crashed before the end of World War 2 in 1945.
Continuity mistake: 1981 film: Near the end, John Heard is riding a white horse. He has his left arm missing during the whole movie, but in one scene his right arm is missing instead as he is dashing through the woods. When he comes out of the woods it is correct again.
Visible crew/equipment: When Anne and Tyler break into the morgue, the shadow of the camera can be seen on the wall outside.
Continuity mistake: When Jeremy Irons goes out on the breakwater to talk to Meryl Streep his umbrella is in his right hand. When the scene shifts his umbrella is in his left hand. (00:01:00 - 00:04:00)
Revealing mistake: When John Jaffrey is lying dead in front of his medicine cabinet, he is still breathing.
Factual error: Ragtime is set in 1906. Yet a 1915 Model T figures prominently in the plot.
Continuity mistake: When Owen shoves the hamburger back into his father, it falls on the floor right where the father is. When the father stands up to leave the room, the hamburger is now a few feet away from where it should have originally landed.
Revealing mistake: When the photographer is shot by Thana, his blood can be seen being thrown from offscreen. (00:36:54)