John Elder fires 14 shots from a six-shooter without reloading.
When the Elder boys are in town and decide to go to look at
their old ranch, Tom has a scruffy beard. When they ride to the ranch and have a run in with the deputy, Tom is now clean shaven. They all ride back into town. When they reach town, Tom has his scruffy beard again.
When the Elders get on the bridge, the water has a strong current. Yet when Tom and Bud jump in to get more guns the water is like a mirror.
When John and Matt Elder are shackled together at the blacksmith's, the leg iron is bolted just below the top of John's boot. In the next scene after Matt's leg iron is fastened, John Elder's leg iron is clearly wrapped around his pant leg instead of his boot.
When John Elder is watching his mother's funeral, he is shown from three different angles, standing in three different spots.
When the four brothers ride into town to settle Katie's affairs, the Texas flag is upside down.
When Bud says he is going with John and that they'll be famous like the Daltons, John replies that the Daltons were dead having been hung. Three of the Dalton brothers, Gratton "Grat" Dalton, Robert Rennick "Bob" Dalton, and Emmett "Em" Dalton all participated in a famous attempted two bank robbery in Coffeeville, KS on Oct. 5, 1892, along with two gang members, were gunned down and killed by town's people. No Daltons were hung.
The story takes place in Clearwater, Texas, and when John Elder asks the judge how long it would take to get to Pecos the judge says 8 or 9 hours. Pecos is more than 500 miles away from Clearwater and it would have taken more than a week to go that distance on horseback.
At the beginning and end, Katie's rocking chair is shown. The visual is accompanied by the creaking of the chair, as it rocks. But this chair is a simple two bar rocker. It is a solid one piece and has no mechanics in it to squeak. A glider rocking chair, which has suspension components, may squeak, but not Katie's type.
In what appears to be a previously used set - the four brothers are in jail, there is what has been referred to as a swastika drawn underneath the window next to John.
The symbol seen here is a Native American design, called "Whirling Logs", and was used in Natve American art long before the Nazis utilized it in the 1930s.
When John Elder draws his pistol on the Sheriff in the graveyard, there are two guns. One is in his holster, and the other is in his hand. This was apparently done in an effort to make him look fast on the draw.
The man who John Wayne hits in the face with a stick is obviously not George Kennedy. It was in fact Wayne's own stunt double Chuck Roberson who doubled for Kennedy in that scene.
When Morgan Hastings is conversing with his son at his ranch while test firing a rifle, he bends down to fire the rifle and places it on a pile of sand bags. The bolt of the rifle is in the open position throughout the shot and so can't be fired.
During the gunfight between John Elder and Morgan Hastings in the gun shop at the end, John looks up from behind the counter and Morgan fires a round at him. There's a glow on the counter where the bullet strikes the counter before the bullet gets there. This is where the small charge is that simulates the bullet strike.
Curley's face has no injury visible after being hit by a large stick.
After finding out John Elder is in town, Morgan Hastings is target shooting with a shotgun, but the shells he loads appear to be modern types with red plastic casings.
When Tom is taking Dave Hastings to the blacksmith shop, Tom and Morgan Hastings exchange about ten shots, including seven or eight beyond Hastings's gun shop. Yet nobody comes to see what's happening, even though the town is quiet and the townspeople are on edge.
At about 59 minutes, when John comes to Mary's house to bring his mother's Bible, etc., the group on the covered porch and the man playing the guitar are sitting under a hanging lamp that is clearly being illuminated by a light bulb.
When Tom is playing solitaire the cards he is using have the numbers in the corners. Cards at that time didn't have numbers in the corners, just the pips or face designs.
In the gun battle between the Elder Brothers and Hasting's henchman at the bridge, there aren't enough gunshot sounds to match the puffs of smoke from the guns.
When John brings in the rocking chair, bible, and basket to Mary, there is a group of people sitting around listening to a man playing a guitar. His hands do not match the music heard.
When Ben Latta leaps forward to catch the revolver thrown by John Elder, the cable that snatches him backwards (after being shot by Morgan Hastings), can just be seen trailing behind him.
Curley takes a very long time to walk across the street in order to interrogate Hyselman.
It is unexplained why the four brothers did not meet up when the father was murdered a few months earlier.
The sheriff is playing chess when his deputy comes in with Tom Elder's wanted poster. The sheriff's opponent, who is supposed to be the better player, moves one of his pawns backwards two spaces. Pawns can't move backwards.
John insults Bud for using the non-existent word "clumb" instead of the proper "climbed" in an effort to demonstrate why Bud needs to go back to school. But later, John himself uses the word "hung" in reference to a hanging when he should have said "hanged."
None of the Elder brothers has a Texan accent.