O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Factual error: The film takes place in the Thirties. The song "You are My Sunshine" is featured, but was not recorded by Jimmie Davis (its composer) until 1940. [Acknowledged by the directors]. (00:11:15)

Factual error: When the escapees are hiding in the movie theater, the door opens and a deputy steps in, silhouetted by the light behind him. The movie is set in the 1930's, but the shotgun the deputy is holding appears to be a 1960's model Remington pump. (01:05:40)

Factual error: When the "Little Wharvey Gals" are singing they show a shot of the crowd in which there is a man smoking a filtered cigarette. Cigarettes were not filtered until the late '40's.

Sam Martin

Factual error: Notice the Confederate flag in the KKK meeting at night. This takes place in the 30's and they didn't fly the Confederate flag until the 50's. Before then they flew the US flag.

Rob245

Factual error: Newspaper says "July 18, 1937" but Baby face died in 1934.

Factual error: Boy says he nicked the census man but the film is set in 1937. Last census would have been 1930.

More for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Mistakes

Factual error: When the "Little Wharvey Gals" are singing they show a shot of the crowd in which there is a man smoking a filtered cigarette. Cigarettes were not filtered until the late '40's.

Sam Martin

More mistakes in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Quotes

Ulysses Everett McGill: What'd the devil give you for your soul, Tommy?
Tommy Johnson: Well, he taught me to play this here guitar real good.
Delmar O'Donnell: Oh son, for that you sold your everlasting soul?
Tommy Johnson: Well, I wasn't usin' it.

More quotes from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Trivia

Trivia: George Clooney (Everett) was going to sing "Man of Constant Sorrow" for the film but his singing voice was very poor so he ended up lip-synching the songs instead. He said "I'm not my aunt [referring to the late singer/actress Rosemary Clooney, best known for her role in "A White Christmas" (1954)]. I decided it would be easier to just do a passionate lip-sync." He was so nervous that the tapes of his singing would get out that he returned to the studio to ensure all the evidence had been erased. The musical director of the film confirmed this but said "George is a very good singer but that style of music is very difficult and one almost has to grow up singing it in order to sing it convincingly. George did a really good version of the tune but it wasn't as good as he wanted."

More trivia for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Questions

Question: In the KKK scene, Homer Stokes says "The color guard is colored." Did he mean this literally, like Everett was a black man, or did he mean that he was white (unlikely because John Goodman is white and so is he), or is he mistaking Everett for a black man because of his dirty face?

Answer: He mistook Everett for a black man because of his dirty face. It's the only way the line makes sense.

J I Cohen

More questions & answers from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.