In Harm's Way

Revealing mistake: John Wayne suffers a broken arm and goes for a x-ray wearing a cast. At the bottom of the cast a slit is visible which allows the fake cast to be easily removed.

Revealing mistake: A the beginning of the attack on Pearl Harbor Destroyer 298 in the harbor. A shot of the ship shows an empty depth charge rack; a subsequent shot shows 1 charge on the rack, a tear shape type which was not introduced until later in the war. When the ship later attacks a Japanese sub the shot shows the old "ash can" charge being dropped.

Revealing mistake: During the attack on Pearl Harbor, we see a sailor cut the stern line so the destroyer can get underway. But the bow line is still attached as the ship is supposedly moving off.

Factual error: Throughout the film the characters are often seen riding in M151 jeeps (horizontal grill slits) which were not in production until the Vietnam era. Odd because they did have a few correct era Willy's jeeps on the set, usually seen in the background.

More mistakes in In Harm's Way

Nurse Lieutenant Maggie Haynes: The smiling young lady from Niger. She rode on the back of a tiger. And after the ride, she wound up inside, with her smile on the face of the tiger.

More quotes from In Harm's Way

Question: After promotion, Captain Torrey (O-6) is offered his "lucky stars" (O-7) by 4-star Admiral Fonda. In subsequent shots Admiral Torrey is wearing 2 stars (O-8, of an upper half Rear Admiral) - jumping the lower half (1 star, O-7) admirals. When does this ever happen?

Answer: One Star rank wasn't formalized until 1943. Rear Admiral lower and upper wore the same 2-stars.

Answer: After WWII, the one star was discontinued until recent years when the rear admiral lower half was formalized with one star.

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