Revealing mistake: There is a scene where a prisoner is executed by guillotine. Just as the blade would hit the man's neck, the view/scene changes slightly. The dummy used for the man's head can be seen.
Papillon (1973)
1 picture
Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Steve McQueen, Don Gordon, Victor Jory
Visible crew/equipment: In the last scene where the main character escapes, he jumps into the bay and is supported by a sack which he is carrying. Actually you can clearly see that he is supported from underneath by a diver.
Papillon: We're something, aren't we? The only animals that shove things up their ass for survival.
Trivia: In the book the tribal island girl who takes care of Papillon after he escapes is 12 years old. The film's producer made her older for all the obvious reasons.
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Answer: It does appear to be unintentional (or at least, unscripted), but they continue because when you're shooting a movie, you don't stop until you hear "cut", and especially at that time animal welfare wasn't necessarily a priority. I'm guessing no-one was concerned about the chicken, and so didn't feel the need to do anything about it. It's possible the film was made without an animal welfare monitor on set. As to why it's in the movie, the whole "marching to the prison" sequence was probably handled by the assistant director (as shots like this, not involving the principals or any substantive dialogue, often are) and they may have only done the one take. Who knows, they may have thought the injured chicken added realism to the scene.