The Monuments Men (2014)

Film Type:

Feature

Language:

English

Spoken Languages:

French, German, Russian

Colour Info:

Color

Sound Mix:

Datasat Digital Sound, Dolby Digital, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound

Camera:

ARRI ALEXA Plus, ARRICAM Lite (LT)

Frame Rate:

24 fps

Aspect Ratio:

2.35:1

Stereoscopy:

No

Archival Source:

QubeVault

Taglines:

It was the greatest art heist in history

Filming Locations:

Goofs:

Miscellaneous
Early in the movie when the Ghent Altarpiece is being removed by the priests of Saint Bavo Cathedral for safekeeping, it is shown with its lower left panel ("The Just Judges") intact. The panel had in fact been stolen on the night of 10 April 1934 and was not replaced with a copy until 1945. At the time of the movie, therefore, the lower left frame of the altarpiece would have been empty.

Miscellaneous
The map of Germany and the Low Countries Stokes and his men are bent over shows a map with the modern-day coastlines, including the Dutch province of Flevoland. However, the 1,000 square kilometer island only came into being in 1968 when it was reclaimed from the sea, long after the Second World War.

Miscellaneous
When old Stokes comes back to Bruges to see the Madona in 1977, he can come close to the statue to view it. Since 1972, the statue has been behind bulletproof glass and the public can not come closer than 15 feet.

Miscellaneous
The version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is sung with the lyrics "'Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.'' These lines were not added to the song until 1957.

Miscellaneous
A gigantic 50-star US flag was used in one scene - a US Flag with fifty stars wasn't ordered until 1959.

Errors in Geography
When John Goodman stands up during live fire training, The location of the World War I memorial is mistakenly attributed to Saint Louis, Missouri. The World War I Memorial is actually located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Miscellaneous
One of the Monuments Men is taken for a ride on a biplane that has been hidden in a French barn. The aircraft registration number starts with a G, indicating that it was not registered in France, but in Great Britain.

Trivia:

Twenty percent of the great art of Europe was stolen by the Nazis. 'The Monuments Men' were in charge of the complicated and painstaking process of finding and returning the art to its rightful owners, a process that still continues to date.

One of the Monuments Men is taken for a ride on a biplane that has been hidden in a French barn. The aircraft registration number starts with a G, indicating that it was not registered in France, but in Great Britain.

When Sam Epstein (Dimitri Leonidas) sees a Rembrandt's painting for the first time (a self-portrait from c.1645), his face is lit with a Rembrandt style (a key light coming from a side of the frame creates a chiaroscuro marking a small triangle on the cheek not receiving the light directly.)

The actor playing the older Frank Stokes visiting the Madonna of Bruges is George Clooney's father, Nick Clooney.

From a newspaper report dated 13 December 2013: Police broke into the flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a Nazi art dealer who hoarded hundreds of works believed to have been looted by the Third Reich. Gurlitt became the focus of huge media attention after a trove of over 1,400 previously unknown masterpieces were uncovered in his Munich flat.
A task force appointed to research the origin of the art had stated that around 590 pictures fell into the category of art looted or extorted by the Nazis from Jewish collectors. These included pieces by Picasso, Matisse, Munch and Cezanne among others.

Originally slated for a December 2013 release, with an awards/holiday season aim, this film got pushed to a February release. This was done due to a request from the director - George Clooney who wanted more time to work on the post-production especially the special effects.

Daniel Craig was cast in a role but ultimately he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Matt Damon replaced him.