Pepper's facial hair changes and is sometimes gone throughout the film.
When Dan Nodeen is first seen he has beard stubble. A minute later in the same scene, he has a full beard.
Lawrence Murphy was diagnosed with bowel cancer in March, 1877. He sold his interest in the company to his partners, Dolan and Riley. The company was renamed Jas. J. Dolan & Co. Murphy was in Santa Fe during most of the Lincoln County War. He died of the cancer on Oct. 20, 1878.
Henry Tunstall was only 25 when he was murdered in 1878.
The real life John Chisum had a full handlebar mustache which he wore the entirety of his adult life. John Wayne was clean shaven for the role.
Pat Garrett was a married man with five children about the time of the film's setting. The film portrays him as being single. He was also a tall man, much taller than actor Glenn Corbett who portrayed him.
Jess Evans was not killed in the Lincoln County War. In 1882 he was released from Huntsville, TX prison. He disappeared and was not heard from again.
When the supply train is ambushed, one of the wagons overturns in the middle of a river. The boxes within tumble into the water, but they float, indicating that the boxes are empty.
One of the boxes was on end on the river bottom while another is obviously also grounded and shifting with the current, indicating the river was not deep enough to float them, not that they were empty.
One of the boxes was on end on the river bottom while another is obviously also grounded and shifting with the current, indicating the river was not deep enough to float them, not that they were empty.
Early in the film, Billy The Kid and Henry Tunstall are having a conversation, while Billy attempts to mount a horse. The camera behind Tunstall shows him with a pipe in his mouth. Then the camera switches to behind Billy and showing Tunstall smiling full face. The pipe is not there. Then the camera switches back to behind Tunstall again and the pipe is back in his mouth.
A pipe smoker is not required to puff it constantly. Every time Tunstall was on camera his pipe was in his mouth or his hand.
A pipe smoker is not required to puff it constantly. Every time Tunstall was on camera his pipe was in his mouth or his hand.
John Wayne's stunt double is very obvious in fight scene between Chisum and Murphy.
It is widely reported throughout the internet that (exact quote) "John Wayne was very disappointed that his stunt double was so obvious in the final fight with Forrest Tucker."
It is widely reported throughout the internet that (exact quote) "John Wayne was very disappointed that his stunt double was so obvious in the final fight with Forrest Tucker."
In the fight scene at the end between Chisum and Murphy, there is a shot from the back of Murphy showing the seat of his pants have split.
In the gunfight at the store/bank, when the scene changes from nighttime to daylight two curtains on the outside of the store change lengths.
Multiple torches are thrown at the bank / dry goods store, each of which is blown out before it hits the building. Also, none of the torches can be seen going through a window, yet the places catches fire.
At the start of the movie the slow zoom in to Chisum on his horse is actually the zoom out from the end of the movie played in reverse. You can see the horses tail defy gravity.
The clothing worn by the characters in the film was not period correct. This included full front button shirts, hats which were not worn during the 1880s and women's dresses which were far too snug for the period.
Many of the men are clean shaven. Not only was this not the style for the era, it was unsafe in an area where clean water was not abundant.
Men wore hats outside in Old West nearly 100% of the time. It was so rare that a man would remove his hat outside for more than brief periods that it would be the subject of discussion when or if it occurred. Multiple scenes in the film show men outside, hatless, and this is ignored or treated as "normal."
At 16:24 into the film the camera shot changes to the group on the slope in front of the stream. On the opposite side of the stream an automobile can be seen briefly moving along a road up on the opposite slope.
The scene where Billy Bonney is reading the Bible near the stream, as he turns to his right and fires the first gunshot which blows the cactus leaf off the plant, there is no smoke from the gun barrel itself but when he fires two more shots then a clearly visible cloud of smoke is emitted from the gun barrel in those two other shots. The only puff of smoke visible when the cactus leaf is severed and falls away is from the location of severed leaf itself. This means Billy only held the revolver when the first shot was fired but he did shoot the gun for the next two rounds.
When John Wayne prepares to punch Forrest Tucker, his fist hits the camera behind his head (at 1:21:23).
When Chisum and Murphy go over the porch together at the end of the film, the overhead shot of their fall reveals a poorly-concealed mat stretched over the dirt road below.
During the ambush of the supply train, the shadow of a camera and crew is visible in the dust at the bottom of the frame.
In the shootout near the end of the film, when McSween walks out of the bank toward Nodeen and his group, a wire can just be seen between McSweens trailing backwards towards the bank for the explosive squib on McSweens chest when Nodeen 'shoots' him.