Donald Sutherland (Oddball) became seriously ill during filming on-location in Yugoslavia. His wife received a telegram telling her to come immediately but warning her that he would probably be dead before she arrived.

The movie was mainly filmed in Yugoslavia because the Yugoslavian army still had a large quantity of Sherman tanks in 1970.

At the beginning of the movie, Big Joe (Telly Savalas) is desperate to know about the best places to stay in the city of Nancy, and he uses a Michelin tourist guide book. Use of these books by Allied troops during WWII is accurate. When planning the Normandy invasion, staff officers were concerned about how the troops would navigate in light of the possibility that retreating Germans would take down or reverse road signs. The U.S. government quietly reprinted the most recent edition from 1939, as new publications had been suspended because of the war. So when Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, they carried the Michelin guides and, for the remainder of the war, advancing forces depended on their Michelin maps.

The blue "crosshair" shoulder patch indicates Kelly (Clint Eastwood) and his men are from the 35th Infantry Division. It's a National Guard division, comprised of guardsmen from Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas.

During filming in Yugoslavia in 1969, Donald Sutherland (Oddball) received word, via co-star Clint Eastwood (Private Kelly), that his then-wife Shirley Douglas was arrested: she had tried to buy--using a personal check--hand grenades from an undercover FBI agent for the Black Panthers. Sutherland recounts this story often, mentioning that when Eastwood got to the part about the personal check, he laughed so hard that he fell to his knees and Sutherland had to help him up. Eastwood then put his arm around Sutherland, walked him down the hill that overlooked the Yugoslavian countryside, and assured his friend of his complete support with his predicament. Sutherland and Douglas, who are the parents of Kiefer Sutherland and twin sister Rachel Sutherland, divorced in 1970.

Continuity

When Kelly is exiting his jeep to go visit Mulligan he brings along a bottle of whiskey. Later when he goes to visit Crapgame he is given a bottle of whiskey and is seen taking it with him after he leaves. This indicates the Mulligan scene was originally supposed to be placed after the Crapgame scene but was switched for some reason.

When we first see Oddball's tank, its speaker is on the right-hand side of the tank. In every other shot later on, it's on the left side. The dents come and go from the bell of the speaker horn as well.

The bodies of the two soldiers killed in the minefield shoot out change positions several times after they are shot and when Kelly and Joe look at them through binoculars.

The 50cal MG on the half-track changes throughout the film. It's shown at some points to have a perforated barrel jacket (like on an M1919A4 30Cal), and then at other times seen to have a normal barrel.

There were 3 Tiger tanks in Clermont, numbered 112, 113, and 115. Oddball knocks out Tiger 112 in the square as the battle opens, setting it afire. Tiger 113 is later shown driving out of the square, during which the already-charred 112 explodes, wrecking it further. Tiger 113 is then destroyed by Kelly and Oddball in an alleyway. Afterward, Oddball buys Tiger 115 and drives it away. When Kelly and the squad are leaving the bank with the gold, they pass 112, which appears undamaged, with several French townspeople on it celebrating.



Factual errors

The gold bars in the film appear to be standard gold bullion, each weighing approximately 27.28 pounds (436.48 oz.). At the 1944 price of $34 per ounce, 14000 gold bars would have a value of over $207 million, not the estimated $16 million in the film.

The number and type of mortars used for the bombardment on the crossroads would not cause the amount of damage depicted.

@ about 35-38 minutes into movie, Almond joy box behind Don Rickles shows up several times. A couple of times partial box, & a couple of times full name on box. Almond Joy wasn't invented until 1946, after WW2.

When the SS tank commander replies to his superior, he addresses him as "Sturmbahnfuhrer" which is the equivalent of a Major, however the actual rank that is worn is that of a Hauptsturmfuhrer, which is a Captain.

When General Colt asks his aide for the aerial photographs, his aide is wearing three stars on his lapel insignia. Since General Colt is a Major General his aide should be wearing lapels with two stars on each insignia.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

Several of the people in the town square are waving small German flags. This might not be a goof, but rather a comment on the adaptability of the population to whichever conqueror is present at the moment.

Many of the girls in the celebration crowds are wearing short skirts and leather boots, a fashion combination that wasn't in vogue until 1970. Maybe in the US, but France was more fashion forward.

One of the German soldiers that disembarks from the truck during the minefield sequence appeared earlier as one of the soldiers atop the train during the train station sequence. There is no reason for a soldier to not go on to another duty after escaping from the station.

At 01:05:00, when Oddball attacks the railway station, his Sherman had a loudspeaker on the turret playing country & western music aloud. Whilst loudspeakers were attached to vehicles during WW2, the source of the music makes no sense as magnetic tape was not in use by the allies. The vibrations from the tanks would rule out the use of a gramophone and the mountainous terrain would rule out the possibility of a radio station being the source. Although German industry had actually invented reel to reel magnetic audio tape a few years before the outbreak of the war, this was for military purposes and a classified secret. Also the playback machines were the size of a refrigerator thus ruling out the possibility of them fitting inside a tank. That wasn't Oddball playing it. That was the movie sound track, as can be told by the volume not diminishing in the ensuing scenes.

When Oddball attacks the German train station (01:05:00) he is playing 'All For The Love Of Sunshine' which was recorded in 1970 by Hank Williams Jr. That wasn't Oddball playing it. That was the movie sound track, as can be told by the volume not diminishing in the ensuing scenes. Sound tracks are not Anachronisms.



Revealing mistakes

When the Tiger is shooting up the city at the end there is a clear gap in time between the sound of the cannon and the actual explosion. At that distance of next to nothing it would have been almost simultaneous.

After the gold is found in one of the cases in the bank, the men start moving the rest of the boxes but in doing so, toss them around and handle them as if they were light in weight. Filled with gold, they would not have been able to handle them the way they did.

When Kelly and the guys pick up the boxes of gold in the bank, the boxes appear to weigh nothing at all. The boxes can be seen being tossed around as if they were empty.

When the mortars start firing at German-occupied town before American breakthrough, the soldiers on the streets are initially calm, don't try to take cover and even don't pay much attention to explosions on the street amongst them.

At 2:02:45, Pvt. Willard momentarily backs up against what is supposed to be a brick and mortar wall and the wall moves. It's a panel with masonry attached.



Miscellaneous

When Oddball first sees the Tiger tanks up close, from the bombed out building, he says "It's a Mark VI..." The Tiger tank was also known as the Panzer Mark VI. In other words, all Tigers are Mark VIs. Since he already knew they were Tigers, it's somewhat of a meaningless statement to say it's a Mark VI.



Anachronisms

At 30:37 while Kelly is talking Crapgame into his gold heist scheme, a jet aircraft can be heard flying low overhead. Since the only operational jets late in the war were German ME262s, it is unlikely that one would be flying low, miles behind enemy lines. More likely a stray Yugoslav jetliner or an attempt by the sound crew to make an artillery shell sound.



Audio/visual unsynchronized

Cowboy's words do not match what his mouth is apparently saying when he crashes through the wall in the beginning as the Germans are approaching.



Crew or equipment visible

During the mine field scene, when the second man comes to the road and is told to be the lookout there is a silver trailer with a crew member walking around visible in the hillside.

Camera shadow visible on men as they walk out of mine field.

Early in the film, Kelly is sitting by the side of the road in a jeep telling Big Joe of his plans to get the gold. In the background, a column of German POWs files past. The camera switches to a reverse angle and instead of German POWs in the background we now see a band of refugees - but who is the guy at the back of Kelly's Jeep wearing a striped button down and tee shirt?

As Kelly and Big Joe retreat across the bridge, leaving the German Colonel behind, rain can be seen spilling off the camera guard.

Clint is in a jeep surrounded by soldiers and two technicians in striped shirts who creep noticeably out of shot.



Character error

125 boxes of gold times $8,400 for each box equals $1,050,000 (2014 money - $13,897,916.67), which is not the $10,500,000 mentioned in the film by Fisher who is verifying Crapgame's calculations. This would give each of them a share worth $87,500 (2014 money - $1,158,159.72) each, not $875,000 as calculated by Fisher.

When the General is berating his staff after the breakthrough, he's pointing a pistol at them before stuffing it in his belt. Even if the pistol is not loaded, an officer would know about muzzle discipline.

In the scene where Oddball attacks the train station, a line of soldiers are seen running past the camera on a walkway above the railroad tracks. The first soldier in that line can very clearly be seen looking directly into the camera lens.

It seems clear the only outcome for Oddball and his crew is death by American/German forces. He is driving a German tank in soon-to-be-free France, just 30 miles behind the lines. The Panzer Mark IV has a range of around 150 miles at 15mph (not considering fuel leaks) on the road. Switzerland is only about 100 miles away, but all that territory is behind the lines. The German army wouldn't allow a Tiger tank to ride past them avoiding battle.