Factual error: When John meets a group of escaped slaves in the swamp, he gives them a newspaper clipping about the Emancipation Proclamation. The leader of the group calls it a message from "The White House." From the time it was built until President Theodore Roosevelt, the president's residence was known at "The Executive Mansion." It was President Roosevelt who changed the name to "The White House."
The Blue and the Gray (1982)
1 factual error in season 1
Starring: Stacy Keach, Diane Baker, Robin Gammell, Julia Duffy, John Hammond, Kathleen Beller
Other mistake: A few times during the whole show there are certain shots where the corners of the screen are blacked out, as if a circular lens cap has been fitted to the camera. There seems to be no logical reason for this, therefore it has to be a mistake. One example is when Jonas is leaving his wife for the last time and he says 'there's a big battle brewing'. (00:07:25)
Abraham Lincoln: It's well known that the more a man speaks, the less he's understood.
Question: When Jonas's wife descends the stairs in her nightgown, you can hear her shoe soles hitting the stairs. I was surprised to see her wearing grey stiletto high heel pumps! As she exits the stairs and enters the kitchen, these heels are fully visible on both feet from the rear. Was she that much shorter than her co-star?
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Answer: Stacy Keach, who portrayed Jonas Steele, is an imposing figure who stands just upwards of six feet tall. Julia Duffy, the actress who played Mary Hale Steele, is a diminutive five feet even - a full foot shorter than her on-screen husband. Though high heels have been around since the mid-16th century, the stiletto style heel didn't begin to come into play for fashion until the late 19th century, when they were mainly used as accessories in fetish art. They didn't become vogue for women's wear until the early to mid-20th century. It is unlikely a stiletto-style heel would have been available to, let alone be worn with a nightgown by a woman of the period.
Michael Albert