Fatal Attraction

Continuity mistake: At the end of the film during the final confrontation when Michael Douglas first forces Glenn Close into the bath tub only her ankles are over the edge of the tub, however in the very next shot her knees are dangling over the edge. (01:52:40)

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Continuity mistake: In the scene in the tub, Glen Close's feet start out filthy, then they become clean as a whistle when she is flailing from her knees, then by the end of the scene they're disgusting again. (01:52:40)

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Continuity mistake: Glenn Close changes her dress from the shot where she gets up out of the tub to the next shot where she is shot. The bloodstains on the collar are different. (01:54:10)

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Continuity mistake: One scene has Glenn Close in bed shot from profile, and the sheet in down exposing her breasts. The film cuts to a frontal shot and the sheet is up around her neck. When it cuts back to profile, the sheet is down again.

Continuity mistake: In the beginning, Michael Douglas tells Glenn Close that he has a 6 year old daughter. Later in the movie when Douglas is talking to his wife on the phone about the daughter missing school, she says "She's 5 years old, what is she gonna miss, Trigonometry?"

Continuity mistake: While Dan [Michael Douglas] is listening to the Alex's [Glenn Close] tape in his car, Alex is following him in her car. They both have to drive through a toll gate and slow down so as to throw coins for the toll fee into a funnel. Observe Alex: As she is about to throw the coins, we see her in close up using her RIGHT hand. In the long shot, we see her LEFT hand depositing the payment.

Allister Cooper, 2011

Continuity mistake: In the last portion of the film, the background shows autumn-leafed trees when Anne Archer drives downtown. When the scene switches to the house, all the trees are lush and green in the yard.

Continuity mistake: Iron Couple Award: Not necessarily a mistake, but Michael Douglas and Glenn Close start their frenzied lovemaking in the kitchen as a clock reads 4:45, and they're still going at it when the clock later reads 6:15.

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Suggested correction: You're right, it isn't a mistake and shouldn't be listed as one. Some people can have sex for hours, you know.

Amy Emerick Tice

Continuity mistake: There is a scene near the beginning shortly after Michael Douglas and Glenn Close meet. They go to a restaurant and get caught in a rain shower on the way. When they sit down, Michael Douglas is soaking wet. The shot changes from Michael to Glenn and then back to Michael - suddenly he is bone dry. Then the camera goes back to Glenn and then back to Michael and he's soaking wet again.

Continuity mistake: Alex takes the cigarettes out of her bag twice when she and Dan have lunch in the restaurant.

Continuity mistake: When it looks like Alex is dead in Dan's bath, she has a long strand of blood coming out of her mouth, but a second later it's gone, and her eyes, which were white, are no longer white - they are open and look like normal eyes.

kh1616

Continuity mistake: When Michael Douglas is listening to a "deposition" (which is really Glenn Close calling him names, etc.) using his ear phones in his new attic home (just before his wife comes up and finds him), the audio tape is not the same one as he was listening to minutes before in the car! The words are almost the same but the inflections are different.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It is the same tape, although a mistake does remain - the tape when first being played in the attic is a few sentences before where the tape should start (without him rewinding it at all).

Continuity mistake: Dan plays the tape that Alex made in his car. He stops the tape when he gets home, and after he gives his daughter a pet rabbit, he goes to his den and puts the tape in the tape recorder and presses play - that's all; he doesn't rewind it - but what he hears is the same bit he heard in the car, which is wrong; the tape should have started play where it left off in the car.

kh1616

Continuity mistake: At the start of the film we are introduced to Michael Douglas' family life. His wife is in the bathroom getting ready for their night out, Michael is sat on the couch reading and his daughter, Ellen, is sat on the chair watching cartoons. In one shot Ellen is sat on her own, but in the next shot their dog has magically appeared on her lap.

Continuity mistake: (DVD only) In the new ending, when Alex attacks Beth at the family's home, Beth has bruises and a cast on her arm, obviously a result of the accident she was in a few days ago. In the original ending, presumably taking place within the same time frame, when the cops come to question Dan about Alex's death, Beth is fine - no bruises, no cast, she doesn't even look tired.

Continuity mistake: When Alex goes to see Dan in his office, Dan in the first scene is sitting with uncrossed legs, then his legs are crossed, then uncrossed again.

kh1616

Visible crew/equipment: When Michael Douglas goes to the police for the first time, after he gets the tape, when he is talking to the policeman watch for the reflection of the boom mike to the right of the cop's head in the trophy plate. It's beautiful and in every shot. (01:22:40)

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Trivia: In the cocktail party scene, there is a quick shot of the large crowd attending the party. Look closely at the dark-haired man near the front of the party goers - it's James Eckhouse, who played Mr. Walsh on "Beverly Hills 90210" He also had a similar, uncredited role as an 'extra' in the first bar scene in the movie "Cocktail."

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Question: What is the significance of Glenn Close and the color white? I noticed that her apartment is white and with the exception of one scene when she's wearing the black leather coat, she is always wearing white. Any thoughts on this?

Enchantress

Chosen answer: With questions such as this, one can either speculate, or one can go directly to the source. So, using IMDb, I looked up the names of the crew on "Fatal Attraction." The costume designer is listed as Ellen Mirojnick. The set decoration was the responsibility of George DeTittas, Sr. I found Ellen Mirojnick on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Ellenmirojnick/posts/263462080524551?comment_id=263621453841947&offset=0&total_comments=2¬if_t=feed_comment), and posed the question to her. This was the reply she gave: " (I)n our process there is always a purpose for a palette to tell a story dramatically. I chose white for her character because white is powerful and although not essentially a "color" it reflects all other colors, which would in turn reflect where we were in the story. I thought through her silhouettes and use of shades of whites, it would reflect her mood and not give away the demon she kept hidden. WHITE is powerful... As she was!" I have not yet been able to track down Mr. DeTittas for comment. But I have posed the additional question to Ms. Mirojnick regarding whether the color palette motif was a decision shared by different departments on the film. Ms. Mironjnick added the following comments: "she wears white to discuise (sic) her darkness, that somehow is revealed in certain places.. white is all things combined .. it radiatesits (sic) the confusion as if she was in an asylum, but her own."

Michael Albert

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