Factual error: As Ben is clinging to the staircase while it is falling apart, there is a close-up of a nail being pulled out of the wood. This nail is round-headed, rather than square as it would have been over 200 years ago. It's also shiny instead of rusty, which indicates that it's galvanized. Galvanization as an industrial, metal-preservation process was not patented until 1837, and was not used in building materials until well into the late-1800s. Since the film states the staircase was made by "the Founding Fathers, " and there was no galvanization of iron nails in any industrialized nation in 1780s-1830's, this is a huge anachronism.
National Treasure (2004)
Plot summary
Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Christopher Plummer, Sean Bean, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha
Nicolas Cage chases around the world while discovering codes in historical artefacts.
More mistakes in National Treasure
Riley Poole: Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?
Trivia: The interiors of the ship Charlotte were filmed inside the Union Ice Company in Los Angeles to give the scene a more realistic feel. Also, the crew from the Charlotte was dressed in costumes borrowed from The Pirates of the Caribbean; The Curse of the Black Pearl.
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Answer: "The Secret Lies With Charlotte" ~ Charles Carrol of "Charleston".