War Movies - Real & Fiction - Goofs and Trivia

[spidge]

Placed the Goofs & Trivia for "Where Eagles Dare" (Fiction) and thought this would make an interesting thread.

I will start off again with Where Eagles Dare.

One of my favourite "Boys Own" type movies with interesting goofs and trivia.

Trivia for
Where Eagles Dare (1968)

• The driving force behind the film was Richard Burton's stepson, who wanted to see his stepfather in a good old-fashioned adventure movie. Burton approached producer Elliott Kastner for ideas, who asked Alistair MacLean. At that time, most of MacLean's novels had either been made into films, or were in the process of being filmed. Kastner persuaded MacLean to write a new story. Six weeks later, MacLean delivered the script.
• Clint Eastwood was reluctant to receive second billing to Burton, but agreed after being paid $800,000.
• The "Schloss Adler" is actually the "Schloss Hohenwerfen" in Austria. At the time of filming, the castle was being used as a police training camp. There are no cable cars near Schloss Hohenwerfen. Hence the Cable Car shooting is done somewhere else.

• An accident during one of the action scenes left producer Elliott Kastner and director Brian G. Hutton badly burnt.
• Despite Eastwood's reputation for violence in other films, his character kills more people in this film than any other Eastwood character.
• The Junkers Ju 52 used in the film was still in use with the Swiss air force at the time. The Swiss also supplied the T-6 Texan trainers posing as "German fighters".
• Alistair MacLean wrote the script, which was later converted into novel. For this reason the movie follows the book faithfully.
• Kenneth Griffith was first intended for the Peter Barkworth role.
• This film contains roughly 1472 edits during 151 minutes of action, this equates to an average shot length of about 6 seconds.
• In the scenes where Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood climb the step fortress walls, Burton moves with ease, while Eastwood is clearly working hard physically. This was due to the fact that Burton, who was a hard-drinker and out-of-shape by that point, chose to ride a crane (made invisible by special effects) up the wall, whereas the young, healthy Eastwood was actually climbing the wall.
• Co-star Clint Eastwood referred to this movie as "Where Stuntmen Dared."
• Richard Burton wanted Richard Egan to play the Clint Eastwood role.
• The castle, Schloss Hohenwerfen, is today open to the public and is a falconry. Other than the exterior, the only feature that will be familiar to movie fans is the courtyard.
• In a recent Channel 4 (UK) survey of the top 100 war movies Steven Spielberg voted this as his favorite. Mainly down to its sheer "boys own" factor of unreality. He even went so far as to repeat the "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" line.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<< Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

SPOILER: Derren Nesbitt was nearly blinded when the squibs in his chest blew upwards instead of outwards when filming his death scene - his character was filmed being shot in the head and the chest but in the finished film he is only shot in the head.

Goofs for
Where Eagles Dare (1968)

• Anachronisms: Although helicopters weren't widely used in military operations until well after World War II, the US and Germany had both experimental and production helicopters, but the helicopter shown landing inside the German compound was a Bell model 47 which did not see production until 1947
• Continuity: When Shaffer starts the cable car and runs to it to jump on himself, it doesn't actually start moving until he is nearly aboard.
• Revealing mistakes: During the classic corridor shootout between Schaeffer and the Nazis, the soldier who gets hit lying at the other end flies backwards before the ricochet charges in front of him go off.

• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Christiansen fires at Smith through the roof of the cable car, he fires five shots yet the pistol can be heard to click empty on the fifth.
• Continuity: When Smith kicks Christiansen in the face on the roof of the cable car, there is already blood on Christiansen's face.
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Smith shoots the radio operator twice in the back, the second blood bag fails to go off in sync with the gunshot
• Factual errors: Schaffer's firing a machine pistol in each hand simultaneously would require almost superhuman strength.
• Crew or equipment visible: When the captured German Alpine Post Bus races throughout the airfield, Schaffer and Mary shoot several small jeeps which flip over. As they do, the rope that flipped them can be seen being pulled off screen.
• Crew or equipment visible: When Smith leads the group across the railroad tracks in Werfen, members of the film crew are reflected in the windows.
• Continuity: When Major Smith goes into the Bier Keller, he is wearing an officer's peaked cap. He takes it off and places it on the table and we never see it again. (Apparently, it was stolen from the set during the lunch break.)
• Continuity: When the traitor is shot while dangling from a rope outside the castle, the close-up shows him wearing a standard German field gray uniform. In the next shot, as he plummets to his death, he is wearing a camouflaged winter overcoat.
• Continuity: The bullet holes in the back of the bus appear then disappear during the final chase.
• Continuity: When Major Smith drives the captured German Alpine Post Bus toward the line of planes at Oberhausen Airfield, you can see that the Horizontal Stabilizer (small wing at the tail) of the first plane has already been destroyed, probably from a previous take.
• Continuity: When Mary Elison climbs out of the river, her hair is wet/dry/wet between shots.
• Revealing mistakes: When the metal canisters which landed by parachute at the beginning of the film are first seen, there is an obvious trail through the snow leading into the far trees, indicating the canisters were placed rather than parachuted into position.
• Continuity: When they prepare to leap into the river, the cable car appears to be over the middle of the river, perhaps even a close to the far bank. But when they do leap, the first jumper lands close the near bank and the cable car moves over the river once again.
• Factual errors: During the briefing, early in the movie, the team is told that General Carnaby had been on his way to meet with his Russian counterpart regarding D-Day plans and that the meeting place was to have been Crete. That would be impossible as Crete had been seized in a German airborne assault in the spring of 1941 and remained in German hands until the war ended.
• Continuity: As Major Smith and the group walk past the wood shed at Werfen their shadows disappear between shots.
• Revealing mistakes: When the Nazi car (after Smith and Shaeffer's arrest) is pushed into the ravine, it explodes without apparent reason before touching the ground. The same happens to the planes of the airfield being lightly hit on the tail by the German Alpine Post Bus.
• Continuity: Smith radios HQ and tells them he is..."effecting entry within the hour." At HQ, Smith's transmission of "Broadsword calling Danny boy" is heard at a significantly faster rate than Smith spoke it into his radio.
• Continuity: After Smith and Schaffer initially climb into the Schloss Adler, Schaffer puts on a cap and Smith doesn't have one as they walk out the door of a room and into a hall. Less than a minute later, both of them are walking down another hall, and Smith now has a hat similar to Schaffer's.
• Continuity: The scenes showing the escape out the window shows the stunt people rappelling normally with full rigging in the long shots, yet in the close up shots the actors are just holding onto the rope and they were not shown rigging the ropes for rappelling and did not show the use of any "D" rings or other rappelling gear.
• Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the corridor firefight, Schaffer retreats into the room and a German soldier throws a grenade through the door. In the widescreen version you can see the grenade strike the door frame and bounce back at the actor's feet, yet there is an explosion inside the room where the grenade would have landed. And grenades do not explode in a fireball as shown in this, (and other) movies.
• Revealing mistakes: The tree stump of a tree supposedly blown off by dynamite shows clear signs of being cut down with a chainsaw.
• Continuity: When escaping the castle, Smith helps Mary down from the roof of the cable car and then follows her into it. Between shots the chain blocking the entrance to the cable car disappears.
• Continuity: When Colonel Weissner's car crashes with Smith and Schaffer in it, the car launches over a pile of dirt and crashes into a second pile, throwing the Colonel out through the windshield. When Schaffer and Smith get out of the car, the dirt piles are gone, allowing them to push the car around and, ultimately, over the cliff with relative ease.
• Continuity: When Mary is escaping the castle on a rope, through the window, she moves backwards down the window sill to the edge of the wall. Both her hands are in front of her, holding the rope. The next shot shows her (stunt double) abseiling down the rope with one hand behind her back (the correct way to do it, the back hand is used as a brake).
• Continuity: When Schaffer and Smith enter the castle for the first time Smith suggests they disable the helicopter lest they try and fly General Carnaby out in it during their rescue attempt. Later on, after Schaffer kills the pilot in the radio room, Smith refers to Carnaby as Cartwright Jones instead. An actor impersonating the General.
• Factual errors: The only SS Mountain divisions, 'Handschar' and 'Prinz Eugen', were stationed in Yugoslavia during the war on anti-partisan operations.
• Continuity: The post bus used in the final escape has a black painted radiator with a silver circular badge on it when seen in the garage. However, when it is seen outside, the radiator and badge are painted red.
• Continuity: When Maj. Jonathan Smith is shot in the left hand closing a door behind him towards the final sequences of the film, he bandages the hand. This bandage and the blood on the bandage and his hand, disappears and reappears throughout the cable car scenes.
• Factual errors: Early in the film, Christiansen makes reference to a "Pathfinder squadron...with ten-ton bombs". The film is set some time before late 1944 which is when bombs of this size were developed, and the first wasn't dropped until March 1945. Also, the role of Pathfinder squadrons was marking targets, and they wouldn't have carried the bombs themselves.
• Plot holes: Although several stylish call signs are used in the radio transmissions ("Broadsword", "Danny Boy", "Father McCree"), most of the other operatives and Colonel Turner are referred to by name in open transmission.
• Factual errors: The firing pin of the Sten Mk 2 cannot be removed from the weapon as it is connected to the bolt.
• Factual errors: At the beginning of the movie Colonel Turner introduces Schaffer, saying something like, "Lt. Schaffer needs no introduction, you will all recognize his shoulder patches of the Rangers Division." There were no Ranger divisions, only battalions.
• Continuity: After the swim in the river all four heroes are soaking wet. Yet when they are in the plane, Major Smith produces an immaculately dry notebook with the incriminating evidence. No wet pages or blurred ink.
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the last scene when General is asked to jump from the plane, he jumps, but in the next scene when Mary ties the bandage of Major, he is seen sitting in the corner of the deck closing his eyes.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<< Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

Factual errors: SPOILER: Both Turner and Smith discuss the scandal to MI6 should the scandal of his treason get out. However, in 1939 the Nazis exposed MI6's networks in Europe, and the Special Operations Executive took over its functions in wartime.

[spidge]

Trivia for
Battle of Britain (1969)

• The large number of aircraft collected for this production made it the 35th largest air force in the world.
• 27 Spitfires in various degrees of repair were found for the film, 12 of which could be made airworthy. Only six Hurricanes where found, three of which were made flyable. The Messerschmitt 109 where all retired from the Spanish Air Force. The production company bought them all, about 50 of them, and put 17 of them back in flying condition. They are in the movie flown by Spanish Air Force pilots, and crop-dusters from Texas. The 32 Heinkels, with crews, were on loan for free from the Spanish Air Force, where they still were used for transport and target towing. Two of them were eventually bought by the production company and flown together with the 17 Messerschmitts to England for further shooting. The two Junkers 52 were also on loan from the Spanish Air Force.
• According to the book written about the making of the movie the production crew used more ammunition (blanks of course) to film the movie - due to the fact that directors re-shoot scenes numerous times - than were actually used in the real battle.

• Adolf Galland, the Luftwaffe pilot who fought during Battle of Britain, who later became the youngest German general at the age of 29, was hired as a technical advisor.
• American special effects creator John P. Fulton was going to do the special effects for this film. However, he died in England before principal photography began.
• There were to have been scenes featuring Lord Beaverbrook. Alec Guinness was hired to play Lord Beaverbrook, but these scenes were cut from the script shortly before filming.
• Towards the end of the film, a British Spitfire flyer shoots down a German bomber, which then falls over central London before crashing into a railway station. This actually happened, (although the fighter used in the real incident was a Hurricane, not a Spitfire). The RAF pilot didn't shoot the bomber down, though; he had run out of ammo when he spotted the bomber apparently trying to attack Buckingham Palace. In desperation, he rammed the bomber which split in two and crashed into Victoria Station. Incredibly, he managed to parachute to safety. His own plane rammed into the ground at 350 mph. It was buried so deep that the authorities just left it there. In May 2004 the former RAF pilot was on hand as the remains of his aircraft were unearthed to make way for a new water main.
• Over 60% of RAF Fighter Command aircraft during the Battle of Britain were Hawker Hurricanes. Due to the lack of Hurricanes in flying condition when the movie was filmed, the bulk of the air-to-air combat scenes use the more famous (and better fighter) Supermarine Spitfire. During the actual battle, whenever possible squadrons flying the Spitfire would engage the German fighters escorting bomber formations while the lower-performance (but better gun platform) Hurricanes engaged the bombers. Shooting down German bombers was the critical key since the bombers were attacking RAF airfields in the first phase of the battle and cities after the Luftwaffe changed target priorities. The film accurately depicts the British need (and desire) to destroy bombers to protect their air defense infrastructure and later protect civilian targets. For similar reasons (the lack of working aircraft of the right type) Spitfires and Hurricanes are shown flying together in tactical formations whereas in reality RAF squadrons flew one or the other type of fighter exclusively. Due to different performance characteristics, the two aircraft would not fly and fight together.
• In the real Battle of Britain, there were other German airplanes used, mainly Messerschmitt 110 fighters, Dornier 17 bombers and Junkers 88 bombers. At the time of making the film, there were no flying examples of these aircraft.
• The Heinkel 111 bombers were in fact Spanish built CASA 2111 bombers, Heinkel 111 H constructed under license, but with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and many other modifications. The Rolls engines were more powerful than the original Junkers Jumo and so the planes had more performance. In fact, all the real airplanes used on the film, except the Junkers Ju 52 (also Spanish built CASA 352) had British-built Rolls Royce Merlin engines.
• The Junkers 87 Stuka dive bombers used in the film are model airplanes, the only ones not real. Their dive-bombing is not very real: Stukas will usually dive to 60-90º and release their bombs while diving (not pulling up).
• When Air-Marshal Göring asks what the two German Officers needed to win the battle, the second officer says, "A Squadron of Spitfires." That scene was based on Adolf Galland's request to Hermann Göring during the actual event.
• Sir 'William Walton' was first hired to write the score, which would have been his last. Because of his advanced age, he turned to friend Sir 'Malcolm Arnold' for assistance with the orchestrations (which Arnold supplied, as well as writing additional cues). Producer Harry Saltzman rejected the score, stating it wasn't long enough. Ron Goodwin was hired to write a new score, but when told he would be replacing one of Walton's, his first reaction was, "Why?" Goodwin eventually wrote the replacement score, but Laurence Olivier threatened to have his name removed from the credits if none of Walton's original was used. For this reason, Walton's original music was kept for the "Battle in the Air" sequence towards the end of the film.
• Trevor Howard replaced 'Rex Harrison' at the 11th hour.
• When Air Vice Marshal Park first visits Squadron Leader Harvey, a double was used in place of Trevor Howard for the shot of him jumping out of the Hurricane because, as Guy Hamilton said, "You don't have elderly actors jumping out of elderly planes".
• The St Katherine's Dock area of East London was being demolished at the time of filming to make way for a new housing estate. Many of the partially demolished buildings were used to depict bombed out houses and factories. Ironically, St Katherine's Dock was one of the few areas of London's East End to survive the Blitz.
• Most of the extras in the scenes filmed in East London and Aldwich underground station were survivors of the Blitz. Some of the extras pulled out because the scenes were "too real" and brought back painful memories.
• The scenes at Fighter Command were filmed on location at RAF Bentley Priory, the actual headquarters of Fighter Command during WW2. Air Chief Marshall Dowding's original office complete with the original furniture were used.
• Many mock-ups of Spitfires and Hurricanes were made in the months prior to filming. Some had lawn mower engines fitted and could be taxied around the airfield, but if they braked too hard they would flip up onto their nose. This happened several times in front of the cameras and some of the footage was eventually used in the film.
• A B-25 Mitchell bomber, owned and piloted by Jeff Hawke and his co-pilot Duane Egli, was converted into a camera plane. Cameras were fitted into the nose, tail, dorsal and belly turrets, the nose being fitted with an optically perfect dome. The plane was painted in many bright colors so it would look different from all angles and would be easily seen by other planes. It was nicknamed the "Psychedelic Monster". Eventually flown back to USA it sat derelict for many years in New Jersey before being restored back to flying condition in Florida. Flown in air shows for many years as "Chapter XI", referring to the high cost of flying, but later repainted as "Lucky Lady".
• The Spitfires, Hurricanes, Messerschmitts and Heinkels were repainted into authentic 1940 colors, but were so perfectly camouflaged that they could not be seen against the ground or sky. Most of the aerial scenes were filmed with cloud in the background so the aircraft could be seen.
• The white "smoke" from damaged engines was made by injecting cooking oil into the exhaust manifold.
• The scene of Göring accusing Kesselring of betrayal as his train departed was based on a real event. In the actual event Göring had left in such a hurry that electrical and telephone wires between train and the station building were left connected. These were broken and left trailing from the carriage when the train departed. Director Guy Hamilton had wanted to include this in the scene but thought it would look too comic.
• The character of Section Officer Maggie Harvey is based on Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake, who was a young section officer at RAF Biggin Hill in 1940. The scene of Harvey being ordered to put her cigarette out, and Harvey yelling back Warrant Officer Warrick, was based on a real event.
• The character that Harry Andrews plays is called Senior Civil Servant in PR and cast lists. He is called Sir Austin Stokes in paperwork regarding the film production.
• The planes used as Me-109s were actually Spanish Hispano HA-1112 Buchons. Basically an Me-109 with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine, the nose of the plane looks completely different that of a German 109.
• Timothy Dalton auditioned for a minor part of a RAF Pilot.

Goofs for
Battle of Britain (1969)

• Anachronisms: As Andy and Skipper exit the white cottage, we see a modern-style plastic doorbell button, an up-and-over garage door and a 1960s exterior lamp.
• Anachronisms: Set in 1940, the German army's convoy in Nazi-occupied France contains at least three Mack B-Series trucks, which were only built from 1952 to 1966. The Germans are also shown riding in US half-tracks.
• Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the film, an Me109 strafes a Hurricane. The 109 is over the Hurricane before the bullets strike the ground and airplane.

• Factual errors: At the end of the movie a list showing all of the non-UK pilots flying for the RAF is shown. At the end of the list they mention one Israeli pilot flying for the RAF. Israel was not formed until 1947, and in fact the pilot in question was from British Mandated Palestine. The one Icelandic pilot flying for the RAF in the Battle of Britain is not mentioned, neither are the pilot from Egypt, one from Austria nor the two from Jamaica.
• Revealing mistakes: Though tarmac runways at the bombed Duxford airfield show black areas, actual explosions take place on grass surfaces only. German bombs somehow 'skip' the tarmac runways.
• Crew or equipment visible: When the last Stuka crashes into the hut, the wires and pulley system carrying the model is briefly visible in the top left corner (widescreen version).
• Factual errors: At the end of the movie there is a shot taken from an aircraft as it takes off. One of the vehicles seen on the runway below is a Landrover; these didn't exist before 1948.
• Factual errors: At one point, a pilot in a German bomber sends a radio message to "Tomato eins" - the flight is evidently codenamed "tomato", and he is addressing bomber number one ("eins"). However, the subtitle refers to the plane as "Tomato Heinz".
• Continuity: During the dogfight sequence when Kentfield his shot down by German fighters, the shot of his aircraft exploding in mid air as it heading for the ground is a Hurricane, but Kentfield flies a Spitfire during the film and during this all important scene.
• Revealing mistakes: A Spitfire gets bombed during a take off run and crashes into a truck which explodes. The stuntman who runs away from the truck can clearly be seen waiting for his cue to start running.
• Continuity: Cockpit shots of the German bombers repeatedly show the same Heinkel pilot who dies two or three times.
• Factual errors: When the Germans first start the daylight bombings of London, a group of boys is seen playing in the river. As the German bombers approach, two boys start to argue about the type of aircraft approaching. One boy says "Messerschimitt" and the other says "Heinkle". However, the subtitler translated it as "Iron Cross".
• Revealing mistakes: In the scene of Heinkels taking off, you can clearly see the painted Spanish Air Force roundel on the upper surface of the wing, under the "German" paint scheme.

[spidge]

Trivia for
In Which We Serve (1942)


No goofs listed. Anybody have any to add?

• The Hays office tried to delete the words "God", "hell", "damn", and "bastard" from the American release. Uproar from England forced the office to back down on everything except "bastard".
• Shorty Blake's (John Mills) baby, born in the air raid that kills Walter Hardy's (Bernard Miles) wife and mother-in-law, is played by one-year-old Juliet Mills.
• Noel Coward was a friend of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was Captain of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kelly from the outbreak of the Second World War until Kelly was sunk by enemy action in May, 1941. Coward wrote the screenplay for this movie based on Mountbatten's experiences on HMS Kelly.

• This was Richard Attenborough's first screen role (he had been recommended for his small but important part by director turned agent Albert Parker). He is uncredited purely because of an oversight.
• There was a tragedy during the shooting of the film, during a relatively straightforward special effects scene of an explosion in a gun turret. After the first take, Lean (Coward wasn't present) was dissatisfied. Chief electrician Jock Dymore, keen to get the scene wrapped before lunch, climbed onto the set with a bottle full of the flashpowder used for the explosive effect. The containers they were using were still white hot from the first take, and the resulting blast killed Dymore and seriously injured two others.
• Michael Anderson, who plays Albert Fosdike (billed as "Mickey Anderson"), was the First Assistant Director, but "won" the part when the original actor, William Hartnell, turned up late for his first day of shooting. Noel Coward berated Hartnell in front of cast and crew for his unprofessionalism and then fired him. Anderson, who'd filled in for Hartnell while they'd rehearsed, got his moment of glory (once a false moustache had been found).
• John Mills claimed that Noel Coward wrote the part of Shorty Blake specifically for him in order "to give him a job".
• Celia Johnson's screen debut.
• Noel Coward was nervous at the prospect of directing and asked his friend John Mills if he could recommend someone to help him. Mills suggested "the best editor in the country", David Lean.
• The idea for the film sprang out of Noel Coward's friendship with Winston Churchill (the two often painted together) and his desire to do something more substantial than urbane comedies to help the war effort for his friend. Coward acutely felt that with the coming of war, the world of which he wrote - bright young things scampering around drawing rooms - was a world that no longer existed.
• Noel Coward's first draft screenplay ran for four hours.
• Before accepting the assignment, David Lean asked Coward how the credits would read. Coward suggested that they would say "helped by David Lean" but Lean insisted that they read "Directed by Noel Coward and David Lean". It was his only request and one that Coward readily agreed to.
• After about three weeks of shooting, Coward realized that (a) Lean knew a lot more about the film-making process than he did and (b) he didn't care much for the long hours. So Coward effectively handed the entire directorial reins over to his partner at that point.
• Celia Johnson's lengthy scene in which she makes a moving toast to her rival - her husband's ship - was done in one take.
• When dive bombers fire on the survivors clinging to a life raft, the effect of the strafing fire hitting the water was achieved by blowing gusts of air into submerged condoms. These would then float to surface after the director had shouted cut.
• During filming, stories would continually appear in the Daily Express, ridiculing the production. The paper's proprietor, Lord Beaverbrook, couldn't understand how an effete actor like Noel Coward could possibly portray a Mountbatten-type character. Coward got his own back by including a shot of one of the paper's more infamous headlines from 1939, proclaiming "No War This Year".
• A full-size replica of a destroyer was built to represent HMS Torrin in the Denham Studios outside London.
• The entire royal family, including Princess (and later Queen) Elizabeth, came to visit the set one day.
• When the film opened in September 1942, the Admiralty praised it for its authentic portrayal of navy life.
• Lord Mountbatten's contribution cannot be discounted - even in the middle of a war, he was able to procure real sailors to play extras.
• The actors hated the scenes where they were hanging onto the life raft: a combination of weeks spent in cold oil-slicked water, under hot lights in soaked clothing meant that it was a particularly smelly experience.
• Noel Coward vetoed the casting of James Mason in a key role because of his stance on the war.

[spidge]

Trivia for
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

• The Japanese section of the film was originally to be directed by Akira Kurosawa.
• Actor Jason Robards was actually present at the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December, 1941.
• When Japanese characters in the film refer to the date of the attack, they are actually saying "December 8," which is technically correct, as Japan is a day ahead of the U.S.; however, it is translated as "December 7" in the subtitles to avoid confusing U.S. audiences.

• The U.S. Navy's Office of Information was inundated with complaints from U.S. citizens when the military agreed to allow active U.S. servicepersons to participate in the recreation of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which some viewed as glorifying Japanese aggression and showing Americans as unprepared.
• The P-40 crashing in the flight line was an unplanned accident - it was a life-sized mockup powered by a gasoline engine turning the propeller and steered by using the wheel brakes, just like real airplanes, but was specifically designed not to fly. The aircraft shown was loaded with explosives which were to be detonated by radio control at a specific point down the runway. Stunt actors were strategically located and rehearsed in which way to run. However shortly after the plane began taxiing down the runway it did begin to lift off the ground and turn to the left. The left turn would have taken it into a group of other mockups which had also been wired with explosives, but weren't scheduled to be destroyed until later. The explosives in the first P-40 were detonated on the spot in order to keep it from destroying the other planes, so the explosion occurred in a location the stunt men weren't prepared for. When it looks like they were running for their lives, they really were. This special effect was filmed with multiple camera so that it could be reused in other shots in the film, as were all the major special effects.
• The 30+ "Japanese" airplanes flying in the movie are all converted American trainers. No genuine Japanese warbirds were to be found in flying condition at the time. Instead, several American planes had to be rebuilt at a cost of about $30,000 each. They were later sold at auction for $1,500 or so apiece, and most of them are still flying in private hands.
• The P-40's destroyed on the ground are full-scale mock-ups, some remote-controlled to taxi.
• In the movie's opening scenes, Admiral Yamamoto meets his officers aboard a battleship. The ship was a full scale replica, complete from bow to stern, and had even a mock-up floatplane on a catapult. It was built on a beach in Japan, next to the replica of the aircraft-carrier "Akagi." The Akagi set consisted of about two-thirds of the deck and the island area.
• The Japanese aircraft in the film were highly modified American AT-6 and BT-13 trainers. The fighters, "Zeros," were AT-6's, the divebombers, "Vals," were BT-13's, and the torpedo- and levelbombers, "Kates," consisted of AT-6 fronts and wings and BT-13 tails.
• One of the B-17's shown in the film has been fully restored and (as of 2000) is on display at the Yankee Air Force museum in Ypsilanti, MI.
• Many of the replica Japanese aircraft are owned by members of the Confederate Air Force, an organization that specializes in re-enactments and aircraft preservation. They are used every year in the annual CAF air show, where a re-enactment of the Pearl Harbor attack takes place. This has been going on since 1972.
• The "one wheel up" emergency landing by a B-17 was an unplanned accident during filming. The airplane was repaired and went back to forest-fire-bombing duty afterwards.
• Many of the replica Japanese planes were also used in the filming of Midway (1976), The Final Countdown (1980) and Pearl Harbor (2001).
• The USS Yorktown (CVS-10) was disguised as the Japanese carrier Kaga to film scenes of aircraft taking off and landing. It was fitted with a false bow to disguise the catapults. Although it appears as though steam is leaking from the bow, Japanese carriers actually used steam to indicate wind speed and direction over the bow. The steam trail was lined up with the painted white lines on the bow. It was unofficially named "USS Kaga" for the duration of filming. The USS Enterprise seen entering Pearl Harbor at the end of the movie is actually the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31).
• This is believed to be the first major Hollywood production to be distributed on Fujicolor release prints.
• Although numerous active duty US Navy personnel appeared in the movie, they were only allowed by the Navy to work during their off-duty hours, and the production had to pay them as they would any other extras.
• The film was considered a flop when it was released in the United States, but was a huge success in Japan.
• Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.
• Shogo Shimada and Hisao Toake, who played Ambassadors Nomura and Kurusu, were the only cast members to work with both the Japanese and American units. Shimada's English language dialog was looped by Paul Frees.
• Admiral Yamamoto most likely did not utter his famous quote about having "roused a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve" - it seems to be a post-war invention based on Yamamoto's actual beliefs on the likely outcome of war with the United States and his affinity for the US in general. By contrast, his warning earlier in the about attacking in the USA that begins with "If I am told to fight... I shall run wild for the first six months..." is largely accurate.
• The peak filmed and pointed out by the actors as the site for the new radar antenna, where they were having trouble securing access from local forestry officials, is nowhere near Opana Point. The peak is actually Puu Kanehoalani on Oahu's east coast. It is one of the narrowest and most inaccessible peaks on the island, even for daring mountain climbers.
• The manned radar antenna site depicted as "Opana Point" was actually Koko Head which is just above Oahu's famous Hanauma Bay. This is on the opposite side of the island from the real-life location. Today, it is home to many antennae including the FAA's CKH VORTAC.
• Since the U.S. military presently runs a restricted communications installation at the site, the memorial dedicated to the role of Opana Point in WWII is located down the road, between the hotel lobby and beach of the Turtle Bay Resort.
• The wounded sailor shown firing back at the strafing Japanese planes is based on Chief Ordnanceman John William Finn, stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station on 7 December 1941 who set up a .50 caliber machine gun mount and, despite being wounded several times, defiantly fired back at strafing Zero fighters during the second attack wave, hitting several of them and even shooting down one, the combat unit leader Lt. Fusata Iida. Finn was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor beyond the call of duty.
• Of all the time and money spent by Akira Kurosawa, less than one minute of the film he shot is in the final release version.
• The mockups of the American ships in Pearl Harbor were constructed upon ocean-going barges which were extremely expensive to rent, causing director Richard Fleischer to comment during production, "If the Japanese had attacked us with ocean-going barges, we couldn't afford to make this film!"
• Akira Kurosawa attempted to cast friends and business associates, including some high-level industrialists, in key roles in the film's Japanese segments as a quid-pro-quo for later funding of future films. Twentieth Century Fox was not amused by this, and finally, the breach became the cause for Kurosawa's dismissal from the project.
• The bandana or "hachimaki" Commander Mitsuo Fuchida wore on his flight to Honalulu translates to "Certain Victory". He flew in the lead Nakajima B5N2 bomber with Lt. Mitsuo Matazaki piloting and Norinobu Mizuki navigating.
• Average Shot Length = ~7.1 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.9 seconds.

Goofs for
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

• Anachronisms: As the bombers fly towards Pearl Harbor they pass over the white cross at Scofield Barracks which was erected in memory of the people that were about to be killed in the raid.
• Anachronisms: Many of the US Navy ships visible during the attack on Pearl Harbor were not commissioned until the 1950s and 1960s.
• Errors in geography: The angle of the sun is incorrect for the time of day and year. This is especially noticeable on the Japanese strike aircraft flying over Oahu toward Pearl Harbor Naval Station itself.

• Anachronisms: When Col. Bratton and Lt. Cmdr. Kramer walk into the Navy cryptography workroom, the Marine sentry at the door is wearing "modified blues" - a khaki shirt and tie with the USMC dress-blue uniform's red-striped blue trousers. The Marine Corps didn't adopt this uniform until after World War II.
• Anachronisms: When the captain runs into the building to send the message "This is not a drill," a Pearl Harbor memorial can be seen in the background as he rushes past.
• Anachronisms: In the opening scene of Washington D.C., the building on the left is the Museum of American History which was not built until around 1959.
• Anachronisms: Early in the attack, one deck officer is shown wearing a "Caravelle" wristwatch with the imprint "Waterproof" on the dial face. Bulova's web site indicates that the Caravelle line of watches was introduced in 1962, some 21 years after the attack.
• Continuity: When the Ward attacks the Japanese minisub near the entrance to Pearl harbor, the minisub's depth is inconsistent between shots. We see it alternately with its entire sail out of the water, then with just the periscope visible.
• Crew or equipment visible: When the Japanese planes are launching from their carrier on the morning of the attack, as the 3rd or 4th plane launches against the morning twilight, the head and camera of a cameraman can be seen silhouetted at the bottom of the screen.
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Ambassador Nomura is speaking with Secretary Hull, Shogo Shimada's voice is dubbed by Paul Frees. However, when Hull invites Nomura to sit down, you can hear Shimada speak with his own voice and then the dubbing resumes.
• Continuity: When the first B-17 is being chased by the Japanese fighter, only one wheel is down. In the next shot both wheels are down and in the shot where the plane finally lands only one wheel is down.
• Factual errors: When the Japanese aircraft are taking off from the carriers to bomb Pearl Harbor, several of the aircraft that would have carried a crew of two or three (representing Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers and Aichi D3A dive bombers) are seen with a pilot and without the other crewmembers (gunner, radio operator, etc)
• Factual errors: The full-scale replica of USS Nevada seen throughout movie has too many 14-inch guns. USS Nevada and USS Oklahoma had 10 14-inch guns (2 3-gun turrets and 2 2-gun turrets, with one of each type turret fore and aft). The full-scale Nevada has 12 14-inch guns as found on later USS Arizona and USS Pennsylvania. The miniature models of Nevada and Oklahoma used in the Battleship Row sequences have the correct number and layout of 14-inch guns.
• Continuity: When USS Ward commences attack on Japanese midget sub, sub is shown with piece of conning tower missing before Ward hits it with gunfire. As sub is diving after being hit, conning tower is intact.
• Anachronisms: Incoming Japanese planes fly over a modern microwave tower on a ridge on Oahu.
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the band is playing the "Star Spangled Banner" as the attack begins, the audio and video are out of sync at the end. Also, the band appears to have played the song twice.
• Revealing mistakes: As Cordell Hull is getting word of the attack over the phone in his office, he's holding the receiver against his cheek, not his ear.
• Anachronisms: The Japanese aircraft are shown with the national insignia having a white outline around the red "sun". The white outline was not used until 1943.
• Anachronisms: In the shot of the B-17s being towed, the plane has the Cheyenne tail turret. This wasn't introduced until the G-model, which didn't enter service until 1943. At the time of the attack, the E-model was just beginning to enter service.

[Kyt]

The information here helps to explain how peoples' perceptions of the war are affected by famous films. The "mistakes" seem to have entered peoples' consciousness far more affectively than the real thing e.g. the Spitfire winning the BoB.

[Kyt]

My favourite WW2 film (atleast the Brits get a look-in unlike Saving Private Ryan!!)

The Longest Day (1962)

• Richard Todd (playing Major John Howard, Officer Commanding D Company of The 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Air Landing Brigade, 6th Airborne Division) was himself in Normandy on D-Day, and participated as Capt. Todd of the 7th Parachute Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, British 6th Airborne Division. His battalion actually went into action as reinforcements, via a parachute jump (after the gliders had landed and completed the initial coup de main assault). Capt. Richard 'Sweeney' Todd was moved from the plane he was originally scheduled to jump from, to another. The original plane was shot down, killing everyone on board.
• As a 22-year-old private, Joseph Lowe landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day with the Second Ranger Battalion and scaled the cliffs at Point-Du-Hoc. He scaled those hundred-foot cliffs all over again, for the cameras, some 17 years later.
• Darryl F. Zanuck was quoted in an interview as saying that he didn't think much of actors forming their own production companies, citing The Alamo (1960), produced by John Wayne, as a failure of such ventures. Wayne found out about this interview before being approached by Zanuck, and refused to appear in the film unless he was paid $250,000 for his role (when the other famous actors were being paid $25,000). Wayne got his requested salary.

• Henry Grace was not an actor when being cast as Dwight D. Eisenhower, but his remarkable resemblance to Eisenhower got him the role.
• Sean Connery, who made his debut as James Bond also in 1962, acted in the movie along with Gert Fröbe and Curd Jürgens - two future Bond villains.
• Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was considered for the role of himself in the film, and he indicated his willingness. However, it was decided that makeup artists couldn't make him appear young enough to play his WWII self.
• Red Buttons was cast in the film after he ran into Darryl F. Zanuck in a Paris cafe.
• Due to the massive cost overruns on the film Cleopatra (1963) (which was filming contemporaneously), Darryl F. Zanuck had to agree to a fixed filming budget. After he had spent the budgeted amount he started using his own money to pay for the production.
• When cost overruns on Cleopatra (1963) threatened to force 20th Century Fox to shut down production of this film, Darryl F. Zanuck flew to New York to save his project. After an impassioned speech to Fox's board, Zanuck regained control of the company he founded, ultimately finishing this picture and getting the production of "Cleopatra" under control.
• According to fellow veterans major Werner Pluskat was not at his command bunker in Omaha Beach when the first wave of the invasion forces landed, instead he was in a bordello in Caen.
• The theme song to the movie, by Paul Anka, was used as the Regimental march of the Canadian Airborne Regiment (1968-1995)
• The piper who played the bagpipes as Lord Lovat's commandos stormed ashore is played by the late Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee who was at the time Pipe Major of the London Scottish Pipe Band, and personal piper to HM the Queen Mother. The actual man who did this stirring deed on D-Day is Bill Millin. He recently donated that very set of pipes to the national war memorial in Edinburgh Castle.
• While clearing a section of the Normandy beach near Ponte du Hoc, the film's crew unearthed a tank that had been buried in the sand since the original invasion. Mechanics cleaned it off, fixed it up and it was used in the film as part of the British tank regiment.
• One of producer Darryl F. Zanuck's big worries was that, as filming of the actual invasion drew near, he couldn't find any working German Messerschmitts, which strafed the beach, or British Spitfires, which chased them away. He finally found two Messerschmitts that were being used by the Spanish Air Force, and two Spitfires that were still on active duty with the Belgian Air Force, and rented all four of them for the invasion scenes.
• An estimated 23,000 troops were supplied by the U.S., Britain and France for the filming. (Germans only appeared as officers in speaking roles.) The French contributed 1,000 commandos despite their involvement in the Algerian War at the time.
• The Spitfire planes needed to be fitted with new Rolls-Royce engines before being usable.
• No gliders of the sort used in the invasion were available, so Darryl F. Zanuck commissioned new duplicates from the same company that built the originals.
• The fleet scenes were filmed using 22 ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during maneuvers off Corsica between June 21-30, 1961. The cameras had to avoid shooting the area where the fleet's aircraft carrier was positioned, as there were no carriers in the invasion.
• Just before shooting began in Corsica, Darryl F. Zanuck was approached by a man stating he represented the beach owners. He insisted on a $15,000 payment or else they would drive modern cars along the beach. Zanuck paid the money, but it was later discovered to be a scam as there were no private beaches in Corsica. Zanuck eventually won damages after an eight-year lawsuit.
• As there was a nudist colony two miles inland from the Corsican beach, it was necessary to post signs warning the colonists not to approach the water during filming.
• During shooting in Ste. Mère-Eglise, traffic was stopped, stores were closed and the power was shut down in order not to endanger the paratroopers who were unused to night drops in populated areas. Still, the lights and staged fire proved too difficult to work around, and only one or two jumpers managed to land in the square - with several suffering minor injuries. One of the initial jumpers broke both legs in landing. Ultimately, plans to use authentic jumps were abandoned, opting instead for rigged jumps from high cranes.
• The cameo part of the British Padre was first offered to Dirk Bogarde.
• Eddie Albert, who played Colonel Thompson, was a World War II veteran. However, Albert actually served in the Pacific, not in Europe.
• As would be done again later in the WWII epic, Patton (1970), the Twentieth-Century Fox logo is never shown onscreen in this film.
• With a $10,000,000 budget, this was the most expensive black & white film ever made until Schindler's List (1993).
• During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the American soldiers appearing as extras didn't want to jump off the landing craft into the water because they thought it would be too cold. Robert Mitchum, who played General Norm Cota, finally got disgusted with them and jumped in first, at which point the soldiers had no choice but to follow his example.
• In Italy for the filming of Cleopatra (1963), Roddy McDowall became so frustrated with the numerous delays during its production, he begged Darryl F. Zanuck for a part in this picture just so he could do some work. He ended up with a small role as an American soldier.
• A number of sources credit Christopher Lee and Geoffrey Bayldon as being in this project but Lee denies working on the film and Bayldon is nowhere to be seen in the final print.
• One of the very first World War II films made by an American studio in which the members of each country spoke nearly all their dialogue in the language of that country: the Germans spoke German, the French spoke French, and the Americans and Britishers spoke English. There were subtitles on the bottom of the screen to translate the various languages.
• Richard Todd, veteran of the action at the bridge at Benouville (later renamed Pegasus Bridge) (see Item 1 above), was offered the chance to play himself but joked, "I don't think at this stage of my acting career I could accept a part 'that' small." He played the commander of the actual bridge assault itself, Major John Howard, instead.
• Leslie Phillips only has one line in this movie.
• Alec Guinness was sought for a cameo.
• The role of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort was actively sought by Charlton Heston, but the last-minute decision of John Wayne to take a role in the film prevented Heston from participating.
• Four Spitfires were used in the strafing sequence. They were all ex-Belgian target tugs and all were MK9's. The serial no.s were MH415, MK297, MK923 and MH434 and all are still extant. The Spitfires were assembled and co-ordinated by former free French Spitfire pilot Pierre Laureys who flew with 340 Squadron, a free French unit in the RAF. The 4 Spitfires were of course re-painted in 340 Squadron markings. Spitfire MK923 was between 1963 and 1998 owned by film actor and Oscar winner Cliff Robertson.
• In his memoirs Christopher Lee recalls being rejected for a role in the movie because he didn't look like a military man (he served in the RAF during WW2).
• Average Shot Length = ~8 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.5 seconds
• The Messerschmitts used to portray Luftwaffe fighters were not Bf-109s, but were actually Bf-108 Taifuns, a four-seat cabin monoplane design with a wider fuselage.

Goofs for
The Longest Day (1962)

• Revealing mistakes: The shots that kill Private Martini occur too quickly in succession to have been fired from the indicated bolt-action rifle.
• Factual errors: A compound fracture of the ankle indicates blood and/or protruding bones, of which Vandervoort's ankle had none. It also would have been impossible to put any weight on the ankle.
• Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of the dolly against the smoke of battle during the invasion of Omaha Beach. The direction of the shadow and the geography of the beach indicate that this scene, while set at dawn, was filmed in the afternoon.

• Anachronisms: Features LCM-8s, which weren't built until 1954.
• Anachronisms: German general Max Pemsel says: "Wir haben starke RADAR-störungen" (We have strong radar interference). The word "radar" was not used, perhaps even not known in Germany in 1944. They used a somewhat similar system, but called it "Funkmeßgeräte" (radio measuring equipment).
• Errors in geography: During the final scenes of the movie, when an American general is taken up "Omaha" beach, it's actually Juno beach, where the Canadians landed.
• Continuity: When two German planes strafe Gold-Juno beaches, the airborne camera overruns the set exposing the empty beach ahead which has no obstacles, vehicles, or men.
• Factual errors: Before Oberstleutnant Priller and Unteroffizer Wodarczyk attack the Allies there is some stock footage of weaponless BF-108 "Taifun" liason/observation aircraft. Priller and Wodarczyk flew FW-190s on that mission.
• Factual errors: Most of the Americans armed with Thompson submachine guns are wearing M1 rifle clip ammo belts instead of Thompson magazine belts.
• Errors in geography: The German observer who first sees the invasion fleet does so with binoculars made in Germany. We know this because it is written so on the bottom of the binoculars, in English.
• Revealing mistakes: When Pvt. Schultz is lost and finds fellow soldiers across the wall from him, he crosses the wall by swinging his leg over it. When he does, it shakes.
• Factual errors: There's a typo on the caption introducing General Pemsel. It says "Befehlssab 7. Armee" where has to be "Befehlsstab 7. Armee"
• Anachronisms: When the ships are about to begin bombarding the beaches you see a group of planes fly by the camera these are Douglas Sky Raiders which did not see service until the late 1940s.
• Continuity: During the British glider assault on the bridge, the same glider lands three times.
• Revealing mistakes: When LTC Vandervoort uses his flashlight to illuminate his map (while having his broken ankle taped), the flashlight illuminates the map, but displays a flashlight-shaped shadow in the center of the map (indicating the stage light used to "really" illuminate the map).
• Continuity: When the coded radio messages are read out in French, the awaited second line of the poem by Verlaine, "Blesse mon coeur d'une langueur monotone" ("Wounds my heart with a monotonous languor") sets the French resistance-group in motion. They leave the hiding Allied pilots and take up rifles. The next line heard on the radio before it is shut off is "J'aime les chats siamois" ("I like Siamese cats") But when the Germans hear and are recording the identical broadcast and hear the line of poetry, the coded message after that is a message heard before the French resistance-fighters heard the poetry line: "Daphné à Monique: Il y a le feu à l'agence de voyage. Inutile de s'y rendre." ("Daphne to Monique: There is a fire at the travel agency. It is no use to get there").
• Factual errors: When the second line of the Verlaine poem is said ("Blessent mon coeur d'une langueur monotone"), the subtitle reads "Wounds [singular] my heart with a monotonous languor". It should say "Wound", plural, as the subject of the verse is the plural "sobs".
• Factual errors: When we see Lovat's British commandos land, one of the men is carrying an M-3 "Grease Gun". That was an American weapon never given to the British.
• Revealing mistakes: When the two men are on the rocking boat in the beginning, the straps on their helmets remain at a 90 degree angle to the car they're sitting in despite the boat's drastic rocking back on forth, showing that it was the camera, not the boat wobbling.
• Factual errors: When Lord Lovat leads his men to Pegasus Bridge, he can clearly be seen holding a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model 1903 carbine. One of the well-known eccentricities of Lord Lovat was that he always carried an old Winchester rifle in combat.
• Anachronisms: During the go/no go sequence, a jet can be heard flying overhead as the naval representative is speaking.
• Factual errors: The real Ouistreham casino had been destroyed and replaced by a German bunker before the D-Day landings, rather than having a bunker built into its basement as shown. The casino seen in the film was a set built on the harbour at Port-en Bessin.
• Errors in geography: When the gliders land at Pegasus Bridge, the caption on screen states "Orne River" and the bridge can be seen below. Pegasus Bridge, where Major Howard's glider landed, is on the Caen Canal, not the Orne.
• Anachronisms: During a very early scene in France, the back end of a Citroen 2CV can be seen parked at the side of the street as the German soldiers march down it.
• Factual errors: When Lovat orders the piper to play "Blue Bonnets over the Border", the song he actually plays is "Black Bear".
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Lovat"s commandos land, the piper is playing "Black Bear"; however, when we see the piper he is still trying to inflate the bagpipe using one hand.
• Factual errors: The British pathfinders land on the HQ of General Von Salmuth, commander of the 15th army. However, the pathfinders had actually landed on General Reichert's HQ (Reicher was commander of the 711 division in Normandy) and also, Von Salmuth and the 15th army were actually at the Pas De Calais.
• Factual errors: On the British beaches, a British journalist is seen releasing a pigeon carrying a message and cursing it as it flies inland - "Damned Traitors". The actual journalist was Charles Lynch, a Canadian working for Reuters.
• Factual errors: The movie shows that the German 155mm guns on Pointe du Hoc were gone when Colonel Rudder's Rangers got there. It doesn't show that the Rangers continued inland, found the guns and destroyed them.
• Factual errors: In the film, the helmets worn by the 2nd Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc have no markings. In reality, Ranger helmets had an orange diamond on the back, with a number indicating battalion.
• Factual errors: According to Ryan's book, far from being deafened by the church bell, John Steele said that he didn't notice it.
• Factual errors: After the paratrooper clears the bird house he uses his cricket to check out the bushes. The German replies with two shots, however he is using a Mauser K98 bolt action rifle. In reality he could only shoot one bullet at a time.
• Crew or equipment visible: During the shelling at the beginning of the invasion the French farmers mirror breaks and its position shifts. In doing so a stage light is clearly seen.
• Revealing mistakes: In the early scene between Generals Gavin and Cota, the sentry pacing in the rain outside the Quonset hut walks through a shaft of sunlight several times; also, his shadow is clearly visible.
• Factual errors: When US troops are being transferred into landing carriers and in the initial shots of the landings on Utah and Omaha beaches, several African American infantry men are seen. However, African Americans did not participate as front line troops at this stage - the US Army would not accept them. They were only allowed to participate as support troops (drivers etc) and artillery and AA troops. However, by the time of the making of the film the US Army had been desegregated, and most of the extras were US troops.

____________________________


P.S. - See if you can spot my contribution (which I sent IMDB about 3 months ago)

[spidge]

Originally Posted by Kyt

The information here helps to explain how peoples' perceptions of the war are affected by famous films. The "mistakes" seem to have entered peoples' consciousness far more affectively than the real thing e.g. the Spitfire winning the BoB.

These movies are entertainment and at least create/created interest in the jobs our forces did during ww2.

The inaccuracies told or the licence taken are part and parcel of making films for profit. If they are not profitable they won't be made.

As long as someone knows the mistakes have been made and point them out, the film makers will be more careful. (Pearl Harbor excluded)

[Gotthard Heinrici]

Trivia for
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
The producers were only able to locate four of the many Sherman tanks seen on the screen. The rest were plastic molds set on top of 88" Landrovers. VW Beetle chassis were used for German Kubelwagens. The tank treads didn’t reach the ground, but the film is edited so that this isn’t noticeable (except in the section after Elliott Gould cries "Roll the fuckers / Ro