Factual error: In the scene where Frank Abagnale is arrested in France, on of the police cars has a license plate that ends with 'PP 41'. Now the last two digits are a code for a particular French district ('departement') and the two letters indicate the age of the car, i.e. the first licence plates ever had the letters AA, then AB, all the way through to ZZ and most recent licence plates have three letters. For this particular 'departement' the highest possible letter sequence would have been HH for 1969 and JB for 1970. So this particular car, or its license plate, is much more recent than 1969 or 1970. (01:57:45)
Character mistake: Carl, carrying his gun, goes up the outside staircase before entering Frank's apartment. When he encounters the frightened cleaning woman, he flashes his F.B.I. badge at her to identify himself. However, he only shows her the back of the black I.D. wallet, which has no markings on it.
Factual error: When the family is leaving the home they had just sold, the shingles on the roof are laminate shingles which were not invented until the 1970's. And that particular style was not developed till the 1990's. (00:16:20)
Continuity mistake: When Frank Jr. Is getting fitted for his pilot's uniform (because he lied and said he lost his other one), after the tailor finishes and tells him the cost, there are only two rank bars on his sleeves. Then, when he walks out in the uniform, there are three bars on the sleeves. Considering he says he lost his uniform in his first week as a copilot, he wouldn't have been given an extra bar before leaving. (00:34:35)
Continuity mistake: There is a scene where Leo is at a hotel and meets Jennifer Garner, the 17 model. Then when he is recruiting flight attendants at a school, you see Jennifer Garner again but this time as one of the school girls.
Suggested correction: She is not in the recruiting scene. Jennifer Garner is featured in that one scene at the hotel, and is never seen in the movie again.
Factual error: Just after Carl finds out that Frank has escaped through the plane's lavatory, there is a shot of the plane landing. The plane shown is an Airbus A310, which didn't enter service until 1983, 14 years later. Also, TWA never operated the A310. Later, when Frank climbs out from the landing gear as the plane is taxiing, the aircraft is a Douglas DC-8. (02:00:53)
Continuity mistake: When he pretends to be a doctor, and a he has to give advice on what to do with this patient, a woman gives him some kind of tool. He holds it in his hands, and towards his face, in a 'thinking' pose. Then the camera changes and the object is suddenly gone. The camera then jumps back to the previous position where he had the tool, but it's also gone in that frame. He's now just having his arms crossed.
Factual error: No airport in the world has runway 44. They are numbered 01 to 36.
Factual error: When Carl looks at a map over Europe, the borders of the countries are incorrect at the time: Germany is shown as one country, but it was divided into east and west in the sixties. Czechoslovakia was one country in the sixties, however it was divided into Czechia and Slovakia on the map, as it was at the time the movie was made.
Continuity mistake: After Frank Jr. receives some checks for his 16th birthday he hugs his dad. Jr.'s head rests on his dad's right or left shoulder, depending on the angle.
Continuity mistake: Going to school, Frank takes a cigarette off his mom's hand and throws it over the window. On the first angle he takes his head out of the window, but on the next angle his head is inside, as if just the torso had made the movement.
Continuity mistake: When the show 'To tell the truth' starts, the host has his hands apart and raised. A frame later they are flat on the counter and his fingers crossed.
Continuity mistake: When Frank Jr. takes his father to a fancy restaurant, his hair keeps swapping between brushed backwards or with a fringe on the left side.
Continuity mistake: When Frank's parents are meeting with the principal, you can see Frank through the open blinds. When they leave the office the blinds are closed. (00:21:30 - 00:22:25)
Factual error: In the scene where Frank is tearing up Park Avenue in his "James Bond" sports car, a modern "NYC" lamp post banner is noticeable in the background.
Continuity mistake: In the plane, during Carl and Frank's chat on how did Frank pass the law test, the pillow in between swaps positions between angles.
Continuity mistake: When Frank is having lunch with his father and offers him a Cadillac, in some shots Frank's right arm is over the table, but in others he has both arms hanging.
