Period Films and Inaccuraces

[Chasseur]

All those war movies made in the 1960s probably are my favorite since they generally have people, in particular the actresses in full 1960s hairs and outfits, during WWII. Also, as mentioned earlier, all those 1960s cars...

Though not a WWII movie, that fun Anthony Quin film about the French paratroopers in Algeria, The Lost Command (based on Jean Larteguy's novel Les Centurions)really stands out for me. It was made in 1966 when the main part of the story takes place in 1956-57 or so. Alain Delon is so mid-1960s cool that when he leaves the army and walks out of the base not only does he have his ultra-slim Mod suit and haircut, but he is surrounded by many 1960s cars as he walks away...

[video=youtube;uoFoyHHpw_c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoFoyHHpw_c[/video]

Though Sophia Loren in Operation Crossbow perhaps stands out as a close second...

[video=youtube;RGrIZ9aE-cU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGrIZ9aE-cU[/video]

 

[Stanley Doble]

I'm not picky about details, however I did notice a green 1968 Chev in American Grafitti. It was only on the screen for a split second but it was there. Anyone else notice it?

And no, it did not spoil the movie for me.

 

[Worf]

With me it's when movie producers don't even TRY and get things right. I know there weren't a lot of Luftwaffe mounts left lying around in 1948 but jeeze in the film "Fighter Squadron" they committed the mother of all sins. The painted and rebadged P-51 Mustangs as Luftwaffe fighters. I can almost forgive them as the films a low to mid budget pot boiler. But the Battle of the Bulge starring Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan AND Charles Bronson was a big budget affair. You'd think that they could find ONE actual German tank to put in this multi-million dollar movie. I mean... C'mon man!

Worf

 

[2jakes]

In the film , "O Brother Where Art Thou ", George Clooney confesses to his Jail mates by saying , "Boys we were chained together…busting
out alone was not an option"! Somehow that phrase sounds too modern. In the sequel to Chinatown with Jack Nicholson. Jack is driving a
convertible (Hudson) . On a wide shot there is an exterior steel visor (Fulton) on the front. In the close up , the visor is missing. On the next
wide shot , the visor is back again. Also , a 1946 Chev. pickup truck passes several times in the same scene. I have a similar truck. It's
a 1946 olive green with black fenders. I never could find the "atm" machine that some have said they saw in this 1940's period film.

 

[RichardH]

With me it's when movie producers don't even TRY and get things right. I know there weren't a lot of Luftwaffe mounts left lying around in 1948 but jeeze in the film "Fighter Squadron" they committed the mother of all sins. The painted and rebadged P-51 Mustangs as Luftwaffe fighters. I can almost forgive them as the films a low to mid budget pot boiler. But the Battle of the Bulge starring Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan AND Charles Bronson was a big budget affair. You'd think that they could find ONE actual German tank to put in this multi-million dollar movie. I mean... C'mon man!

Worf

Well, If it was razorback mustangs (B's & C models) it would have been a plausible substitute, as they looked quite similar to a Bf-109, but obviously, a P-51D (bubble canopy) looks nothing like a "Messer" !

 

[RichardH]

What always amazes me is that no matter how much money a big budget blockbuster seems to have - they still dont manage to get it right like the smaller budget films.

Pearl Harbour was a travesty when it came to hair, makeup and uniforms. If you are going to try and re-create an event like that, man at LEAST get the uniforms right. Ben Afflicks character is wearing the wrong jacket with his uniform and his medals are not pinned in the correct place. Even the way he wears his hat is questionable according to a friend of mine who is an expert on uniforms of the era. It's almost insulting to the men who were there. And the women...the hair is wrong, too modern as is the makeup and nails. It really stands out!

I mean low budget movies like League of their Own, Swing Kids and English dramas are so well done, right down to every detail. So why can't a movie with a huge budget - like Pearl Harbour or King Kong get it right!

Girls, I love League of their Own and use it as a reference a lot. Has it all, day wear, sports wear, underwear, great hairstyles and make-up. Yeah, its not the greates movie of all time but I think it's one that is true to the era.

I tell you what is REALLY weird, get the 1950s version of the 'Glenn Miller Story' out on DVD sometime (starring Jimmy Stewart). We all know its set from the 20s to when he died in WW2 but almost all the clothes (especially in the 30s and 40s period) are full on 1950s garb!! I've seen this in quite a few movies made in the 50s (The Benny Goodman Story is another) where they are trying to portray the 30s and 40s but still wear 50s clothes! Odd, check it out sometime. Even here in the movie poster shes wearing 50s clothes:

You mean like this?

Seems pretty accurate to me, compared to this actuall ww2 photograph :

The only thing is that Ben Affleck's hat appear crushed which isn't really that accurate as fighter pilots wore flying helmets with integrated headsets instead of that cap and a regular headset like the bomber pilots did (for some time at least). Bomber pilots would remove the stiffener so the headset would feel more comfortable being worn over the cap, thus creating that "crushed" look.

 

[ThemThereEyes]

I know this is not a Golden Era related film, but seeing this scene in Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette was really funny. They were the shoes Kirsten Dunst wore under costumes when her feet weren't visible.
http://styleinspades.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/couturedetat.jpg
Also that macarons weren't around yet, and they are seen all throughout the film.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I've never spotted that one, but will now be on the lookout for it!

I'm not picky about details, however I did notice a green 1968 Chev in American Grafitti. It was only on the screen for a split second but it was there. Anyone else notice it?

And no, it did not spoil the movie for me.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I've watched a few episodes of a telly show "Murdoch Mysteries" and the thing that struck me as bizarre from the get-go - would a woman have been working as a coroner in the 1890s?

 

[BigFitz]

Watching "JFK" yesterday and one of the flashback scenes the day of the assassination showed a Ford Mustang that wouldn't come out for another 6 months.

Also, in "Animal House" set in 1962 one of the songs used was "Cherish" by the Association which wasn't released until 1966.

 

[BigFitz]

This is being very nitpicky but just to add to the thread I thought I'd point out an innaccuracy in "The Untouchables"

The scene is when Andy Garcia is drawing a bead on the bad guy in the train station. He's using a Smith & Wesson Military and Police which was available in the 1920's but the one in the movie was made no earlier than 1952. 1952 was the first year that Smith STARTED using a ramped front sight instead of the older "half moon" style. I say started because Smith continued to use the half moon sight along side the ramped sight until at least 1958. Also, the photo below shows that the frame just above his trigger finger shows four rows of rolled lettering. This wasn't started until after WWII around 1947-48. Up until that time, there would have been only one line, "Made in USA", or blank.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about this unimportant trivia and won't think to harshly about me.

Oh, and the grips(stocks) of the pistol are clearly seen, indicating magna grips which I don't believe were around in the '20's but I might be wrong about that.

Here's an M&P that dates from the mid '20's With Magna grips from the late '40's early '50's.

And here's one from 1958

 

[Miss Moonlight]

Nice catch, there! Only a true historical gun enthusiast could catch that. But that makes it no less an unecessary mistake.


(ETA Oh, I just noticed that this has been mentioned already- )
But my biggest peeve is how almost every movie made in the late 50s and the 60s about the 40s has women all in 40s clothing and shoes but their hair is ALWAYS still a 60s style. Makes no sense. NONE. Considering how much curling, pouffing, spraying and ratting that those 60s dos involve, it would have been more sensible to go period, and even moreso to keep it period and job-accurate. Nurses stranded and then picked up by a sub would not exactly be doing their hair a lot. And I don't care if your movie is supposed to be high quality or silly fun, care should go into every aspect.

Operation Petticoat, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Flight of the White Stallions (aka Miracle of the White Stallions), are just a few which come to mind, but it happens often. It's annoying as heck because I let it annoy me but... I don't know how not to. lol

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

One of my favorite movies is the 1975 version of "Farewell, My Lovely", an adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel starring Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, and John Ireland. In the opening scene, Marlowe is at a "dime-a-dance" joint looking for a runaway teen girl. The singer fronting the band is singing "It Seems I've Heard That Song Somewhere Before". From other details in the movie, you can see that it is set in 1941. References are made to Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, and Marlowe talks with a newsie who's hawking his paper with "Read all about it! Hitler invades Russia!"

The song was released in 1942.

 

[Two Types]

If you want historical inaccuracies you should see some of the DVD boxes for war films released in the UK these days. I must try to find some examples.

I recall one in which a WW2 soldier is wearing a British helmet, a German gas mask case and an American pack. I have no idea what nationality he is supposed to be since (if i recall correctly) it's a film about resistance fighters.

 

[rjb1]

Most Westerns were thoroughly inaccurate with respect to firearms chronology. Example: In "Santa Fe Trail" Raymond Massey/John Brown fought Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan in 1859 using 1873 rifles and pistols. John Wayne fought Indians and outlaws all through the 1870's ("Stagecoach", "Rio Bravo" etc.) using an 1892 Winchester.
It's almost more usual to see period-incorrect firearms in Westerns that to see correct ones.

Also in the Western genre are the strange split-personality Westerns of the mid-1930's, in which the cowboys (such as Gene Autry) sing on the radio and drive 1934 Fords part of the time, and the rest of the time they chase rustlers on horseback across the prairie, blazing away with their six-shooters just like the 1870's. The odd thing about these is that they are totally wrong chronologically but are not mistakes - they are made that way on purpose.
I still watch them and like them, just like they did back in the 1930's, but you REALLY have to suspend your disbelief.

 

[Shangas]

I've watched a few episodes of a telly show "Murdoch Mysteries" and the thing that struck me as bizarre from the get-go - would a woman have been working as a coroner in the 1890s?

There were certainly female physicians back in the 1890s. So I don't see why not.

But if you want to talk innacuracies, Murdoch Mysteries has quite a few. Most notably the typewriters. P.C. Crabtree has an Imperial No. 50, which didn't come out until the 1920s. They did better with other machines, though. Murdoch has an 1890s Oliver, which is correct for the time-period, and early-model Underwoods, which are also period correct.

But they stretch other things FAAAAR beyond the realities of 1890s technology. Like the audio-recordings and the film-capabilities of the age. Accoustic recordings were never that clear, and audio-film sync. had not been achieved by that stage.

 

[2jakes]

Most Westerns were thoroughly inaccurate with respect to firearms chronology. Example: In "Santa Fe Trail" Raymond Massey/John Brown fought Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan in 1859 using 1873 rifles and pistols. John Wayne fought Indians and outlaws all through the 1870's ("Stagecoach", "Rio Bravo" etc.) using an 1892 Winchester.

In the western film, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly"... with Clint Eastwood. There's a scene where the
part of Tucco or the ugly played by Eli Wallach goes into a gun shop. He asks for revolvers from the owner.
Tucco is shown several Colts, Smith & Wessons. Some of the pistols look like cap & ball & some have cartridges.
From this collection Tucco disassembles & puts together what looks like a black powder pistol
with a cartridge cylinder. He loads the cylinder with bullets
He proceeds to shoot at a target . And fires the gun with no problem.

I don't know much about pistols. But I've always wondered if such a thing is possible ?

Thanks.

 

[Shangas]

Blackpowder revolvers are fitted with firing-caps/precussion caps, a charge of powder, a bullet, and a wadding in each chamber before the gun is cocked and fired. The firing-pin hits the precussion-cap, which fires the round.

I daresay, if the cartridges were of the right calibre, it probably is possible...

 

[2jakes]

Blackpowder revolvers are fitted with firing-caps/precussion caps, a charge of powder, a bullet, and a wadding in each chamber before the gun is cocked and fired. The firing-pin hits the precussion-cap, which fires the round.

I daresay, if the cartridges were of the right calibre, it probably is possible...

But what about the barrel of the pistol which was designed for black powder balls only ?

Wouldn't a cartridge bullet even if it was of similar calibre, have more force or velocity
going through the barrel of a black powder pistol & might just cause damage or injury ?

 

[JWS34]

There were many gunsmiths that converted percussion pistols to cartridge use. It would involve removing the area that holds the percussion cap and machining it to allow the seating of the metallic cartridge. Also a hinged loading gate would be placed on the frame. I dont believe much would be required for the barrel as it would remain .36 or .44 or other calibers. Once the cartidge guns came along the others were of lesser value or advantage, and there was money available making a cheaper alternative. smokeless powder with higher pressures came later with the lebel 1886 rifle.