Seen In Movie

[TomK]

Okay---so I ain't too swift! I just watched "Gettysburg" for the umpty-umpth time and THIS time I actually paid attention to Col. Chamberlain, during the battle of Little Round Top, when he field strips his 1860 Colt to change cylinders.

I thought it was a "good movie," and my thinking just went up about four notches in the "Historical Accuracy" category.
TomK

 

[mavracer]

good to know I'm not the only one who watches for gun mistakes in movies.
was watching Shenandah A civil war movie with James Best AKA roscoe coultrain from Dukes of Hazzard.theres a battle scene and I notice they're using trapdoor sprinfields,I'm thinkin' caught ya then Carter pulls the cleaning rod out and sticks it down the Bbl to simulate a muzzle loader.so I think ok they're trying. then his partner flips open the trapdoor and reloads. now I'm just laughing.

 

[Jamie C.]

...Col. Chamberlain, during the battle of Little Round Top, when he field strips his 1860 Colt to change cylinders.

Yeah, I got a giggle out of him thumping the muzzle of the gun against the log to re-seat the barrel. That plus the fact he kept up his conversation with the sgt. the whole time he was reloading gave me the impression that he might actually know his way around a Colt revolver.


J.C.

 

[2RCO]

In the Alamo with John Wayne watch closely many of the flintlocks are modified trapdoors. They have a dummy flint hammer over the trapdoors. They come up for sale from time to time.

 

[historynut]

There are Hollywood gaffes a-plenty, usually in the earlier films like John Wayne's "The Horse Soldiers"... 45-70 trapdoor carbines are the weapon of choice as well as Indian War leather gear and accoutrement/belt plates. They also used a mix Colt SSA and correct Civil War Colt and Remington revolvers. Movies from the 1950s and 1960s often used original gear from the Span-Am War and Indian Wars and sometimes even the Civil War, because the gear was still around and relatively plentiful.

In "Glory" - a movie where they really tried to do a good job with accuracy - there's a scene of Col Shaw blowing dust out of the works of his brass framed . 51 Navy Colt as they assualt Battery Wagner. Colt didn't make brass framed revolvers. My favorite "Glory" mistakes are the obvious use of rubber rifles during the assault on Battery Wagner - look at the assault scenes where artillery rounds cause men and weapons to fly through the air...the rifles bend in flight. Also, look for Shaw's branch of service (color of his shoulder boards) to change early in the movie while their on the march. The continuity supervisior must have been at lunch...

I had the opportunity to meet Jeff Daniels a couple years ago and we talked about his portrayal of Chamberlain in "Gettysburg". He said he really studied Chamberlain and wanted to show him as the thinker he was (college professor, college president and post war Gov of Maine) so it's no surprise that he actually changed the cylinder correctly in the movie. "Dumb & Dumber" aside, he really gets into his roles.... Gettysburg is pretty accurate because they depended on the reenactment community for most of the extras and gear and these reenactors were pretty well supervised and regulated for authenticity. Although there are always issues like the capture of the 300 lb Confederate - something you just didn't see in 1863...

 

[chad1043]

"Although there are always issues like the capture of the 300 lb Confederate - something you just didn't see in 1863"

Maybe he had a thyroid problem...


Chad

 

[mykeal]

Colt didn't make brass framed revolvers.

No, but Griswold & Gunnison did, and they looked like Colt revolvers....but of course they were Confederate weapons, so Shaw would not have had one.

 

[Jamie C.]

Unless it was a captured "war trophy"?


J.C.

 

[savetheclaypigeons]

"Although there are always issues like the capture of the 300 lb Confederate - something you just didn't see in 1863"

Maybe he had a thyroid problem...


Chad

don't be silly. It's not his fault, it just runs in the family

 

[Tallship]

I just saw the movie "Santa Fe Trail" about John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and just about fell down laughing at Ronald Reagan and the other officers firing Colt SAA's.

 

[2RCO]

You mean they didn't have SAA's almost a decade before they were introduced--Hehe!

On a note the Underground Railroad Museum AKA Freedom Center in Cincinnati has John Browns personal Colt with a Shoulder stock.

 

[TomK]

Ooopsie?

Thank you JamieC. I THOUGHT I saw the good Col. "bump" the muzzle of his colt to seat it, but I told me---Naah, not even in a movie. For REAL guffaws find a copy of "Distant Drums" with Gary Cooper, when he defeats the Seminole Indians using '73 Winchester lever-action carbines and a matched pair of shiny 1873 (nickel? Silver? Chrome? Maybe stainless steel?) plated Colt SAAs carried in low-slung, tied-down fast-draw "buscadreo" holsters--The Seminole war was in EIGHTEEN-FORTY!

 

[4v50 Gary]

There's another movie, Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart, that had a trapdoor Springfield in it. Somewhere is a publicity photo of Fess Parker as Daniel Boone. Fess is holding a trapdoor with a lock doctored to look like a flintlock. There's some pretty horrible carving on the stock too. Amazing what you don't see or notice when you're a kid.

 

[Shotgun Willy]

Past Jericho

My wife rented me a movie while I was laid up this weekend called Past Jericho. The movies set in post Civil War and is centered around 3 women. Two of them carry 1858's (1 stainless). The interesting part was you get to see one of them, with a dirty rag in her hand, recap her cylinder and use a stick to seat the cap.
As for Past Jerich or The other side of Jericho or whatever it's call, it's definitely on my Never Ever Watch Again list.

 

[Tommygunn]

I just saw the movie "Santa Fe Trail" about John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and just about fell down laughing at Ronald Reagan and the other officers firing Colt SAA's.

Yeah...it was quite comon back then to use SAAs as Civil War era guns. They weld a triangular "web" under the barrel to give it the "look" of the Remington.
I have also seen Winchester 1892s being used as Henry Rifles; they remove the wooden forearm, and viola', the Henry repeater is ... "created."
"Santa Fe Trail" is remarkable for other historical errors. J.E.B. Stuart (Errol Flynn) participated in the Harper's Ferry battle, but George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan, {in a interesting slight of casting}) was not there; he didn't arrive at Westpoint until July of 1857 and was a graduate of the class of 1861. He did meet J.E.B. Stuart at a place called "Yellow Tavern" a few years later; only one of them rode away from that ... "meeting."

 

[Ghost Tracker]

I'm a Historical Stickler as well, it ruins a movie for me when a big whoops comes glaring through. My wife gets tired of me pointing them out. I feel better knowing it bothers y'all too!

But we've got to stop & realize what a tiny percent of the watching audience are knowledgeable enough to spot the errors. And what it would cost for the film (or TV show) to be absolutely correct! My guess is that it might increase Production Costs by 10-15%. That's a BUNCH of money to satisfy only 2-4% (SWAG) of the audience. My question is, what do the Continunity Directors get PAID for? It's their JOB to see that these sorts of things DON'T happen!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Trapdoor Springfields for Muzzleloaders was pretty common for
Hollywoodland. Watch some old pirate movies and play close
attention: you will often spot pirate "pistols" built from trapdoors.
They were just easier to load with blanks, you know.

With the Civil War centennial (1860-1865 1960-1965) reviving the
black powder replica industry and the popularity of Cowboy Action
sports today reviving manufacture of Old West models, movies today
more often feature aurthentic replicas of old guns, and not the
clobbered together studio prop guns of the past.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

In the not too distant past all those Trapdoor Springfield's and every thing else they redid into other guns cost next to nothing. This is probably true of all the other non authentic prop guns in movies. Cost drove this part of prop making. However now it is probably cheaper to get authentic looking clones for movie props than original guns to redo into what they need for a movie given the cost of original guns today. The economics have changed.

 

[Tru Griff]

"Yeah, I got a giggle out of him thumping the muzzle of the gun against the log to re-seat the barrel."
What is the purpose of re-seating the barrel? I had not heard of this until I read it here. It was not in the instructions that came with my Colt. Used a Remington that apparently doesnt need this done but is it a good habit to get in to when reloading a Colt?
I'm guessing when seating the barrel your making sure the wedge pin is locked in as well as making sure the barrel is aligned with the cylinder's chamber. Is this correct?

Got out the Gettysburg movie and watched to enjoy as well as to see the scene where he seated / bumped the barrel as mentioned. Watched that scene in slow mo etc to get a good look at what he does but still not up to par as to exactly what the seating of the barrel actually is done for.

By the way. That movie really is good but from the first time I saw it I could not get used to Martin Sheen's version of Lee. He seemed to be more like a "space cowboy" with all the distant stare and confused caracter parts he used to portray Lee. What was the deal with Tom Berringer's (Longstreet) beard looking so fake? I can get by with the small stuff and really dont like to critique a movie I enjoy but with such a huge production and so much that was watched for authenticity you would think makeup could have done a better job on a caracter you would see a great deal through the movie.
I'm still hoping they'll eventually make a whole movie on Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing. The only movie I can remember that had much of anything on Shiloh was in "How the West Was Won".

 

[4v50 Gary]

Since fat Confederates came up, wasn't Confederate Prussian volunteer Heroes von Borke 300 lbs? The poor horses that he rode (or at least mounted).

 

[Jamie C.]

What is the purpose of re-seating the barrel?

The gun was undoubtedly dirty from being fired, and crud had built up enough to prevent the barrel from seating on the cylinder pin/arbor far enough for the wedge to slide into place.

Not having time to stop and clean his revolver, the good Col. gave the muzzle a bump or two against an old log to seat the barrel far enough down to get the wedge in place, and kept on fighting.

I suspect the next time he disassembled the gun, he probably had to use the loading lever to help boost the barrel loose, due to all the fouling.

That's my guess anyway... somebody else may have another theory/explanation.


J.C.

 

[Bezoar]

did anyone notice that in the end of Glory, shaw is using what can only be described as a richards mason conversion?

 

[dstorm1911]

Shotgun willy, funny I just saw that movie too. its called "otherside of jericho" and if ya look real close ya'll notice only one of the two Remingtons is an actual C&B the other is an 1875 the third woman (the old drunk) carried a 2 barrel derringer, the ex-whore had the 1875 and the heroine had the 1858 the best was the sheriff kept refferin to the Heroine being such a deadly shot with her 44/40 etc...

That was onea the worst movies I'v seen this year, and not just over the guns it was plain terrible I figure the budget was about $2300 or so......

 

[Shotgun Willy]

Jericho

I hadn't gotten that close a look at the ex-whores gun I guess. She was the one that I saw recapping. Nice trick on a cartridge gun huh!

 

[Evil Dog]

My favorite "movie gun" is where they take a revolver and add an ejector rod housing to try making it look like a single action. You see them a lot in the old cowboy movies....