Continuity mistake: In the scene in which they discuss Sylvia smoking, the paper on the table is different between shots. In the shots of Sylvia there is some paper near the can on the left. In the shots of Sal, the paper is not there. (01:03:00)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Plot summary
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Al Pacino, Carol Kane, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Beulah Garrick, Sully Boyar
Sonny and Sal try to rob a bank, because Sonny needs money for his gay lover who wants a sex change operation.
Unfortunately, the police is alarmed, and it turns into a hostage.
Sonny and Sal try to escape with a jet to foreign countries, but their plan doesn't succeed
More mistakes in Dog Day Afternoon
Sonny: You'd like to kill me? Bet you would.
Sheldon: I wouldn't like to kill you. I will if I have to.
Sonny: It's your job, right? The guy who kills me... I hope he does it because he hates my guts, not because it's his job.
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Answer: He didn't. He just assumed the cops would try something like that, substituting a cop for the real driver. What he didn't anticpate is that they had substituted cops for everyone around the bus when it arrived, and when he replaced the black driver he would have to (unknowingly) pick a cop, regardless. Incidentally, this part of the story is completely factual, it actually happened that way.