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Spot the anachronism
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Subject: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,PHJim Date: 09 Jan 25 - 03:00 PM Movie makers would never get away with putting a 1958 Edsel in a movie set in 1955, but it seems that period movies about musicians are often not nearly as careful. I was impressed with the guitars used in "A Complete Unknown" but did notice at least one anachronism. The same was true of "Llewyn Davis". "I Walk The Line" was a little less accurate and the Woody Guthrie film, "Bound For Glory" didn't seem to care. What anachronisms have you noticed? |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: gillymor Date: 09 Jan 25 - 03:19 PM In the 1950 John Ford flick "Rio Grande" Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers is seen accompanying fellow Pioneer Ken Curtis singing "Down by the Glenside" on a D-45 Martin. Martin didn't begin production of that model until 1933 and the film was set in the summer of 1879. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: meself Date: 09 Jan 25 - 03:27 PM I babbled on at some length about this years ago, so I hope those with good memories will forgive me, but - and it's not the instrument - in the movie The Revanant, a fiddler is playing Ragtime Annie (aka Raggedy Anne), which has not been traced back to earlier than the early 20th century. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Lighter Date: 09 Jan 25 - 04:26 PM Speaking of "Rio Grande," Curtis and the Sons of the Pioneers also sing “My Gal is Purple” (Stan Jones, 1950) and “Aha, San Antone” (Dale Evans, 1948). Peadar Kearney wrote "Down by the Glenside" around 1916. I learned the word "anachronism" while studying "Julius Caesar" in seventh grade. Shakespeare refers to a striking clock, an innovation that didn't exist in 44 BC. Historical movies are so full of verbal anachronisms that there's almost no place to start. OK, how about this? A Civil War drama on PBS ("Mercy Street") has a nurse in 1862 offering someone a cup of tea from the colonel's "private stash." And then there's the Civil War movie "The Hunley," which has a sailor singing "Fiddler's Green" in 1864 - allegedly an old Irish song he learned from his mom. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,Steve Shaw Date: 09 Jan 25 - 05:26 PM From the song Kilkelly: Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 92, my dear brother John I'm sorry that I didn't write sooner to tell you that father passed on. He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful And healthy right down to the end. Ah, you should have seen him play with The grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend. And we buried him alongside of mother, Down at the Kilkelly churchyard. He was a strong and a feisty old man, Considering his life was so hard. The word "feisty" was not recorded as being in use until 1896. The Cedar of Lebanon was unknown in the UK until 1639, and even then it was decades before it achieved the typical magisterial aspect of mature specimens. It's amusing to try to spot it in "period dramas" set in Tudor times or even earlier. Buddleias were unknown in the UK until the 1890s, so take a dim view of sightings of it in costume dramas set earlier than the late-Victorian period. :-) I can't recall specific examples but I've spotted both! |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: meself Date: 09 Jan 25 - 05:39 PM If you watch any movie on youtube that involves firearms of any description, then read the Comments, you will learn far more about the engineering, manufacture, marketing, sales, and general history of firearms than you will ever want to know - spotted anachronisms being the prompt for the foregoing. But, sticking to youtube, the Most Unlikely Spotted Anachronism goes to the poster who pointed out that the model of screw holding the hinges to the door did not come into production until ten years after the year the movie was set in. (Can't give you the title of the movie; in fact, that curious criticism is all that I remember about it, other than it was a Western.) |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Lighter Date: 09 Jan 25 - 05:53 PM in "Dances with Wolves," set around 1864, Kevin Costner says he wants to "see the frontier before it's gone." The idea of the frontier being "gone" in any living person's lifetime would have seemed preposterous in the 1860s. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 09 Jan 25 - 05:59 PM My favourite anachronisms are related to historic costume, & I could go on for hours but I won't. I recently saw 2 unrelated (serious) news articles with images from a reputable source (Getty or similar) that were decades out from the period being referred to. "Victorian" is a very long period ... many filmmakers need to learn that, too. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Lighter Date: 09 Jan 25 - 06:01 PM In 2017, President Trump said that Frederick Douglass is "an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more.” |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 09 Jan 25 - 06:39 PM The Buddy Holly Story: Gary Busey plays a Stratocaster with a headstock too early for True Love Ways. Songs: Discographers abandon all hope at the ticket window. No matter where the song was on the release… it will be track one; side one in the scene. You're lucky if it's even the right record company. Vietnam war movie directors are typically off by a year-or-three. Que the inevitable CCR. There's a run of Mudcat posts on the American's Daniel Boone TV series. Short version: forget reality. A Knight's Tale - We Will Rock You (Can't unsee it. Some of those extras couldn't follow a beat if they were shackled to it.) |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Lighter Date: 09 Jan 25 - 08:57 PM Speaking of Vietnam War movies, in Kubrick;s "Full Metal Jacket" (1987), set in 1968, a marine says "This is Vietnam: The Movie!" The first film with a title like that was "Twilight Zone: The Movie," released in 1983. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 09 Jan 25 - 09:01 PM Good discussion in: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=167375#4036328 Sincerely, Gargoyle I was chewing mud and spitting bullets with that TV abortion. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 13 Jan 25 - 03:06 PM Wasn't The Star-Spangled Banner based on an earlier English drinking song called To Anachronism Who Is In Heaven......? |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: MaJoC the Filk Date: 14 Jan 25 - 10:18 AM Nearly. I quote from Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes, by Albert Jack:
The matching tune was composed the following year, and the "raucous lyrics and memorable tune" ensured its propagation "throughout England and America", being folk-processed along the way to suit the occasion. Over forty years later, the incident occurred which caused Star-Spangled Banner to be written. Hope that helps, folks. PS: Dear MudElf, do we have the full original lyrics in the DT? I've only got the first verse here. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 14 Jan 25 - 01:24 PM Does Trump get to feature in every thread? It's getting extremely tiresome. It's like a stuck record. No. That post was moved to the convicted felon thread. Trump isn't an anachronism, he's an abomination, so doesn't fit here. ---mudelf |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Howard Kaplan Date: 14 Jan 25 - 08:32 PM BBC Radio 3 had a 15-minute programme about "To Anacreon in Heaven" in September. It's still available to stream or download at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00230k1. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Neil D Date: 15 Jan 25 - 03:25 AM The TV series Vikings was bad about this. They have the same Vikings who sacked Lindisfarn in 1792 also sacking Paris nearly 70 years later. They have Ragnar and Rollo as brothers and they weren't even contemporaries. Then there is a battle scene where Sami people fight alongside Vikings using blowguns with poison darts. Pure fantasy. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 15 Jan 25 - 03:58 AM Mudelf,you totally missed the point! So Goodbye Mudcat Member since 2006. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,Steve Shaw Date: 15 Jan 25 - 05:16 AM Stick around, David. You're needed. Mudcat doesn't always know what it's got 'til it's gone. Film makers showing historical events must have a terrible time masking TV aerials, road markings, advertising hoardings and the like. I get a perverse sense of fun looking out for such things. I should think that aircraft noise and contrails drive them even more batty... |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 Jan 25 - 05:34 AM decades ago I went to a talk by a film person (director???) who said in spite of all their care, a pylon was seen in the distance of their colonial epic, & a coke can appeared in the undergrowth in another scene! |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Manitas_at_home Date: 15 Jan 25 - 07:53 AM Why would vikings be raiding Lindisfarne in 1792? Another anachronism. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 15 Jan 25 - 08:41 AM Steve thanks for that.I forgot to log out and checked in to log out,lol. I'll probably get stick for this but I don"t give a rat's arse.There are lots of catters I really like,but I don'see'em posting,and I know they are out there,and I know why they don't. Anyway if you want PM me.And I still don't like Man Utd! D. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Doug Chadwick Date: 15 Jan 25 - 09:15 AM Mudelf,you totally missed the point! I have obviously missed the point as well. I thought that you were complaining about the inclusion of a Trump reference in this thread and that the Mudelf was trying to sort it out for you by moving it elsewhere. DC |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: gillymor Date: 15 Jan 25 - 09:52 AM In Back to the Future during a segment set in 1955 the hero is seen performing Johnny B. Goode on a Gibson Thinline (a 345 or a 335, I forgot which), a model that wasn't produced until 1958. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 15 Jan 25 - 10:09 AM I was not the one who mentioned Donald Trump on this thread;in whatever contexed he was cited.But his name gets bandied about at the least excuse.Don't see Bidon/Harris coming up very often.I'm not a Trump fan,it's just that it is very one sided.Imho. And I ain't alone. You are on this one. Neither president belongs in this thread. We don't do "equal time" when things are that unequal, for starters. Meanwhile, please stick around. ---mudelf |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 15 Jan 25 - 10:11 AM Gillymore,my son,a guitarist pointed that out too. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: meself Date: 15 Jan 25 - 11:00 AM In the old Poldark TV series, I noticed a satellite dish on one of the quaint little cottages (supposed to be?) on the French coast that Poldark was racing past on horseback. |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:23 PM Any film with a railway scene comes under intense examination from a huge army of railway enthusiasts and they always find something wrong. Robin |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: GUEST,Steve Shaw Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:30 PM I can't PM you, David, because I've been shut out for a year (hence "guest" on all my posts). It did say "timed out" when it happened but a couple of people prefer it to stay the way it is. I've always valued and respected your contributions. One day I'll be seen as a mere anachronism! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: David C. Carter Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:57 PM WTF happened?Sorry to here that Steve. I'll have a think about that, see what I can come up with. Thanks for the respect touch!;-) Take care D. |
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