Question: Holmes says he realised that Inspector McDonald was an impostor because he supposedly knows the 'real' Inspector McDonald of the Edinburgh police. As shown in the other movies and Conan Doyle's original stories, there are several Inspectors working for Scotland Yard in London (another British city), which begs the question: does this resolution Holmes mentioned about two British Inspectors having the same surname make sense and, if so, why?
Big Game
29th Jan 2025
Terror by Night (1946)
29th Jan 2025
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Continuity mistake: Inside the church, while Holmes is talking about the mole inside the British Intelligence Council, the position of Meade's hands changes between shots. (00:58:29)
29th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: As the ghosts dance around the pole to which Indy and Marion are tied, large clouds can be seen in the sky behind them. However, after a ghost circles Dietrich and passes in front of the camera, it can be seen in the background that the clouds behind Indy and Marion have disappeared.
29th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: As the ghosts dance around Dietrich, Belloq, and Toht, the Frenchman slowly looks up as the column of mist ascends upwards from the Ark, almost looking straight ahead. In the next shot, Belloq is looking down again; the shape of the mist has changed, and the column of mist is now moving to the right.
21st Jan 2025
Los simuladores (2002)
Santos: Lamponne, if you hear me, raise your right arm.
[Lamponne raises his left arm].
Santos: The right one, Lamponne.
19th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: When the Nazis board the Bantu Wind, there are some shots of the pipe Indy is hiding in. During these shots, there's a big grey pipe right behind Indy's pipe. However, in the rest of the Bantu Wind shots, this grey pipe is on the left of Indy's pipe, not directly behind it. (01:36:19 - 01:37:05)
18th Jan 2025
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Continuity mistake: After Meade's third "Schiller" call, Schiller turns to his boss and says, "Yes, sir." In the next shot, the distance between Meade and Schiller has changed. (00:55:15)
18th Jan 2025
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
Revealing mistake: After Holmes reveals that Mr. Potts is Ransom, the detective and the murderer have a conversation. After Holmes says 'No, not necessarily', the shot changes. In the next shot, you can see that the man standing in front of Basil Rathbone is not Gerald Hamer. This man has much less hair than Hamer and has a broader forehead. (01:10:39)
17th Jan 2025
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Continuity mistake: Just before the Battle of Naboo begins, Jar Jar and Tarpals are at the front of the Great Gungan Army. In one shot, Jar Jar turns and says, "Steady, steady," to the Gungans. During this shot, Captain Tarpals disappears.
Suggested correction: He doesn't disappear; he is just offscreen. The close-up shot of Jar-Jar is taken at a more head-on angle.
Judging by the almost zero distance between the two characters, I'd say it's practically impossible that no part of Tarpals' body could have been seen. Jar Jar's hand would have even touched Tarpals if he were still there.
Nonsense. We can't see the feet of their mounts, and apparent distance depends on the focal length of the lens, so there is no way of telling how far apart they are. Definitely more than "zero distance." In the second shot, there doesn't appear to be much more than 4 feet visible to his immediate left (our right). Certainly, a reasonable distance based on the first shot.
15th Jan 2025
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
Trivia: Watson mentions that Mrs. Dribb was the Rame Tep's chief assassin and Rathe's younger sister. Ironically, actress Susan Fleetwood, who plays Dribb, was 3 years older than Anthony Higgins, who plays Rathe.
12th Jan 2025
The House of Fear (1945)
Continuity mistake: After Mrs. Monteith hands MacGregor's letter to Lestrade, she walks behind Watson and begins to walk behind Holmes when the shot changes. In the next shot, which focuses on Holmes opening Lestrade's envelope, Mrs. Monteith has disappeared.
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: While the Ark is killing the soldiers, the cameraman is hit twice, as the first hit is shown in the first wide shot of the dying soldiers and the second when the camera focuses on the cameraman. Also, during the second hit, a beam passes through the camera and strikes the cameraman in the face, although he remains standing. In the next shot, the cameraman's body is suddenly on the ground and the beam that had killed him disappears.
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: As the truck pulls up next to the Command Tent, four soldiers lift the Ark's box and a fifth soldier, positioned between the two wooden posts of the Ark's box and to Gobler's right, picks up the sticks that Indy and Sallah had used. In the next shot, that soldier is now to the left of Gobler and the Ark's box. (01:21:40)
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: How was the scene in which the Nazi mechanic, played by Pat Roach, is killed by the propeller of the Flying Wing filmed? As seen in the film, the spinning propeller is practically right in his face when Pat turns around.
Answer: It looks like a combination of practical special effects, including camera angles with forced perspective that can make an object or person appear closer, further away, larger, smaller, etc. Often, rear-screen projection is used where the actor stands in front of an image projected onto a screen. The real propellers could have been replaced with something that would create a blurred spinning effect without harming the actors.
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation (1989)
11th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
10th Jan 2025
Geri's Game (1997)
Continuity mistake: When the 'good' Geri fakes a heart attack, a black knight can be seen standing on the edge of the board, right on the same diagonal as a black bishop. After the 'good' Geri falls to the ground, you can see that the black knight has moved. (00:02:58)
10th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: On the Bantu Wind, after Dietrich takes Marion from Katanga and begins to leave, the soldier next to the pipe where Indy hides throws his cigarette and leaves the scene. In the next shot, when Belloq stops Dietrich, the soldier is now back at his original position. (01:36:51)
10th Jan 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Continuity mistake: After Toht's command, the Mongolian and the Nepalese grab Marion, then the former puts his hand on Marion's cheek. During this, the Nepalese faces Marion, whose mouth is open. In the next shot, the Nepalese is suddenly looking at Toht, Marion's mouth is suddenly closed, and the position of the Mongolian's head has changed. (00:30:28)
10th Jan 2025
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024)
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Answer: If you're comparing the film to Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories, then any discrepancies do not really apply. The Basil Rathbone films were mostly loose adaptations of Doyle's work, often incorporating plot elements from multiple stories or original screenplays with new characters. "Terror by Night" was an entirely original story. The films also set Holmes in the late 1930s through the 1940s during World War II, and he was often fighting enemy spies and Nazis. The original Sherlock Holmes was set in the late 19th century.
raywest ★
Actually, my question is related to the movies themselves and it's not a comparison. There are still several inspectors working for Scotland Yard in the Basil Rathbone saga too (I've made an entry edition to include this).
Big Game
Thanks for clarifying. Much of my previous answer still applies. The Rathbone movies were not meant to be a definitive interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. The 12 films by Universal Studios were low-budget and cranked out in quick succession for a quick profit and "to simply be entertaining B pictures." Little regard was given to historical accuracy or plot continuity from film to film and they probably were developed simultaneously by different people. The 12 films had multiple directors and screenwriters focused on their individual projects.
raywest ★
Actually, almost all the movies were directed by Roy William Neill (11 of 14).
Big Game