Having the guy at the beach put Anna Muir's name on the wood which then became the harbinger of the passage of time in the story was a brilliant move on Mankiewicz's part.
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I agree, perfect passage of time without relying on makeup or exposition.
Indeed, it was a nice device.
However a bit of a clunky error in stating that the passing sea captains would see her name when in fact it was facing landward!
Hmmm.. I'm going with her name being carved on both sides of the post and them only showing the shore side. Anyone?
IMDb lists it as a plot hole.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/goofs/
At the beach, a man carves Anna Muir's name into a post buried in the shore and much is made of the fact that every ship passing by will see it forever, but the side of the post he carves her name in faces inland, meaning no one on a passing ship will ever see it. The name wasn't carved into both sides, either - Anna's mother, Mrs. Muir, has to walk around to the inland side to see it.
Oh. Ahem.. "perspective"...
Hey, if flat Earthers can use that to explain away fact so am I!!!
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. We literally see Mrs Muir walking around the post to see the carving in the film. I don't really know what you're saying / if you're disputing that? Or just making a joke?
Either way, yes it is "perspective". Mrs Muir's as she has to walk around the post.
Not so sure this is actually a plot so much as it could be taken as the carver trying to make an impression on Lucy and give her a sense of importance.
shareI'm not sure if it could be considered a "plot hole" in any case. If only we had someone on here who was some kind of expert on plot holes to help out...
But I think you're right - if there's any sense to be made of it, it's just that he carved it that way so the little girl would see her name every time she ran on to the beach and he thought she'd be too little to work out the impossibility of anyone out at sea seeing her name.
I discovered the scene in question is available via the YouTube for anyone who may be interested:-
https://youtu.be/gGFmPIa162A