Throughout the film, the hairs on Prewitt's chest are plainly visible when the top of his shirts are open, but when he's shown without a shirt in Alma's house, all his chest hair has been shaved, which was the usual practice in 1950s Hollywood films.
When Sgt Warden first brings Prewitt into the company office there are two empty hooks on the wall. Immediately after Prewitt is shown sitting below the hooks talking to Maggio through the screen door and there is now a campaign hat hanging from one of the hooks.
Inside the dining room, Sgt. Warden puts some rolled up sheets of paper on the table. When Karen picks them up, they are unrolled.
An obvious stunt double is used for Galovitch in his fight with Prewitt. Actor John Dennis has a fair-haired crew cut. His double has darker, thicker hair which recedes noticeably at the temples.
During Sgt. Warden's visit (pretending to look for Capt. Holmes), Karen tells him that she will phone her husband and walks to the dining room. When she stands in the doorway, there are two chairs inside, on the left. In the next shot, they both enter the room, and the chairs are not there.
When Pearl Harbor is under attack, a torpedo is launched at at model battleship which is moving. The only battleship that got underway during the attack was the USS Nevada. However, the Nevada didn't move until after the USS Arizona exploded, which was shown in the movie after the model battleship scene.
The Japanese airplanes strafing Schofield Barracks are actually late-model North American T-6 "Texans," trainers. One appears to be a Douglas SBD "Dauntless."
During early morning formation - the scene following that in which Fatso is killed - each company reports "All present and accounted for." The proper phrase is "... present OR accounted for." There would be no need to be accounted for if you're present. If absent from formation because of furlough (vacation) or duty elsewhere then that member is being reported as accounted for, not in formation.
The rounded H on the soldiers' left shoulder was the Hawaiian Department. The Air Corp in Hawaii wore that, but not the infantry. The proper shoulder patch was the taro leaf, used since the 1920s. That was the Hawaiian Division. The Hawaiian Division was 'split' in October, 1941, and became the bases of the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions. The 24th, ultimately, kept the taro leaf patch.
The shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI) worn on soldiers' uniforms could have been embroidered or appliquéd felt. In either instance, it was very rarely worn on the cotton khaki shirt, as shown in this movie. If it was worn at all, it was worn on the service dress coats, made of cotton khaki or olive drab wool.
First Sergeant Warden is actually wearing the correct stripes. Modern 1st Sergeant stripes have a three-up/three-down configuration. However, from 1920 to 1942, 1st Sergeants had three chevrons and only two rockers, along with the center diamond. The modern version with three rockers was adopted in 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A bugler who is as good as Prewitt would never become a boxer for fear of messing up his embouchure if he were hit in the mouth. If he's that good, he'd never risk screwing up his livelihood in civilian life.
This presumes both that he desires to have a civilian career as a bugler and that he values his potential future career over his dedication to serving his country in a time of war.
This presumes both that he desires to have a civilian career as a bugler and that he values his potential future career over his dedication to serving his country in a time of war.
Robert E. Lee Prewitt Is supposed to be from Kentucky but he doesn't speak with a Southern accent.
So is George Clooney, and he doesn't speak with a Southern accent. It's possible for someone to be from a place and lose their accent the further time they've been away from it.
So is George Clooney, and he doesn't speak with a Southern accent. It's possible for someone to be from a place and lose their accent the further time they've been away from it.
When Prew has just finished digging a large square hole as part of his punishment for not boxing, its four sides are exactly equal in length, and all four walls are perfectly vertical, with no shoveling marks. This would be impossible to do with the ordinary shovel he is using.
First Sergeant Warden is holding the barrel of his (30 caliber) machine in his left hand while he was firing it, which would have severely burned his hand.
The Japanese aircraft attacking the US fleet are actually represented by stock footage of US Navy Dauntless and Avenger aircraft.
Although over a hundred Army and Navy personnel are depicted in the film, not a single one is wearing any service or award ribbons on their uniform. Those who are age 40 and higher should at least have ribbons for World War One service.
When the first Japanese plane attacks the barracks, one man is killed by machine gun fire. He is laying on the ground with his head facing a tree. A moment later, Warden yells for the men to take cover, and a shot of the field is shown. But now, the man is completely turned around and his feet are facing the tree.
In one scene, Donna Reed holds a filtered cigarette. The movie takes place during World War II, and they didn't make filtered cigarettes until the 1950s.
The hairdos of the women are from 1953 rather than from 1941.
When the crowd of soldiers is gathered around watching the brawl between Private Prewitt and Sergeant Galovitch, many of the men, including Private Prewitt, have the acorn cords on their campaign hats tied in knots. This is only done by combat veterans, and since the war hadn't started yet, none of the junior enlisted men would have served in combat. Therefore, nobody in that scene, and especially Private Prewitt, should be wearing their campaign hats with the acorn cord tied in a "combat knot."
The impromptu bugle solo in the club includes notes that only a trumpet could hit.
Ernest Borgnine's character "Fatso" is incorrectly shown playing the piano as he moves his hands to his left as the notes get higher, and vice versa.
At the beginning of the scene in which Buckley first talks to Prewitt about his situation, Prewitt's line, "You know anything in army regulations says I gotta box?"- has obviously been dubbed over a different line - his mouth movements don't match those words.
As Warden and Prewitt walk across the street from G Co.'s orderly room to the supply room, the tire tracks of the moving camera dolly can be seen in the street to their right (screen left).
When Pruitt emerges from the bamboo at the edge of the golf course in search of his unit, he moves stealthily from tree to tree. In the background, two golfers can be seen putting on the green.
When 1st Sgt. Milton Warden is walking Pvt. Robert E. Lee 'Prew' Prewitt over to Supply, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen on Prewitt's blouse.
Saluting is done incorrectly - several characters salute by placing the blade of their hand to the center of their forehead, etc.
Holmes, an experienced Captain, salutes incorrectly after he is instructed to submit his resignation. A soldier shall not drop
(complete) his salute until after the soldier being saluted has returned the initial salute.
When Prew's platoon is being marched in formation, the NCO in charge orders him to get in step with the rest of the platoon... but he's already marching in step.