Goofs

When Susan trips when she has gone to see Ned Trent in the valley, he reacts and goes to catch her but when there is close-up of him, he is in the same position he was before.

When Susan went to get the meat from the saloon and asked John Henry to help her, they had not yet been introduced to each other.

During the fire at the Harvey House, while fighting the bad guys Ned Trent has a tablecloth wrapped around his neck. Seconds later it's draped over his left shoulder.

Sonora Cassidy (Marjorie Main) introduces a "new dance": the waltz. The waltz was known in the United States at least as early as 1834, about 60 years before the movie takes place.

Judy Garland's character says that the "Constitution guarantees the pursuit of happiness." However, it's the U.S. Declaration of Independence that includes the phrase ". . . among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The real "Harvey Girls" were prohibited from wearing makeup of any sort; however, all the characters are quite obviously wearing not only lipstick but all the typical 1945 Hollywood female makeup.

At the end of the film, when the train leaves Sandrock, Em tell Susan they are going 40 mph and the scrolling scenery seems accurate for that speed, but Ned's horse has caught up to the train. Not even Secretariat could run that fast.

In the "Wild, Wild West" song, Alma is pounding a red-hot horseshoe. She then picks it up, caresses it, and throws it in the water barrel where it gives off steam. The horseshoe would have burned her hand if it were really hot. This is a sight gag in the film.

Near the end of the movie, Ned Trent hands Em a wad of bills in an extreme close-up insert shot. The "movie money" bills are Mexican Banco de Sonora Hermosillo 50 Peso notes from the 1897-1911 period, bearing the child portrait of Hortencia Corral Velez, the daughter of bank shareholder Ramón Corral. Until 1958 the United States prohibited any full-scale photographic reproduction of its paper money. This included movie film because it was feared that a single frame of the negative could be enlarged onto a printing plate from which passable counterfeits could be made. Film companies therefore had to use substitutes. After the Mexican revolution, masses of worthless but colorful notes were dumped on the market, and the property departments of American film studios acquired lots of them.

Garland and all the other women in this story set in the late 19th century wear their hair in mid 1940s fashions.

Angela Lansbury and the other dance-hall girls sing "Oh, You Kid!" The movie is set at the end of the 19th century, but this song (though new lyrics were written for the movie) did not appear until 1909.

In the first long shot of Sandrock, a matte painting of mountains is in the background, but the next shot is a closeup of Judge Purvis on a horse in town, and the real mountain in the background has a tower on the top of it.

Although the story takes place before the turn of the 20th century, all of the musical arrangements are strictly in the 1940s style.

During the opening credits, as director George Sidney's name appears in front of a Monument Valley scenic view, two very tiny figures appear from behind a rock in the center of the screen.

At the beginning of the movie Judy is singing about sunsets while riding at the back of the train. The setting sun is full on her and mesa shadows extend in the direction the train is going. The train is going East, not West.

There are several references to "Flagstaff" (Arizona) as a town further up the line from "Sandrock". It is referred to as a mining town. Flagstaff never had mines and was a lumbering town. Also, the scenery in the movie (agave, saguaro cactus) is typical of southern New Mexico and Arizona, but the ATSF ran across northern New Mexico and Arizona through quite different scenery.

The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe spur from Lamy, NM to Santa Fe, NM was built in the late 19th century. It is true that Santa Fe, due to rough surrounding terrain, was not on the original line, which made Lamy the nearest station in 1880. The song was written in 1945. The spur is now known as the Santa Fe Southern Railway, while the ATSF is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).

According to the commentary by George Sidney, the railroad didn't extend to Santa Fe when the song was written.

The shadow of a boom mic is clearly visible on the side of the horse during the blacksmith scene.