Catch Me If You Can movie corrections

Mistakes

The green-capped McCormick spices on the spice rack in the apartment were not available in the early 1960s. See more...

Trivia

Frank Abagnale's father was, in real life, a straight honest law abiding citizen, and not the shonky con-man as depicted in the movie. See more...

Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 23 corrections

Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Amy Adams, Christopher Walken, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Tom Hanks (add more)

Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. As such, any aggressive/abusive corrections (and I get quite a few) written as if they're comments I've made myself will be ignored. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click the edit icon under an entry, then choose "correct entry". Some entries have "duplicated entry" after them - these are entries which were already listed on the main page, but were submitted again. I occasionally leave these online for a while, just in case they were moved in error, so don't worry about pointing them out to me.

Corrections

When Frank Jr. is getting fitted for his pilot's uniform (because he lied and said he lost his other one), after the tailor finishes and tells him the cost, there are only two rank bars on his sleeves. Then, when he walks out in the uniform, there are three bars on the sleeves. Considering he says he lost his uniform in his first week as a copilot, he wouldn't have been given an extra bar before leaving. [When he is in the factory, you are correct there are 2 bars. In the next scene he is walking and there is 3 bars. However, the scenes aren't continuous. It doesn't show him walking out of the factory. Since he is a conman, we can assume he added the bar himself to make himself look better]

Corrected by James Storck Time

Dr. Conners works the night shift 12am - 8 am. It seems highly unlikely that a boy would be riding a bicycle at that time of day to have an accident. [Highly unlikely doesn't make it impossible or even a mistake. I would have thought that an accident at night time was considerably more likely.]

Time

When Carl is talking on the phone after seeing Frank Abagnale Sr, the phone booth shakes each time he touches the window as if it was not attached on the ground. [Not all phone booths were sturdy. Depending on how old it is it could be very shaky and basically coming off the ground.]

Time

As Frank is climbing out of the window at the party, to escape from the FBI, he turns and tells his girlfriend, Brenda, to meet him at Miami International Airport in two days, and specifically tells her to leave at 10am. Then when he is telling her again, he tells her to be there at 10am. [That could have been a mistake he made, or maybe he just changed his mind.]

Time

In the scene where Handratty is studying a map of Europe, you can see Germany united. From 1949 til 1989, Germany was divided into West Germany (BRD) and East Germany (DDR). [No, Germany was not formally divided until several years after the Western zones were merged. It's not impossible that Hanratty had a map from the late forties or early fifties, which would show post-war borders and a united Germany.]

Time

During a scene early in the movie when Frank begins perfecting his check cashing scam, there is a closeup shot of bills being counted out by a bank teller. In that shot, some one dollar bills (Washington) are followed by some two dollar bills (Jefferson) and then fives (Lincoln), tens, etc. This scene is set in the early 1960s and two dollar bills were not first printed until the 200th anniversity (commonly known as the Bicentential) of the United States in 1976. [Two dollar bills did exist during the 60's. The first Two dollar bill came out in 1862. In 1928, the bill had Jefferson on the front. The 1963A series had Jefferson on the front and Monticello on the back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._two_dollar_bill]

Corrected by William Bergquist

In the movie's version of how Frank is eventually caught, Hanratty charts Frank's movement's on a map of Europe. He tells the other agents that Frank is probably heading back to France because he's running out of checks and needs to print more. This seems unlikely as Frank could print hundreds if not thousands of checks at one time - enough to last a number of years. [True, he could have printed hundreds of checks at a time, which would have lasted a number of years; but it has to be remembered that the police, FBI, Banks etc became more and more aware of Check forgery, and therefore changed the checks regularly. Frank was most likely aware of that, and did not waste time and money printing more checks than he could use in a certain period of time. ]

When Frank Junior is arrested in France, the French police arrive in their cars. At the side of one of their cars it says "Police", even though it's the French police. [Police is also a French word, and French police cars do say 'Police'.]

Corrected by Sereenie Time

Riverbend Apartments in Atlanta, Ga. is located on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. However, in the party scene at Frank's apartment, an ocean and a beach can be seen in the background, not a river. (Atlanta, Ga. is about a 4 hour drive to either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic) [A hazy shot of the city is seen in the background, not an ocean or beach. The only water shown is the apartment complex pool.]

When Tom is talking to Frank's mother and she offers the Sara Lee cake, the other officer keeps reaching for the fork and in the background you can see Tom holding papers. In the next shot, Tom grabs the fork and has no papers. After Tom gives the officer the fork, the papers are back. [Hanratty (Tom Hanks) has the papers in his hand the entire time. They may not be as visible in different shots due to shadows.]

Time

In the scene where Frank Jr.'s mother spills wine on the rug, Frank Jr. is told to get a towel. He runs quickly into the kitchen, however, when he returns he walks in slowly holding a glass of milk. [Frank has a towel in his left hand, the milk is in his right.]

Corrected by ChiChi Time

In the scene where Frank is talking to Brenda's father in Brenda's parents' home, he appears to be on the left side of the couch (as you face him on the screen), yet in the next shot, he is on the other end of the couch, and Brenda's father then sits next to him on the left. It would have made sense if Frank was shown moving over to make room, but instead, it's as if he was sitting at that end of the couch all along. [Frank initially sits more towards the middle (if not the right side) of the couch.]

Fugitives who flee the United States fall under the jurisdiction of the State Department, not the FBI. Agent Hanratty has no jurisdiction in France. Even if Abagnale's apprehension were a joint effort, at least one agent of the State Department would have gone along with him. [The film never claims Hanratty was alone. There well could have been a member of the State Department present at Frank's capture, but Hanratty (due to their past incidents/relationship) was the one to perform the actual arrest. Just because an agent didn't speak did not mean one wasn't along in France.]

Carl and Frank Jr. flew home to LaGuardia Airport. However, LaGuardia is a domestic airport only (except for nearby Canadian cities, such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal). Coming home from France, they'd have flown to JFK. [Frank merely points out that they are flying over LaGuardia, not necessarily landing there.]

When Decaprio is walking into Miami International Airport with the new stewardesses, there is a shot of the entry into the airport. Just above the sign reading "Miami International Airport" flies the state flag of Alabama. [The flag outside Miami International Airport is correctly the flag of FLORIDA, not Alabama. The Alabama flag is white with a red "X" across it. The Florida flag is also white with a red "X" across it, but the Florida flag also has the State Seal in the middle of the "X". The Alabama flag has no such seal. The flag at the airport has the Florida seal in the middle.]

Time

When Hanratty is talking to Frank Sr. in Frank Sr.'s apartment, Hanratty sees an envelope from Frank Jr. It is illegal for Hanratty to look through Frank Sr.'s mail without his consent or a court order, that constitutes invasion of privacy. [Yes it is true cops cannot search areas without consent or a warrant, EXCEPT if the item is in plain view, which that envelope was.]

There is a scene in which Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio are aboard a plane at LaGuardia Airport. This particular scene takes place in 1969, and at one point there is a shot of the New York City skyline with the Twin Towers intact. However, the towers were not completed until 1973. [After going over it several times, all I see is The Empire State Building. It was either filmed after the tragedy, or they were removed during editing.]

In the scene at the French prison in 1969, Carl uses a pop-up mini-umbrella. This type of umbrella wasn't available until the late 70s. Until then, all umbrellas were of the two-hand, slide-up variety. [Sure looked like a regular long black push-up type when I double-checked it.]

When DiCaprio is in the hotel room with Jennifer Garner, they agree on $700 for her to stay the night. He goes through his checks and finds one for $1100 and then says he will have to go get it cashed. Why? He flips past one for $700 and this is not the kind of situation you want to leave in the middle of. [He was tricking Jennifer Garner. He gets her to pay him $400 for his fake check. He made a profit on the transaction. They agree on $1000, not $700.]

In one of the bank scenes the camera zooms in on the bills as the teller is counting them out. They are obviously bills with the new larger presidential heads, printed after the year 2000. [They're regular size]

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Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 23 corrections

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