Revealing mistake: In the scene where the three escapees are jumping into the train, when George Clooney jumps up you can see that the chain linking him to Delmar gets longer. (00:05:10)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
1 revealing mistake
Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: John Goodman, George Clooney, John Turturro, Holly Hunter, Tim Blake Nelson
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)
Washington Hogwallop: Mrs. Hogwallop up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T.
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."
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?
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.
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