Continuity mistake: When Harry enters the cafe, filmed from inside he is holding the newspaper in a different way from how he was outside.
Visible crew/equipment: At one point Clint Eastwood is out in the woods practising his shooting with his new .44 auto-mag pistol. While he's doing this, a car pulls up and a black male begins to get out with a shotgun. (We later learn that this is his partner). As the man with the shotgun is opening his door, if you look at the reflection in the car window, you can clearly see the reflection of a man with a camera and another man standing next to him.
Revealing mistake: As Harry approaches the Acorn Cafe (which he is about to shoot up), you can see that the two window panes just right of the door are candy glass. This is confirmed when one of the 'heavies' goes flying through them after Harry gives him the .44 Magnum treatment.
Continuity mistake: Near the start, just after the robber takes a hostage, Clint holds his gun up and moves his thumb onto the hammer. When it cuts to a reverse angle his thumb's back down, then he moves it up again a few shots later.
Other mistake: When Harry gets to his vacation spot he is greeted by a dog. A few seconds later the dog is seen lifting his leg to pee, showing his dog is a male. Later on in the film after he returns home after the main killer has killed the second victim, the dog is scratching at the door. If you pause the movie at this moment you notice the dog has a sagging belly with nipples just like a female dog after delivering puppies. (00:48:05 - 00:57:20)
Continuity mistake: On Harry's way to and from the fish market, it changes from day to night too fast.
Factual error: In the final gun battle at the end of the film, Harry shoots the last bad guy so he falls off a high spot on the roller coaster and through the roof, into the carousel building. Yet as the credits roll, there is an aerial shot and you can see the carousel building at the left of the screen, with no hole in the roof. Also, the carousel building and the roller coaster are about 200 yards apart.
Continuity mistake: When we first see the dog, the giant bow is on the dog's right side. After Harry reads the card, the camera cuts to the dog and the bow is now on the dog's left side.
Other mistake: Jennifer's surname is spelled as "Spencer" in the closing credits, but on a sign in the gallery it is spelled "Spenser."
Visible crew/equipment: On the carousel at the end, the camera is going around with the bad guys and the main female protagonist. Several times you can see its shadow and that of crew members as the light is behind the camera.
Visible crew/equipment: A woman enters an art gallery and the camera tracks along with her, ending when she stops. To the right is a plate of glass. The heads of two crew members are painfully obvious in the reflection. Their reflections disappear when the camera backs up. Its likely the camera operator and an assistant.
Continuity mistake: Harry's dog, Meathead, changes genders. It's a male dog while jogging in the park, but is female when the mob hit man is sniffed out at the hotel. Then it goes back to being male.
Factual error: "Dirty Harry" Callahan would have no jurisdiction outside San Francisco.
Revealing mistake: When Harry and the man with the hot dog investigates a man shot in the head and balls Harry mouths the line when the man with the hot dog speaks the 4th time.
Answer: Probably, but action/police movies often are unrealistic about depicting laws and police procedures.
raywest ★