[Jokes]
[How to read a film]
[Marx Brothers]
[Movie goofs]
[Bottom]
All you ever wanted to know about Marx Brothers incidents
From _The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes_
Clifton Fadiman, General Editor
MARX, Chico [Leonard] (1891-1961), US movie comedian, one of
the famous Marx Brothers.
1. Marx's wife had caught him kissing a chorus girl. During
the ensuing row, Chico declared: "I wasn't kissing her. I
was wispering in her mouth."
2. A new neighbor, not recognizing Chico, asked hin what he
did for a living. "I'm a smuggler," announced Chico, then,
reassuringly, "Nothing big. Just Mexicans."
3. Chico wrote Heywood Broun a check to pay off some
gambling debts, warning him not to cash it before twelve
o'clock the following day. Broun later complained to Chico
that the check had bounced. Chico asked: "What time did
you try to cash it?"
"Twelve-o-five."
"Too late."
MARX, Groucho [Julius] (1895-1977), US comedian, one of the
famous Marx Brothers.
1. Groucho was working in the garden of his California
house, dressed in tattered and ancient clothes. A wealthy
matron in a Cadillac caught sight of him, stopped, and
wondered whether she might persuade the supposed gardener to
come and work for her. "Gardener," she called, "how much
does the lady of the house pay you?"
Groucho looked up. "Oh, I don't get paid in dollars," he
replied. "The lady of the house just lets me sleep with
her."
2. Groucho was descending in the elevator of the Hotel
Danieli in Venice. On the third floor the elevator stopped
and a group of priests entered. One of them, recognizing
Groucho, told him that his mother was a great fan of his. "I
didn't know you guys were allowed to have mothers," said
Groucho.
3. When Groucho wanted to join a certain beach club in Santa
Monica, California, he was told by a friend that as the club
was known to be anti-Semitic he might as well not bother to
apply. "But my wife isn't Jewish," replied Groucho, "so will
they let my son go into the water up to his knees?" {This
story and the one following, however, are both probably
apocryphal.}
4. Groucho sent a telegram to the exclusive Friar's Club in
Hollywood, to which he belonged: "Please accept my
resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will
accept me as a member."
5. The headwaiter stopped Groucho as he was about to enter
the dining room of a smart Los Angeles hotel. "I am sorry,
sir, but you have no necktie."
"That's all right," said Groucho, "don't be sorry. I
remember the time I had no pants."
"I am sorry sir," repeated the man, "you cannot enter the
dining room without a necktie."
Groucho caught sight of a bald man in the center of the
dining room and yelled, "Look! Look at him! You won't let me
in without a necktie, but you let him in without his hair!"
6. Groucho attended on of George Gershwin's parties, given,
it seemed, for the sole purpose of letting the host play and
show off his music. Someone asked him, "Do you think that
Gershwin's melodies will be played a hundred years from
now?"
"Sure," was Groucho's answer, "if Goerge is here to play
them."
7. A tipsy man lumbered up to Groucho Marx, slapped him on
the back, and said, "You old son-of-a-gun, you probably
don't remember me." Marx glared at him and said, "I never
forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an
exception."
8. The Marx Brothers, though a closely knit group, also
understood their relative values as performers. When they
were working on Broadway, Zeppo, the straight man and
consequently replacable, decided to quit the show. Sam
Harris, the producer, gave him permission to leave. When
Groucho, Harpo and Chico heard about it, they went to
Harris. Groucho said, "Sam, if Zeppo leaves you'll have to
give us more money."
9. Groucho Marx intensly disliked producer Harry Cohn, who
worked for Columbia pictures. Once, with his brother Chico,
he viewed Cohn's latest film. Whaen the words "Columbia
Pictures Presents" came up, Groucho turned to Chico and
remarked, "Drags, doesn't it?"
10. Warner Brothers threatened to sue Groucho Marx when they
heard that the next Marx Brothers film was to be called _A
Night in Casablanca_, arguing that the title was too close
to their own _Casablanca_. Groucho's reply: "I'll sue you
for using the word _Brothers_."
12. Invited to a bachelor dinner at a fashionable restaurant
before a high-society wedding, Grouchoand Harpo noted that
the automatic elevator opened directly into the dining rooms
on various floors. As the elevator went up, they gleefully
arranged a surprise for the assembled bachelors and emerged
- carrying their clothes in valises and wearing nothin but
top hats.
To their consternation, they were greeted not by rauscous
roars of male hilarity but by high-pitched feminine shrieks.
The bride was entertaining _her_ friends on the floor above
the bachelor dinner, and Groucho and Harpo had pressed the
wrong button. No ready escape appeared; they took refuge
behind a large potted plant until they could drape
themselves in tablecloths secured by a kindly waiter, murmur
abject appologies to the horrified ladies, and slink
ignominiously from the room.
13. Marx despised the empty clich'es of business
correspondence. A letter from his bank manager ende with the
standard phrase, "If I can be of any service to you, do not
hesitate to cal on me." Marx immeadiately put pen to paper.
"Dear Sir," he wrote, "The best thing you can do to be of
service to me is to steal some money from the account of one
of your richer clients and credit it to mine."
14. For many years, every time they met, Samuel Goldwyn's
first words to Groucho Marx would be "How's Harpo?" Marx
grew rather tired of this. Finally, on meeting Goldwyn again
and facing the inevitable inquiry, he said, "Listen Sam,
every time we meet - every time for _years_ - you always
ask, 'How's Harpo?' You never ask me anything else, and to
tell you the truth, I'm getting goddam sick and tired of it.
Why don't you ever ask me how _I_ am?"
"How are you?" asked Goldwyn obligingly.
"I'm fine," replied Groucho.
"And how's Harpo?"
MARX, Harpo [Arthur] (1893-1964) US movie comedian, the
member of the famous Marx brothers team who often pretended
to be dumb. He was a skilled Harpist.
1. Among guests ata a dinner party were Harpo Marx and his
wife, Susan. The English writer Jonathan Miller quizzed one
of the other guests afterward, hoping to hear firsthand some
of Hapro's witticisms. "What did Harpo say?" he asked.
"He didn't say anything."
"How about his wife?"
"She didn't say anything, either."
"Oh," said Miller in pretended disgust,
"stealing Harpo's bit, eh?"
2. Meeting George S. Kaufman in New York, Oscar Levant asked
if he had recently heard from his friend Harpo Marx. "How
can you hear from Harpo?" asked Kaufman. "He can't write and
he can't talk, so how can you hear from Harpo?"
3. Harpo Marx on a visit to New York was plagued by
representatives of charitieswanting him to appear at
benefits. One persistant lady telephoned him no fewer than
twelve times in forty-eight hours. Harpo eventually agreed
to appear for her charity. To ensure that he would not
escape her at the last minute, she called to escort him
personally to the benefit. As they were leaving the hotel
suite, the telephone began ringing. "Don't you want to go
back and answer it?" the lady asked. "Why bother?" responded
Harpo with a weary sigh. "It's undoubtedly you again."
[Jokes]
[How to read a film]
[Marx Brothers]
[Movie goofs]
[Bottom]
MOVIE GOOFS LIST Vers. 1.1 (Feb 1991)
Compiled by the users of INTERNET.
* About last night
-On new years eve, before dan and debbie decide to go out,
they are having a modest dinner with shrimp-looking-things
on the plates. As the camera angles change, dan's food is
eaten and uneaten a couple of times.
-When litco is giving dan his first delivery of stolen
(100% off) restaurant supplies in dan's brand new CITY
DINER, the clock dances wildly in the background as the
views change.
* Anatomy of a Murder
Lee Remick has a skirt when she gets up to leave a cafe. By
the time she gets outside, she's wearing slacks.
* Awakenings
There is one scene near the beginning where Robin Williams
gets in his car and talks to his nurse, who is outside the
car. When you look into the car from the outside, the car
window is not quite rolled down, and when you look out from
the car, the car window is completely rolled down.
* Baby Boom
When Diane Keaton has moved out to her new house and is
talking to her plumber - if you watch the door of the
plumber's van during their conversation, first he closes it,
but in a following shot it is open again.
* Back to the Future
This ones takes place really quick, but when Biff et al. are
chasing Marty (on the "skateboard") their car changes
between two different models. Watch the headlights!!! The
cutting is rapid and it is difficult to catch this, even
when you're looking for it.
* Batman
-The name of the museum is spelt differently on the outside
and inside of the building.
-In the scene in which Jack Nicholson and his gang deface
a collection of of paintings, one canvas has pink
handprints on it in one shot but not in a later shot.
* Better Off Dead
During the scene of the final ski race down the K-12, when
the paper boy is chasing Lane, there is an obvious camera on
skis in the bottom of the shot. I know the skis and the
reflection of the camera gear is visible, and I think the
camera pops in for a minute, too!
* Beverly Hills Cop
The more I watch it, the more goofs I find.
Remember the scene where Axel goes to Victor Matlin's office
and meets him for the first time? After a brief
conversation, Victor presses a button to summon his goon
squad. They come in to forcibly remove Axel. Victor's head
goon is a thin man with straight hair and glasses. As the
goon squad enters, you see a shot of them looking from
Victor's desk. In this shot, the head goon has his suit
jacket buttoned. They grab Axel, and you see a shot from the
door as they carry him out. The head goon turns around and
starts to lead them out. As he does he buttons his jacket.
* Beverly Hills Cop II
There is a scene where Rosewood is driving a large, but
slow, truck(?) and chasing the bad guys. Eddie Murphy
catches hold of the door, jumps onto the truck, and gets
into the cab. Meanwhile, his gun, which he stuck in the back
of his jeans (in the small of his back) can clearly be seen
falling out and into the road. A little while later he
naturally produces this gun and starts shooting.
* Bird on a Wire
In the scene where Mel and Goldie are on the ferry to
Wisconsin, they leave from Detroit (apparently the ferry
goes over Michigan!)
* The Black Hole
The space travellers describe their mission as being to find
"inhabitable life" in the universe, as though we are a race
of fleas, looking for a new dog. They really do say it.
* Blade Runner
Yet another "spot the stuntman". When Zhora goes crashing
through those plate-glass windows, the stunt double looks
NOTHING like the actress. While the actress has wavy reddish
hair, the stunt double has this very curly dark hair. Oops!
********Boom Mikes*************************
-It seems that in many movies the microphone that usually
presides above the speaking actor's head can be glimpsed. I
think it only fair to remember that there is more to be
seen vertically in video adaptations of movies than the
editor intended.
-During "Longtime Companion", the well-known death scene
where one man is telling the other to "let go", the
overhead mike was visible to me off and on through the
entire scene. I remember it so clearly because I was so
shocked that this very important and emotional scene would
have this occur. Not only was the mike apparent, but it
was moving in and out of the picture (up and down, like
someone couldn't hold it properly), which was even more
of a distraction.
-A classic "boom shot" sequence occurs in the middle of
"Yankee Doodle Dandy". George M. Cohan (James Cagney) is
walking along a street scene, having a conversation. The
camera is following him, when the shadow of the boom
assembly sweeps across the shot. Incredibly blatant.
-Hey, what about all those sound booms in 'Out of Africa'?
Made me wonder what kind of African plant has mikes as its
fruit.
-"Night of the Iguana"- Richard Burton actually gets *hit in
the head by a friendly boom mike in one scene...
-"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"- two or three scenes of a
black mike standing out against the white ceiling...
- In `Wall Street' there's a scene where Michael Douglas is
walking around in Charlie Sheen's apartment giving a speech
to Martin Sheen. It's dark outside, and the boom mike is
clearly visible in the window following him around.
*************************************************
* Born on the Fourth of July
-Set in 1968-69 includes Don McLean's American Pie, released
in 1971. -In a protest scene outside the 1972 Republican
convention, a Vietnam veteran is wearing Reeboks, which
weren't introduced until 1978.
* The Breakfast Club
When the teacher is in the basement looking at the files,
the index card on the open drawer is in two different
positions depending on the angle of the camera.
* Bullit
-I seem to recall that the Dodge Charger in "Bullit" loses
the same hubcap twice during one of the chase scenes.
-Did everyone else out there know that in the scene in
Bullitt where the guy comes off the motorbike, that the
scene wasn't suppossed to happen . It seems that he came
off a back road and suddenly came around the corner, but
the scene looked so good that the director left the scene
in the movie!!!
* Casablanca
12 minutes into the film, it is mentioned that the stolen
Letters of Transit are signed by General DeGaulle, and
cannot be questioned. But DeGaulle was the leader of the
Free French, and CASABLANCA is set in Vichy France, where he
had been sentenced (in absentia) to death as a traitor.
* The Cassandra Crossing
There is a train that cannot stop, and there is an attempt
to pace it with a helicopter and lower something down to it
on a rope. This would be rather a neat trick, because this
is Europe and the train is electric, and every few seconds
it passes under one of the structures holding up the
overhead wires! Solution? Simple. In the shot where the
attempt is actually made to lower the rope, the locomotive
is magically transformed into a diesel, and the electric
wires are gone! (And only in that shot; it's still electric
while the helicopter is lining up for the attempt, and turns
back to electric as soon as it's finished.)
* Cleopatra
She goes thru that arch. Cleopatra died in 30 BC, the arch
was constructed in 300 AD.
* A Clockwork Orange
Scene where Alex returns to "Home" were he raped the
author's wife. He is eating some spaghetti and drinking some
wine, the amount of wine in his glass and the amount of
spaghetti on his plate jumps around in an unnatural manner.
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Richard Dreyfuss is driving a station wagon from his home to
the mountain that the aliens appear at. The station wagon's
license plates switch states.
* The Color of Money
Right after Eddie (Paul Newman) plays Vincent (Tom Cruise),
Eddie is seen taking apart his cue stick, then the movie
cuts to a short time later (after the crowd appears to have
cleared out some) when Eddie walks over to the table and
AGAIN begins to disassemble his stick.
* Dances With Wolves
-Early in the film, the first time we see Costner riding
Cisco, there's a canteen tied to Cisco's saddle; as the
camera pulls back for a longer shot, Cisco is prancing
along and it becomes obvious that the canteen is *open*,
and there's clearly water splashing all over the side of
the horse. Score -1 for the prop department.
-Dunbar's wagon driver who carries him to the outpost has
some migrating egg on his face. In the scene where he is
eating the pickled eggs, every shot from the front of wagon
has him with a large piece of egg on his upper lip, but
every time he looks back at Dunbar, its gone.
* Days of Thunder
When Tom Cruise is injured during a race, he's taken to
hospital with a red ring around the iris of his right eye.
But in the subsequent scenes at the hospital, the ring moves
to his left eye and then back to his right.
* Diamonds are Forever (James Bond)
-There is a chase scene between Bond in a "moon buggy" and a
bunch of Fords careening across the desert. In one shot,
one of the Fords shoots over a sand dune. In the lower
corner of the screen, you see what appears to be one of the
moon buggy's wheels bouncing away. Next shot, the moon
buggy drives away, with all wheels intact.
-At one point James Bond is driving a car down an alley that
ends at a gap between two buildings that is too narrow to
drive through normally. Somehow, Bond manages to get the
two left wheels up in the air and drives through the gap at
a slant. When the car comes out from between the two
buildings, the two RIGHT wheels are in the air.
* Die Hard II
Pacific Bell phones in Dulles Airport.
* Disorganized Crime
Two FBI agents have their car stolen by a group of bank
robbers. The car is used by both sides in several chase
scenes, and they keep referring to it as a "Chrylser", even
though it's a Ford. I wonder if they took product-placement
money from both companies?
* Driving Miss Daisy
Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman's encounter with state
troopers clearly takes place in Alabama. The troopers,
however, wear Georgia Patches on their uniforms.
* E.T.
Did anyone else notice in E.T. that for about one second,
you see Ellioit wreck his bike? He has E.T. in the front
and everything. It flashed really quick, and most people
didn't see it. I only saw it the second time I saw it
because a friend had noticed it the time before, so I was
looking. The guy I was with didn't catch it though.
* Excalibur
King Arthur sure looks spiffy in his shiny silver armor. As
a matter of fact, it's so shiny that in it you can see the
reflection of someone holding what appears to be a boom
microphone. Considering that Arthur is having a private chat
with Guenevere, it is safe to say that the "boom guy"
*ISN'T* supposed to be there.
* Fatal Attraction
Glen Close is in bed, talking to Michael Douglas, who's
standing. In the shots looking at her from the viewer's left
(her right), the sheet is below her (visible) breasts. In
the shot looking at her from the viewer's right, the sheet
is over her breasts.
* Flatliners
During the final resuscitation scene, the hand-held camera
is easily seen in the reflection of the EEG monitor when it
zooms in.
* Fletch:
Doctor Rosenpenis's stethoscope, VERY BRIEFLY, appears off,
then back on his ears as he is bending over to pick up the
papers he has dropped.
* 48 Hours
There is a black, dusty Porsche that Eddie drives around in
late in the movie, but you can see that car early in the
movie while traipsing around the city. Pretty lousy garage
to let the car out without washing or without a ticket.
* Frankenhooker
It is the scene just after the doctor wakes up in his
garage/laboratory, finds the "monster" is gone, and runs out
to the street. From the street, the camera shows the doctor
comming out of the garage. His car is in front of his house
on the street. Then the camera follows him as he runs a
little way up the street looking for the monster. It is late
at night and the streets are empty of people. There is
another car on the street not far in front of the doctor's
car. The doctor then runs back to his car, jumps in, and
drives off. But ... THE CAR DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS IS NOW
GONE. The whole scene is just a few seconds. The strange
thing about this goof is that the scene is (apparently),
continuous. I could not see break in the action where they
could have moved the car. Its as if the movie makers did it
just as a joke of somekind.
* Full Metal Jacket
In the first half of the film, the soldiers have to go
across one of those monkey-bar-type things that you hang
from and get across by moving one hand alternately ahead of
the other. The sergeant in charge shouts "It should take no
less than x seconds to get across!" But this doesn't make
sense. He should have said "it should take no *more*
than"....because then he'd be putting a reasonable upper
limit on it.
* Gargoyles
There is a scene where a cops car in speeding down a dirt
road. The car changes from a Chevy Impala to a Ford several
times during the scene.
* Ghost
-In the scene where Demi and Pat are making pottery in the
middle of the night, they both cover their hands in wet
clay. Before you know it they're bumping and grinding and
running their hands through each other's hair - and their
hands are clean!
-When bad guy Rick Aviles is hit and killed by a car, his
body is left lying in the street. Seconds later, when his
ghost appears at the scene, his dead body is lying on top
of the car.
* Gleaming The Cube
-During the big chase sequence at the end, the burgundy
Toronado alternately has and doesn't have headlight covers.
-Later during this same chase, the stolen police car cuts in
front of a red Corvette, "damaging" the left front fender
near the headlight. When Christian Slater skates up
alongside the irate driver the "damage" to the car is
obviously from *old* rust, and not a hit from another car.
* The Graduate
Ben, in a pretty establishing shot, drives over the Bay
Bridge to Berkeley and is on the upper span, thus going the
wrong way.
* Green Berets
John Wayne goes eastward into the sunset
* Gremlins
Zach Galligan's Volkswagen changes color twice in the course
of a few minutes.
* Halloween
Although the story takes place in Illinois, all the cars
have California license plates.
* Handmaid's Tale
Scene where Offred is holding yarn for Major's Wife, the
amount of yarn jumps around erratically.
* Hang 'em High
There's a scene where Clint Eastwood walks into a saloon.
The shadow of the cameraman is clearly visible in the
street.
* Hell Comes to Frogtown
(Rowdy Roddy Piper stars as a post-apocolyptic stud whose
drafted by the US government to impregnate virgins in the
field ... really funny !) Roddy shoves a bad-guy demon off a
cliff, and the demon falls off and out of the picture. If
you play it in slow motion, you can see the matress that the
demon lands on pop up for a second into the picture.
* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
-(In the scene at the beginning) Indy is swinging off the
Coronado via a hook on a line. He distinctly has the Cross
of Coronado in his left hand in the previous scene. When he
grabs onto the hook, the cross disappears, and when he
lands in the water, it's in his left hand again.
-The first shot of the adult Indy as he raises his head
shows blood trickling down his chin from one side of his
mouth. In the next and subsequent shots, the blood is
dripping from the other side.
-As the camera angles change on Sean Connery right after the
Hatayan tank falls from the cliff, you can see marked
differences in the way Connery's beard is trimmed.
* Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
When the rope bridge is cut and Indy is climbing up, the
'bad guys' start shooting arrows at him from across the
canyon. Now, several of these actually hit Indy in the
back...and harmlessly bounce off.
* Intolerance [1916]
Shot includes director's assistant clad in coat and tie in
scene set in ancient Babylon.
* Jagged Edge
Glenn Close's outfit changes from gray to blue to brown in a
a courtroom sequence (..or was this to convey the passage of
a few days? Anyone?).
* The Jewel of the Nile
Kathleen Turner jumps onto a train wearing canvas slip-on
that change to leather sandals that change back to canvas
shoe later in the scene.
* Julius Caesar
In the scene where Cassius offers Brutus his dagger to kill
him, the blade of his dagger falls off as he pulls it out of
the sheath. Without even slowing down, the actor offers the
hilt of the dagger to Brutus, with the "blade" hidden behind
his forearm. Truly a great recovery...
* The King and I
During Yul Brynner's "Is a Puzzlement" number, the earring
he wears in some shots is absent in others. It also shifts
from ear to ear.
* Lethal Weapon:
-When Roger is complaining about his life being over and xxx
years on the force and not a scratch on his record, the car
he's driving is moving but the shifter is in park.
-Riggs handcuffs himself to the depressed businessman. They
jump off the building but they're not handcuffed to each
other anymore.
* Look Who's Talking
While John Travolta and Kristie Alley drive around in search
of a missing child, Travolta has sunglasses on in the shots
taken from outside the car but not those taken inside.
* The Lost Boys
-There is a scene where actor Jason Patric is flying
uncontrollably in his room. In his scramble to control
himself, he accidentally knocks his phone off the hook.
This is quite clear. We then cut to the next room, where
the phone rings. Corey Haim picks it up, and begins to
talk...only to have Patric talk on his phone. Of course,
my question is how could the phone ring? Wouldn't it have
been a busy signal?
-There are two or three scenes where the camera simulates
the vampires flying into and out of their lair. One of the
scenes is clearly just the previous one played backwards
(as the camera flies over the ocean the waves head *OUT* to
sea)
* The Maltese Falcon:
There's a fire on a boat (La Paloma) in the port of San
Francisco. The fire fighters have Los Angeles Fire
Department uniforms on. What a long drive to put out a
fire!!!
* Mermaids
Bob Hoskins' character discusses how "AstroTurf" will ruin
baseball. Movie is set in 1963, AstroTurf not introduced
until 1967 or so.
* Midnight Express
-There is a shot of one of the walls to the prison, from the
outside. There is a path that starts at the lower left of
the wall and goes to the right, climbing. Along the bottom
of the wall there are a few scraggly trees. Now, the
protagonist (or someone) goes running up the path, from
left to right. Your attention is meant to be focused on
him, but if you watch the bottom of the screen, you will
see the boomman running in time with the actor, sticking
his microphone in the general direction of the action. It
is plain as day.
-In the scene where Hayes is alone(?) in that "wheel room",
I recall the boom mike being PLAINLY visible. This is not
one of those times where it simply "dips" down from above.
In this scene, you can see the entire rig.
* Never Say Never Again (James Bond)
There is a scene where Bond and Felix swim across to have a
look at the villain's yacht - when Bond first gets into the
water he has no head mask with his scuba diving suit, but
when he exits, he is seen taking it off - guess somebody
forgot about Connery's toupee.......
* The Never Ending Story
-Atreyu is washed up on a beach, face down. He raises his
head, looks around, then stands up. During this movement,
there is a cut from a tight to a wide shot. In the tight
shot, Atreyu's chest is covered with sand. In the wide
shot his chest is clean.
-Hathaway has just left Rockbiter. We see him (from above)
walking towards that building on top of the hill. All
around him there are the remains of the devastated city. On
his right there are some rocks strewn about. Suddenly the
ground opens up. The camera switches to a ground-level
shot. On his right there is now a "wall" of rocks
(extending way up into the air). The camera now switches
back to an aerial shot. The wall is gone and the "strewn
about" rocks are back. Looks like the matte painters and
set designers didn't agree on this one.
-(38:19 into the movie)
You can play "spot the stuntman" with this scene.
If you can single- frame the film, go about 9 frames in to
this "second", and there is a full-face image of the
stuntman just before he falls from the tree.
-Watch the bottom of the asteroid flying by. Its support
pole apparently gets in the way as the asteroid rotates and
ends up "masking" a vertical section of the asteroid. Looks
like the effects department goofed up this time.
* North by Northwest
There is a scene in a cafe where Cary Grant is approached by
Eva Marie Saint. They talk and she draws a gun and shoots
him. Before she does however there is a shot of a crowd
scene. Included is a little boy, who was obviously at the
scene rehearsal, putting his fingers in his ears.
* One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
As Jack Nicholson is strangling Nurse Ratchet, his cap falls
off and is surprisingly back on his head seconds later.
* Outland
Sean Connery is involved in one of those fights where they
are outside with spacesuits on. As he is struggling, you can
CLEARLY see his bare arm where the sleeve of the spacesuit
is supposed to be attached to the glove. Considering the way
people are blowing up whenever they are exposed to space
elsewhere in the film, this probably wasn't intended.
* Parenthood
-During the scene where Jason Robards talks to his wayward
son in the garage in front of his prized green car, the
entire film crew is visible in the reflection of the car.
-The horse that the kids ride is a docile looking, skinny
chestnut colored horse. Then Steve Martin gets on the
horse an rides him down the street and attempts to jump him
over a hedge - the horse is now bay coloured, and with a
lot more energy..
* Pet Sematary
While daddy Dale Midkeff kneels by his son's grave, the
nearby flowers change from purple to yellow.
* Porky's II
Set in the 50's, the movie poster showed a cheerleader
wearing Nikes. Don't know if this reoccurs in the movie.
* Presumed Innocent
Check out the tape recorder shoved into ???'s face (Can't
remember who, I was so blown away by it) after ??? emerges
from the courthouse making a few statements to the press.
The tape recorder is an obvious "prop" that nobody thought
to put a tape in. I about cracked up watching him talk into
an empty tape recorder.
* Pretty Woman
-On the movie poster, Gere's hair is brown. In the movie
it's grey.
-While they are having breakfast - watch the
donut/roll/pancake Julia Roberts is eating - it keeps
switching -very bad editing!
-In the scene where Gere and Roberts are dining with Ralph
Bellamy, the meals they have in front of them chop 'n
change.
-Julia Roberts starts undressing Richard Gere, Gere's tie
and collar go from being untied and unbuttoned to being
tied and buttoned, then back again, all in a matter of
seconds.
* The Prize
Watch Paul Newman's hands when he jumps to the cargo net on
the ship; you can see a pair of gloves briefly appear when
his hand reaches for the railing, and just as quickly
disappear as he swings over. Didn't want to hurt his dainty
little hands, no doubt. Whatta wimp.
* Raiders of the Lost Ark
-In the scene where Indy and Marion emerge from their
entombment in the crypt after crashing through a wall
with a statue. Indy pushes a massive stone block out
of the outside wall - and you can see from the block's
shadow that when it hits the ground, it bounces!
-In the same scene, I noticed that when Indy and Marion run
down the slope from the wall, there is an unconcious man
sitting under the hole left by the rock. His presence is
left unexplained.
-Note the tell-tale reflection of the glass pane that keeps
Harrison Ford safe during his tete-a-tete with the cobra.
-Indy goes to Marion's bar to get the medallion. She tells
him to get lost. After he leaves she sits down an pulls
the medallion, which she is wearing on a chain around he
neck, out of her blouse. Straight-on shot of Meriam looking
at the medallion with the chain still around her neck. Cut
to a profile shot where she is still looking at the
medallion and the chain is no longer around her neck.
*Rocky Horror Picture Show
In the scene where Brad and Janet are being undressed, Brads
Sweater is removed and his shirt is already unbuttoned.
Later Riff Raff walks by, and then Magenta unbuttons it.
* Scarface
Set in 1980, the movie includes a billboard for a 1984
Corvette and a vending machine for USA Today, which began in
1982.
* See No Evil/Hear No Evil
Pryor & Wilder are on the run from the police. They ditch
the stolen police car that they were driver into a muddy
bog. Their clothes end up being covered in mud. In next
scene, they show up squeaky clean.
* The Shining
-During the opening with the aerial view of the car climbing
up the lonely mountain road, the shadow of the helicopter
is visible for more than just brief moment.
-Jack Nicholson hacks through one of two thin panels in a
bathroom door. In a later scene, you can clearly see that
both panels have been hacked through. According to Maltin,
Kubrick cut the film by 4 minutes after its premiere. I
guess more ax work by Nicholson must have been what was
cut.
* A Shock to the System (Michael Caine)
A detective questions Michael Caine's secretary and writes
down his telephone number on a piece of notepad paper for
her. Later, when she decides to call him, she has his
business card.
* The Silence of the Lambs
When Jodie Foster goes into the first girl's room, her
father says that the room has been left the way it was when
she died. But, there's a Debbie Harry "Def, Dumb & Blonde"
poster on the wall; that album was released in 1989, long
after the girl died.
* Silent Running
Someone hits Bruce Dern's left leg with a shovel. Later,
his right leg is the one that is injured.
*Splash
When the mermaid (Daryl Hannah) steps on land for the first
time, she is supposed to be totally nude. The director tries
to convey her nudity WITHOUT actually showing her nude body
thus: As she walks towards that crowd, the camera alternates
between her bare back (waist upwards) and her bare legs.
EXCEPT that in the first shot, you can see Hannah wearing
blue jeans (!!) and in the second, she is wearing a long
brown(?) shirt!! Someone was very careless somewhere!
* Star Wars
-In the scene where the heroes are being interrogated by the
stormtroopers (after entering a speceport), the position
and number of stormtroopers varies from shot to shot.
-When the stormtroopers break into the control room, one of
them bangs his head on the door.
* Stripes
During the part of the film where Harold Ramis stops Bill
Murray from deserting, there is a "goof". From one angle,
while Murray is laying on the ground with Ramis on top of
him, Murray has his pack under his head, while in another
angle, it is to his side.
* Three Men and a Baby
About 60 mins into the movie, Ted Danson is showing off the
baby to his mother. The camera pans across a window, and the
shape of a little boy is visible in the window - obviously a
ghost :-).
* Thriller (Michael Jackson):
As he's walking with his girlfriend and singing (after they
leave the movie house) you'll see the shadow of the camera
cart in view.
* Time Bandits.
The scene where the bandits are trapped in the cage by
"Evil" over what appears to be a bottomless chasm. They
make their escape by cutting small strips of rope off of the
support rope and makeing a long rope from the fragments.
Then, one of the bandits is lowered out of the cage and is
swung up to the next cage. During the scene where they are
trying to get the swing high enough for the guy on the end
of the rope to grab ahold of the other cage, you can easily
see the floor of whatever set they are on. The bandit
appears to be only a few feet off the floor. Oops...
* Top Gun
At the end of the movie when maverick lands on the deck
after shooting down all the baddies, Slider(iceman's
partner) picks maverick up sort of bear hug style. Well
before he picks him up maverick doesn't have his sunglasses
on, but when he has been lifted up they have magically
appeared on his face! If you don't believe me check it out!!
* Total Recall
-In the 'elevator' scene, Richter and his men are running to
the elevator... past a blue screen.
-Just after Arnie has killed his first four he goes back to
his apartment and talks to his wife. He places boths hands
on either side of her head and pretty much immediately
afterwards he shows her his blood covered hands. She
doesn't of course have any blood on her face! (NB. This may
not be a goof, but a clue to show that Arnie is only
dreaming. That's the continuity man's story anyway...)
* Tremors
As the camera is panning up the side of Michael Gross' and
Reba McEntire's "fortress", it goes past a window. In the
window you can make out a reflection of some guy standing on
the ground nearby wearing a red hat and white shorts. Due to
the nature of the plot at this point, it is safe to say that
he *ISN'T* supposed to be there.
* True Stories
David Byrne is cruising around in his jumbo red convertible.
His rearview mirror is present in the interior shots but
removed for shots through the windshield. Very common in
movie scenes where a car is driven.
* Twins
During a conversation between Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Danny DeVito in a bar restroom, a bottle of beer shifts from
one towel dispensor to another.
* The Two Jakes
Although the film is set in 1948, Jack Nicholson strolls
past an automatic teller machine.
* The Untouchables
-When Sean Connery is talking to Kevin Costner in his
(Connery's) room, Connery's shirt collar alternates between
being buttoned and and unbuttoned in the several shots of
that scene.
-When the knife-man is sneaking into Sean Connery's
apartment, there is a POV shot as the camera approaches a
window. The camera and cameraman are clearly reflected in
the window. (He is wearing a white shirt and a red cap, as
I recall.)
* War Games
The General yells "Send out the F-15's", and footage shows
F-16's taking off.
* Weekend at Bernie's.
In one of the scenes where the two guys are trying to deal
with Bernie's corpse inside his house, Jonathan Silverman is
alternately barefooted and wearing shoes every 2 seconds, as
we switch from medium to long shot. Fire that continuity
person!
* When Harry Met Sally
Billy Crystal spits the seeds on the window and then says,
"I'll open the window." The next shot shows the outside of
the car driving on the highway, Billy's window is closed.
* The Wizard Of Oz:
In the wonderful dance scene where Dorothy meets the
Scarecrow, you will notice her hair length change quite a
few times.
* Xanadu
An early scene in the movie has Gene Kelly at the beach
sitting on a rock, playing his clarinet, as the sun rises
over the (Pacific) ocean. (No, it wasn't Australia.)
