The Stalwart Soul

The Stalwart Soul (1996)

User Rating: 7.9 / 10 (1,203 votes)

• Continuity: Titi Muscataciollaire's wooden leg is repeatedly transposed onto his assistant during the course of the cockfighting sequence.
• Anachronisms: The hairstyle worn by Jonathan Dashingsley was not developed until 9:32 AM on January 18th, 1944, nearly eight minutes after the purported time of this story.
• Revealing mistakes: The rotor that controls Helenhelen's false neck is visible briefly during the banquet at Titi Muscataciollaire's manor.
• Continuity: Between shots, the grape representing Japan disappears and reappears from Dr. Geogrophini's beard.
• Factual errors: Emotions are controlled by the brain, not the heart; there is no such thing as a "soul."
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Although the English did not repeal the ban on wheelbarrows until 1946, Thomas Percy is a native Scotsman, and therefore is able to maneuver the wheelbarrow past the dog without persecution.
• Miscellaneous: The boom mic is not visible during the boom mic sequence.
• Factual errors: Winston Gadfly is said to be distraught over his miscarriage. Men cannot have miscarriages unless they are pregnant, which Winston Gadfly was not (which was apparent by the shape of his loom).
• Errors in geography: In reality, Wales is part of England and is not its own island.
• Continuity: The position of the steering wheel is visibly changed and adjusted as Beresford Maynwaring drives.
• Anachronisms: Thomas Percy makes repeated references to committing suicide. The term "suicide" was not coined until 1976 (it is an eponym of Herman Suicide, a Manx lord who pulled himself to bits atop the Goetheanum).
• Crew or equipment visible: The puppeteer controlling Terry Princewold's eyebrows can be briefly seen during the hoedown.
• Anachronisms: Denholm Elliott had been dead for almost five years at the time of the production.
• Factual errors: Winston Churchill was not killed by a swinging log trap; he died of a stroke in 1965 (although he was twice gravely injured by swinging log traps in his home).
• Continuity: The number of superfluous nipples on Ella Gross's back changes between shots.
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The film is set in 1944 and Helena Bonham Carter was not born until 1966. However, it is a fundamental conceit of filmmaking that actors must portray characters who are not themselves.
• Factual errors: The rope trick Titi Muscatachiollaire performs in the cave is not called the "Bishop's Lance." It is merely a Hillbilly Handshake performed without the quarter rotation at the end.
• Revealing mistakes: Actor Richard E. Grant is visibly crying and distraught shortly before he is to be blown up with dynamite.
• Plot holes: Beresford Maywaring delivers the eulogy at his own funeral.
• Continuity: Anthony Hopkins' character, Thomas Percy, is played in some scenes by Treat Williams.
• Miscellaneous: The name "Helenhelen" is the result of a clerical error. In Portnoy Cacaoloft's novel, the character is named "Helenhelenhelen."
• Crew or equipment visible: A yellow novelty periscope extends from beneath Ella Gross's nightgown while she is soliloquizing on the terrace.
• Factual errors: Jews are repeatedly depicted casually drinking blood, whereas in reality, Jews only drink blood on Jewish holidays, and do so very solemnly.
• Anachronisms: A United States Flag hanging at the embassy has 58 stars, although in 1944 Alaska, Hawaii, Clobe, Potasio, Puerto Rico, Helchz, Alvarado, Susquehannock, Districto de Almejas, and the Bizarrodome had not yet been annexed as states.
• Miscellaneous: When Thomas Percy, Helenhelen, and Jonathan Dashingsley are singing rounds of "Young Prince Nechetohontoquatl," Dashingsley is one eighth-note behind his optimal position in the round.
• Continuity: In the first shot of Thomas Percy standing on the dock, the wind is blowing from his left; in the subsequent shot, his leg is on fire.
• Anachronisms: Thomas and Helenhelen are seen eating chicken for supper. Due to the Second World War, chickens were utterly extinct between 1939 and 1951.
• Factual errors made by characters: Thomas misquotes Laertes from Hamlet as saying "Alas, mine masculinity does fall like the funny fawn under the gentle hatchet of time." This line was actually spoken by Buckley Steele's android in Twelfth Night.
• Plot holes: If Helenhelen was truly a werewolf, she would have easily overpowered the constable's advances.
• Revealing mistakes: No attempt is made to conceal the Spider-Man tattoo on Helena Bonham Carter's penis.

– Dr. David Thorpe (@Arr)