Frank Abagnale Jr.is given a co-pilot's jacket (two stripes) at the outfitters. However, immediately afterwards when he is seen walking away he's wearing a senior co-pilot's jacket (three stripes) and continues to wear that rank throughout the pilot scenes.
It is sunny at poolside at the Tropicana in L.A., with young ladies sunbathing. When Abagnale is almost caught in his motel room, he points to the "perp" being escorted to the car by "another Secret Service man." The streets are clearly wet, and the car is covered with raindrops. (See trivia.)
When Hanratty and his two assistants go to Paula's house, one of the assistants grabs a piece of dessert and tries to reach a fork that is on a plate in front of Hanratty. Hanratty has a paper in his right hand in one shot while he's looking at the lady. In the next shot is right hand is empty and free to instantly grab a fork for his colleague and hand it to him in that comedic stabbing motion.
When Frank Jr. gives the new car's keys to his father at the restaurant, Sr. takes the ribbon off the box, and sets it down to the right of his plate. In the next shot the ribbon is to the left of his plate. The box itself moves around and alternates between partially open and completely closed.
When Frank gets to Miami International Airport to wait for his fiancée, a car driven by a man wearing a hat stops right behind him. When Frank looks around searching for potential police, the door of the car behind is opening. In the next shot, the car behind him is gone.
When Frank pretends he is interviewing a senior pilot for a school paper to gather more info on pilots, the pilot gives Frank a pilots license that is " three years expired". FAA licenses have no expiration date, they are valid for life. To use one, you must have a current Medical certificate, which does expire.
Stopping a press like the one shown in the movie would not result in a flurry of cut checks flying through the air. Additionally, the cutter would be a machine that could fit the entire width of the paper, and make the precision cuts required for things like checks.
The interior of the TWA 707 showed open overhead racks, which was correct for that era. However, no luggage was permitted to be stored in those racks, only hats, coats, pillows, and blankets. It wasn't until enclosed overhead bins came along that luggage was allowed up there.
There is no such thing as a Runway 44, at la Guardia or anywhere else in the world. Runways range from 01 to 36.
In the "To Tell The Truth" episode at the beginning of the movie, all three "Franks" are shown to be wearing pilot's uniforms. In the actual episode only Frank actually wore the pilot uniform, the two imposters were dressed as a prisoner and a doctor.
In several scenes, Agent Hanratty uses the "Weaver Stance" when holding a handgun. This is particularly evident when he first meets Secret Service Agent "Barry Allen" in the hotel room. Although not widely used until the 1970s, the "Weaver Stance" was first developed during the 1950s, so Hanratty could have known it.
When Hanratty runs upstairs at the motel in L.A. right before his first encounter with Abagnale, he hurriedly shows his FBI badge to a woman at the top of the steps. However, his badge and info are facing towards him and not the woman because he was in a hurry to capture Frank.
When Frank walks through Miami International Airport surrounded by newly recruited Pan Am stewardesses, the stewardesses are wearing their hats and emblems incorrectly because they didn't know better and neither did Frank, the FBI agents and other law enforcement officers wouldn't know the difference either because they were distracted by the beauty of each stewardess which was Frank's intention from the beginning.
When Hanratty is in the laundromat he pulls a red sweater out of the dryer that changes his clothes pink. But, the lady who grabs the sweater from him is also doing a white load. It has been pointed out that she is also doing a white load, but that sweater is clearly from a previous load of her laundry, likely a load of colored clothes, It likely clung to the inside of the machine, was missed when she emptied it, and turned Carl's white shirts pink.
Frank Abagnale Jr. tells Roger Strong that he graduated from UC Berkeley law school. Prior to 2020, UC Berkeley law school was known as Boalt law school, which Roger Strong would have known and recognized Frank Abagnale Jr. as a fake. However, the writers may have deliberately used the name Berkeley in order to be more recognizable to the audience.
The non-speaking role of "stewardess" Miggy is played by Amy Acker for the scene in the hall and when the stewardesses get out of the car with Frank outside the airport. However, inside the airport, another (non-credited) actress has replaced her.
When the FBI arrive at Roger Strong's house, there is no evidence of any wind out in the garden. The lanterns are not moving, the plants are still, and the congratulations sign is not swinging, and yet there is a strong breeze blowing through the bedroom window when Frank opens it.
When Carl flips through Frank's high school yearbook looking for his photo, the close-up shot reveals the same names duplicated on multiple pages of the book.
When Hanratty makes a phone call outside Frank Sr.'s apartment, the entire phone booth shakes, as if it is not bolted to the ground.
As Frank is watching the pilot exit the taxi with flight attendants, an extra walks past them wearing a very modern suit and skinny tie. Nothing like the styles of the 60's when the scene takes place.
In the credits, Dan Higgins is listed as a saxophone soloist; "Saxophone" is misspelled as "Saxaphone."
When the agents are pulling in to the Tropicana motel, the cars passing buy appear to have California plates (or modern antique/collectible plates) but they are supposed to be in Miami.
As Frank first walks down the street in his Pan Am uniform, a Fedex delivery truck is partially visible in the background. Federal Express wasn't founded until 1971 and the Fedex logo on the truck was designed in 1994 when the company officially adopted the Fedex brand name.
When Hanratty and Abagnale are aboard a plane at Fiorello LaGuardia Airport in 1969, a shot of the New York City skyline shows the World Trade Center towers fully built. However, the towers were not completed until 1973.
The map of Europe Hanratty uses to figure out Abagnale's location is from post-1990: Germany is unified, and Yugoslavia is divided into The Balkans.
In the film, the term "unsub" is used to describe Abagnale. The term "unsub" wasn't used by the FBI until the middle to late 1980s, and became popular with the advent of the TV series by the same name, starring David Soul.
When Frank Jr. goes to meet his father in a bar, he is wearing a United States Postal Service jacket. Pre-1971, the United States Postal Service was the U.S. Post Office Department.
At the end of the film, when the camera pans out through the FBI office, the last row of file cabinets can be seen being pushed together into place after the camera has passed through. A crew member can be seen on the left side of the screen trying to duck out of the shot after you see him pushing the left file cabinet.
When Frank Sr. hugs Frank Jr. during the pancake scene, Franks Jr's shirt rides up so that you can see a mic cord running underneath.
In the Miami Airport scenes, the viewer see a multitude of tall, skinny California fan palms, which do not grow in south Florida, only in southern California and northern Mexico.
While Frank and Carl are flying back to the US Frank looks out the window and tells Carl that they are over Fiorello LaGuardia Airport and runway Number 44. All runway ends are painted/labeled based on the compass direction or bearing it is facing or heading. A Due North is runway "36", meaning 360 degrees and the opposite end marked "18", for 180 degrees. Runway numbers include 1 to 36. No runway 44 exists.
During the "Go Fish" scene, Cheryl Ann negotiated $1000 for Frank to spend the night with her. She asked him to endorse his $1400 cashier's check (fake) over to her in exchange for $400 cash in return. However, he did not actually endorse the check with a signature before she took it from him. This may have been intentional to show that Cheryl Ann was not paying attention to detail.
The four-color Heidelberg Press is a complex press that requires lengthy training to use well. The checks Frank is producing require advanced press skills. Assuming Frank Abagnale is a bright individual, it's possible he could have acquired the skills necessary to operate the press. But given the difficultly of operating the press to produce the checks he's printing, it's unlikely that the owners of such a press would give a neophyte operator unlimited access to it, especially without their supervision.