Chinatown

Chinatown (1974)

74 continuity mistakes - chronological order

(5 votes)

Continuity mistake: In the very first scene of the movie Curly looks at the pictures of his wife that Jake took. He gets to the fourth picture and rotates it 45 degrees to get a better look. As he goes on to the next picture he lifts the fourth one up, and in the next shot he's holding a different picture. (00:02:00)

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Continuity mistake: When Jack says to Curley, "Enough's enough", the statue to the left of Jack moves in front of the picture of Franklin Roosevelt between shots. (00:02:35)

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Continuity mistake: When Mayor Bagby speaks at the water and power meeting the map behind him curls up on the left in some shots and not in others. (00:06:00)

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Continuity mistake: Jake follows Hollis Mulwray out to the ocean. In one shot he's standing in front of some boulders then in the next shot Mulwray's out near the water about 50 feet further. (00:11:00)

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Continuity mistake: At the office, Jake picks up the photos of Hollis Mulwray and Noah Cross, which Lawrence Walsh gives him, with both hands. In the next shot he's holding them with his left hand. (00:13:30)

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Continuity mistake: At Ida Sessions' house, Lieutenant Escobar shows Jake the photos that he took at Echo Park earlier in the movie. If you look closely though, Katherine Cross never holds her hat in front of the bridge as we see in the third photo. The other photos also have problems. (00:14:10 - 01:41:40)

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Continuity mistake: Hollis Mulwray rows Katherine Cross around Echo Park in a rowboat. When we first see them her hands are in her lap but in the next shot her left hand is touching the side of the boat. (00:15:20)

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Continuity mistake: As Jake takes their picture from the roof top we see Katherine Cross and Hollis Mulwray's reflection in the camera lens and her dress is a direct sunlight in the reflection but not in the previous shot. (00:16:05)

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Continuity mistake: When we see Katherine Cross and Hollis Mulwray's reflection in Jake's camera lens, Hollis is standing in a different spot than we saw in the shot before. In the reflection he's in front of the chair but in the previous shot he was next to the chair. (00:16:05)

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Continuity mistake: There's a very cool shot of Katherine Cross and Hollis Mulwray's reflection in the camera lens as Jake takes their picture from a roof top while they're having lunch. The problem is as the cameraman zooms in, Jake's hands are shaking but the reflection in the lens doesn't. (00:16:05)

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Continuity mistake: As Jake gets a shave in the barber shop we see the picture he took of Katherine Cross and Hollis Mulwray in the newspaper. If you look closely it's obvious that these are not the same actors we saw in the previous scene. (00:16:20)

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Continuity mistake: In the barber shop as Jake gets a shave look closely at the shaving cream on his face. In the first shot it reaches all the way up to his lower lip, but when he gets out of the barber's chair to yell at the banker, it's nowhere near his bottom lip. (00:17:05)

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Continuity mistake: Before Jake gets out of the barber's chair to yell at the banker the news paper in his hands is folded in half. In the next shot it's laying flat in his lap. (00:17:10)

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Continuity mistake: The left side of Barney the barber's bowtie is tied differently between shots as he gives Jake a shave. (00:17:10)

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Continuity mistake: As Jake gets a shave in the barber shop look at the rings holding up the lower drapes in the front window and you'll see that they move between shots without anyone going near them. (00:17:15)

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Continuity mistake: Jake walks back into his office after getting a shave at the barber shop and sees Duffy standing by the water cooler which has a tank that is one-quarter full. Two shots later as he tells his joke about the Chinamen the water tank is half full. (00:17:50)

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Continuity mistake: Jake walks back into his office after getting a shave at the barber shop and his hair is combed backwards. Later in the scene as he tells the joke about the Chinamen his hair is still parted in the middle but combed sideways to the left and right. (00:18:30)

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Continuity mistake: Jake walks into Hollis Mulwray's office and there's nothing on the green desk mat in front of his secretary. In the next shot her right arm is leaning on an appointment pad. (00:20:45)

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Continuity mistake: Jake opens the middle draw of Hollis Mulwray's desk and then closes it. Several shots later he opens the right draw of the desk and we see that the middle draw is still open. (00:21:10)

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Continuity mistake: Jake says to Evelyn Mulwray, "Whoever set your husband up, set me up" and the shadow on the house behind her moves several feet to the left as the scene progresses. (00:28:45)

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Continuity mistake: After Mr. Palmer walks over and tries to pick up Claude Mulvihill's gun (which Jack kicks away) we see Jack's hat on his left. In the next shot as Jake picks it up it's now on his right. (01:19:40)

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More mistakes in Chinatown

Gittes: How much are you worth?
Cross: I have no idea. How much do you want?
Gittes: No, I just want to know what you're worth. Over $10 million?
Cross: Haw oh my yes.
Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What can you buy that you can't already afford?
Cross: The future, Mr. Gitts! The future!
(02:02:15)

More quotes from Chinatown

Trivia: The homage Roman Polanski pays is subtle but there are many similarities to Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston. Ida Sessions in beginning of the movie trying to put one over on Jake, the guys removing Hollis Mulwray's name from the door of the office after he dies, and Jake's interrogation of Evelyn Mulwray at 1972 Canyon Drive.

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More trivia for Chinatown

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