What mistakes have you noticed in movies/tv shows that happen in the BP era like Daniel Boone, Patriot etc?

[Marplot]

So it could have been Davy Crockett? Both were (confusingly) played by Fess Parker but Davy Crockett was earlier.

Maybe it was Davy. I watched them both, and I guess if DC was earlier, maybe it was him.

 

[Pratt]

There is a scene from Davy Crockett at the Alamo where the enemy has moved a cannon closer to the Alamo. To put the cannon out of action Fess parker took old Betsey to the wall and shot the gunner and the loader on the cannon in 5 second of film time. I have yet to load my long rifle in 5 second , and Crockett did not take Betsey to the Alamo. Oh yeah Buddy Ebsen played Georgie Russel Crockett's side kick in the Disney version not Jim Bowie. Give them what fer Davy!

 

[2001guns]

If the movie showed huge Conestoga Prairie Schooners on the Oregon Trail then the wagons were incorrect. Those were further east. The Oregon and California Trails used lighter and smaller wagons due to the huge mountain ranges they had to cross. Did John Wayne get his ramrod back after shooting the Indian, and if not I wonder how he continued to use his gun?

This is from Wikipedia's description of the plot of the movie.

" The caravan of settlers in their covered wagons would follow Wellmore's ox-drawn train of Conestoga wagons, as the first major group of settlers to move west on the Oregon Trail"

I don't think John Wayne shot an Indian with a ramrod in this movie.

 

[johnraleksa]

Where to start in John Wayne's Comancheros. Just about every scene that involves a gun involves something that wasnt even developed yet. This movie,as I recall,takes place way back when Texas was still a Republic, like in the 1840s. Yet there they are, Colt SAAs and Winchesters.

What about Rifleman the TV show, wasn't the guns a little to modern for that suppose time it was taken.

 

[COTNTOP]

I will watch Rifleman tonight, think he is using a 92 Winchester.

 

[Pratt]

the rifle used was not invented for 4 more years in the future. They also dubbed in an extra shot fired at the opening.

 

[Pete G]

I watched Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone interchangeably. All I remember I was very young and saw it. They seemed to be about the same character. Guys with long rifles and similar outfits. It is also possible I just dreamed it. Do understand this was about 70 years ago!

Crocket series was copyrighted by Disney so the Daniel Boone TV series was made with Fess Parker playing that role.

 

[morehops52]

I'll just generalize, 1st noting how easy it seemed to be to get a fire started out in the wilderness. Watch the old TV westerns and they ride out of town with flat saddlebags and a blanket roll. Around the campfire they have a fry pan, coffee pot and metal plates plus the food and water. And lastly, it seems likec almost every gun in every movie or TV show has 3 times the firepower than yours or mine.

 

[Pratt]

ever notice in old westerns how the horse's hooves went clomp on the old sound stages?

 

[Pratt]

How long ago was the old west? Do you know? The last recorded stagecoach robbery was in 1915. My dad was born 6 months later. My mom was born in 1925. Wyatt Earp died 4 years later in 29. Hollywood spins us a tale don't they.

 

[Polecat_Tom]

Gunsmoke and all the mountains that Matt rode through going from Dodge City to Hays, KS.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

I haven't read through all 8 pages; however, I like it when in 'The Patriot' Gibsons Rebels ambush the Red Coats in the pouring rain and every single flintlock goes off flawlessly.

In Al Pacino's 'Revolution', In the 1st battle scene there's a close up shot of the battle line. The nearest rebel has a Snyder Conversion Rifle.

Semper Fi.

 

[earlwb]

have you noticed in the movies where a sword being drawn always makes a metsl on metal scraping sound? Even when the person drawing the sword is supposed to be quietly drawing it out. Plus the scabbards are all leather or cloth or even none too.

More modern is the actor always racks the slide on their pump shotgun before making their move. In some movies they do it like 8 or more times with a shotgun that only hold six shells. For example getting ready to go around a corner of a building.

 

[Tenring]

Do any of you older fellas like me 59 remember the Bi Centennial with Conestoga Wagons and the settlers walking behind and alongside of them. The wagon train I think started in Reading Pa. And came down RT.724 all the way into Valley Forge. It was a site to see when your a little guy back then.

 

[Dark Angel]

Though not strictly a movie or a tv show, some of the History Channels' programs show reenactments of historical events. On one such, an even that occurred during the Civil War showed both Union and Southern troops carrying M1 Garands. Another reenactment showed WW2 American troops carrying either Springfield or Eddystone turn bolts. Even saw a match lock in an episode where a flint lock should have been used. You would think that the prop department, or someone in production would at least make an effort to get things right. But then. I suppose, unless you are a 'gunperson' one gun looks pretty much like another.

 

[Dark Angel]

There is a scene from Davy Crockett at the Alamo where the enemy has moved a cannon closer to the Alamo. To put the cannon out of action Fess parker took old Betsey to the wall and shot the gunner and the loader on the cannon in 5 second of film time. I have yet to load my long rifle in 5 second , and Crockett did not take Betsey to the Alamo. Oh yeah Buddy Ebsen played Georgie Russel Crockett's side kick in the Disney version not Jim Bowie. Give them what fer Davy!

Living in Texas have visited the Alamo a time or two. On one such visit, I saw what was alleged to be the rifle that Crockett used at the Alamo. It was about 4-41/2 feet long percussion not flintlock. Plus, it appeared to be .32 caliber. A kids' rifle, in other words. Nothing Crockett would have been carrying at the time. I managed to upset the guide by pointing this out. I managed to further anger said guide by pointing out that a short 'artillery' sword labeled as having been carried by Mexican troops, was actually a 'wasp waist' Roman gladius. I was told that if I wasn't happy with the exhibits that I really didn't need to comment on then.

 

[Carteret Kid]

Living in Texas have visited the Alamo a time or two. On one such visit, I saw what was alleged to be the rifle that Crockett used at the Alamo. It was about 4-41/2 feet long percussion not flintlock. Plus, it appeared to be .32 caliber. A kids' rifle, in other words. Nothing Crockett would have been carrying at the time. I managed to upset the guide by pointing this out. I managed to further anger said guide by pointing out that a short 'artillery' sword labeled as having been carried by Mexican troops, was actually a 'wasp waist' Roman gladius. I was told that if I wasn't happy with the exhibits that I really didn't need to comment on then.

A strange substitution, considering a Napoleanic era artillery sword would be far easier to find than a Mainz type gladius.

 

[Chief Snorkel]

Okay, question. I just watched the pilot of Little House on the Prairie for the first time in about 50 years and noticed Pa toting a powder horn. Were people still using powder horns in the early 1870s or had everyone switched to more modern guns? This was possibly meant to show Pa was from the backwoods and couldn't afford a modern gun, or was possibly a mistake. I don't know what kind of gun he owned in real life, and remember very few details about guns from having read the books decades ago. People might want to check out the movie. The gun in shown in detail, particularly in the scene where Pa is gone and Ma is waiting in the house alone. Guess he either didn't have his gun with him or they had a second gun...I think he's supposed to have left her with the gun. Oh, and yes, there is one scene in which he fires directly at the camera, luckily without the tragic consequences that have accompanied other such actions. Thanks for any insights.

Are you sure it was a powder horn, and not a signal horn which hunters and farmers used like a bugle?

 

[rpatmuck]

Several times I have seen modern buildings and high lines in the background of several western movies.

 

[Eutycus]

Living in Texas have visited the Alamo a time or two. On one such visit, I saw what was alleged to be the rifle that Crockett used at the Alamo. It was about 4-41/2 feet long percussion not flintlock. Plus, it appeared to be .32 caliber. A kids' rifle, in other words. Nothing Crockett would have been carrying at the time. I managed to upset the guide by pointing this out. I managed to further anger said guide by pointing out that a short 'artillery' sword labeled as having been carried by Mexican troops, was actually a 'wasp waist' Roman gladius. I was told that if I wasn't happy with the exhibits that I really didn't need to comment on then.

There is a cannon at the Alamo mounted upside down and with no trunnions. I bet you could play "stump the guide" with that.