Continuity mistake: When William Petersen is talking to his kid in the supermarket, the cereal boxes behind him on the shelves change between two shots. The items behind Kevin also change during the scene. (01:09:05 - 01:10:20)
Manhunter (1986)
Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Dennis Farina, William Petersen, Tom Noonan
Factual error: While using the phone in his cell, Dr. Lecktor asks an operator to dial a Maryland area code, but is then connected to the University of Chicago. (00:30:10)
Continuity mistake: When Dollarhyde is shot near the end of the film, he falls on the floor of the kitchen and a pool of blood spreads out from underneath him. In the next shot of his body on the floor, the pool of blood has disappeared.
Trivia: In the final confrontation between Dollarhyde and Graham, Tom Noonan had to lie in a pool of stage blood for several hours as the crew worked on other shots. After all this time, the stage blood dried into a thick, cement-like adhesive that all but fused Noonan to the carpet.
Trivia: Because his role was so emotionally exhausting, William Petersen did everything he could to rid himself of the Will Graham character after principal photography was completed. This included shaving off his beard, and cutting his hair and dyeing it blonde.
Trivia: Michael Mann originally wanted Francis Dollarhyde to have William Blake's "The Great Red Dragon" tattooed on his back, but discarded the idea after deciding said tattoo trivialized Dollarhyde's personal struggles. When Ralph Fiennes played Dolarhyde in Red Dragon, director Brett Ratner decided to include the tattoo.
Will Graham: I thought you might be curious to see if you're smarter than the person I'm looking for.
Hannibal Lecktor: Then, by implication, you think you're smarter than me, since it was you who caught me.
Will Graham: No. I know that I'm not smarter than you.
Hannibal Lecktor: Then how did you catch me?
Will Graham: You had disadvantages.
Hannibal Lecktor: What disadvantages?
Will Graham: You're insane.
Hannibal Lecktor: Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black.
Hannibal Lecktor: If one does what God does enough times, one will become as God is.
Question: How did Graham know that Dollarhyde was the man committing murders, and that he drove a van just because the home videos were processed at the lab where the latter worked?
Question: When talking to Freddy Lounds, why does Francis Dolarhyde wear the stocking over his face?
Chosen answer: He wears the stocking over his face for two reasons: (a) to protect his identity (to make Lounds think he'll survive) and (b) remember that Francis believes he is an "ugly monster" so he is also wearing the stocking to defer judgement away from him.
Question: When Jack Crawford is explaining to his team about the Tooth Fairy's note to Lecktor, there is, very prominently in the foreground, what looks like a paperweight on his desk. What exactly is it, and why is it so important as to be in the foreground? (00:43:20)
Chosen answer: It's the plaster cast of the Tooth Fairy's teeth made from the bite impressions he left on past victims.
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Chosen answer: He figured out earlier that the Tooth Fairy drives a van. Graham noticed that at one of the houses, the Tooth Fairy knew everything he had to do and bring with him and at the other house, he didn't know about the new lock on the door. He concludes that this is because the Tooth Fairy got his information from the same home movies that Graham was watching. Once the films were traced to the lab where Dolarhyde worked, it was easy to link them back to him as the only person who'd had access to both families' videos and also drove a van.
Captain Defenestrator