so many viewings later, I can't figure out how when they are at two different homes at the end (a great trick). . .How within about 15-20 minutes, when Clarice is alone, following up a dead lead and ends up in trouble .... HOW DO THEY GET TO HER SO FAST after she shoots Gumb and breaks the glass lighting? They are in Chicago extremely far away.
I'm running out of crazy twisted psych horror films. please send help!
I think they had 2 addresses, but truly thought that the one we see them go to was the correct one.
And while I agree it seems like they arrive quickly at Jame Gumb's *correct* house, we don't really know how long it actually took.
We see Clarice shoot Gumb...then it cuts to her coming out, nursing her gunpowder-burnt hand, and Catherine Martin go into an ambulance.
But we never learn how long all this took.
I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.
Here's why that doesn't make sense - she went through 3 investigative steps to get to that house, there's NO WAY they knew where she was.
1. She wanted to go to the main house, the only one mentioned and was told to follow an old follow up lead which Crawford had no thoughts of issues.
2. The girl at the restaurant interview mentions something no one ever knew before, they made alterations for a woman at a certain address. Mrs. Littleman or something like that.
3. Clarice does not report where she is going likely because she's out of the main action she thinks.
4. Then - as part of this problem - there is no real reason for Crawford to suddenly be worried about . ."CLARICE!" he says because he didn't leave her in any known jeopardy.
This is all related, and although I thought of it a while ago, it doesn't hurt the movie for me, but it's very annoying, unless I missed something, and someone smart on these boards points something out to me I missed.
I'm running out of crazy twisted psych horror films. please send help!
It's probably a plot hole. You can however fly from Chicago to Cleveland in about an hour. Clarice could have called them from Buffalo Bills phone after she shot him. It would take a little time to get the girl out of that well safely. Not too long though. I see what you're saying. Maybe Crawford was thinking Clarice was in danger because he thought Hannibal was leading them along and setting up danger for her. idk
shareWe also don't know what time they hit the house in Chicago and Clarice knocks on Buffalo Bills door. The movie shows it as if its simultaneous, but thats not necessarily true.
And I too agree that when Crawford hit the wrong house, he thought of Clarice because he knew she was on to something and might follow up, and that she met with Lector, who could have been setting them up.
They condensed events in the final version but if you look at the deleted scenes, it makes more sense.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3skew_the-silence-of-the-lambs-deleted-sc_shortfilms
After Lecter escapes in Memphis, Clarice and Crawford are both in trouble - she gets suspended from the academy and he's put on admin leave. Clarice insists the killer is in Belvedere, Ohio. Crawford seems to agree so he gives her his own money to fly there, as well as a special number to call him on. As soon as he finds out that the old Chicago address for Bill is empty, he immediately knows that Belvedere was the right place all along and that Clarice is in danger. He would have set off in the government plane to find her, basically while she was in the house talking. (In the deleted scenes Clarice spends a bit more time with Bill before she understands that he's the actual killer). After she kills him she would have called Crawford from the house, while he was on his way to her, to say exactly where she was. It's tight but it just works when you consider it would have taken the local cops a while to get there, check the house, get Catherine out of the pit, give her some medical attention inside etc. Some time has obviously passed, just enough for Crawford to get to Clarice, because the media are there with cameras when he arrives.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3skew_the-silence-of-the-lambs-deleted-sc_shortfilms
there's NO WAY they knew where she was.
4. Suddenly worried about clarice cause he realized what she was saying on the phone to him about what the serial killer was doing with the victims... Sewing patterns... Meaning she was hot on the trail... And perhaps we can assume that he knew the area clarice was investigating... Or something to that effect...
Liver, Fava beans and chianti.... That sounds disgusting...
I came here to ask the same thing. I've seen this many times and gave it 10/10. Watched it last night for the first time in a few years, and the way Crawford instantly realizes Clarice is in trouble stuck out to me big time. No way he could have known she found the right house. I've read some other comments that may explain it, but regardless it seems like a mistake to me given what we see in the final cut. Doesn't detract from the overall film though, and still one of my favorite "Holy *beep* moments in all of cinema.
shareHow do you know how quickly they get there?
They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold
Good point that it would take at least an hour for Crawford to get there. But the police and ambulance could have been there sooner.
I think proper procedure calls for her to call in her location before following him into the basement. Maybe she used his phone and called in that she has found the guy and needs backup, then went to chase him. The local police could be their quickly even if it took an hour for Crawford and the FBI to get there. In worst case she phoned after shooting Jame Gumb.
I think proper procedure calls for her to call in her location before following him into the basement.
Other commenters also made valid points, just wanted to add my opinions based on what the film tells.
At 01:31:50 (film time), after visiting the first victim's house (which is in the neighborhood of Jame's house), Clarice makes a phone call to Agent Crawford from that town. We start to see her talking on the phone perhaps in the middle of their conversation. She probably told where she was and what she was doing and that she was close to find him, we just hear her giving Jame's profile details to Crawford. So, he knew where Clarice was and that she "thought" she was really close to busting the guy.
Crawford thinks they found the guy till they realize that they ended up in the wrong house. At that point he remembers Clarice's report on the phone and as a clever guy and knowing how persistent Clarice is, he knew she would continue her search and might be in danger. Possibly, they started to fly towards Clarice's location while Clarice was still searching Jame in his house.
After she shoots him, she firstly reports to local police/ambulance (I would think that's the procedure in cases like this) and then calls Crawford again which we don't see. What we see is the local police and ambulance had been there before Crawford shows up.
If you noticed, the time when Clarice enters the house or Crawford and his men enter the other house look like between noon and afternoon. After the shooting, when Clarice and the girl comes out with all those crowd, the time looks like it is just after the sunset. Considering it's a cold day, hence days are short, it would be a couple of hours between the first phone call and Crawford showing up; not so long. It's a 400 miles flight + some driving, which will take about 1-3 hours for the FBI. So, it all adds up perfectly.