Prime Suspect (1982 TV Movie)
5/10
Is it a goof, or was it deliberate?
5 October 2008
Considering the serious subject matter of the film, it's all the more incongruous that at one point the word "ARSE" appears prominently in several scenes.

For example, one shot has Mike Farrell in an office facing the camera and over his shoulder the street number is visible (in reverse) on a window. The number is "3216", which appears as the word "ARSE" when seen in reverse.

Another example scene is in chapter 3, at 20:14 minutes, as Teri Garr approaches the office door (viewed from inside the office).

I was so surprised by this that I went to the trouble of photographing that particular scene and placing copies online at www.story-lines.com/IMDb. These are large files, but if you feel inclined, take a look and see if you agree. (And that's "imdb" all in lowercase - for some reason, the submission process changes that to IMDb every time. PB)

One shows the scene with "ARSE" visible, the other shows the location on the DVD from which the screenshot was taken.

It's entirely possible that this was an accident, but I would have thought that it would have been picked up early in production.

If it was a deliberate act, one wonders why it was done - was there some issue about behavior during production that resulted in a little passive-aggressive payback? Curious minds would like to know...
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