- Boom mic visible: Near the end of the film, Chief Inspector Uhl is in Prince Leopold's office. In the close-up scene when the two argue, you can clearly view the boom mic, going from one character to the other, in the reflection on the brass table lamp.
- Miscellaneous: Choreographer Marleen Pennison, Movement Coach for the film, is incorrectly credited as "Maureen Pennison".
- Revealing mistakes: Wires are visible overhead in both scenes at the railroad station. They're part of a catenary system, which powers electric locomotives. Austria did't have electric trains at the time.
- Anachronisms: The ladies of the epoch used to ride in side saddles, not astride the horse, like the heroine does in the castle/forest scene.
- Continuity: At around the 20:17 mark, When Inspector Uhl is inspecting the props backstage, Eisenheim has his arms at his side during their conversation. Then suddenly he is facing the inspector at a different angle and his arms are crossed.
- Anachronisms: The coins the Illusionist gives the poor children each have a ring surrounding a differently colored disc. The technology to make those coins is only a few decades old. They're Czech 50 heller coins, introduced in 1993.
- Anachronisms: When police officers 'offer a drink' to Eisenheim, you can see on the building in the background lightning rod of modern design.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Inspector Uhl is investigating Eisenheim's latest illusion of summoning spirits, one of his aides shows an early turn-of-the-century movie projector portraying a color/sepia-based image of a person. Turn-of-the-century film was often hand-colorized using stencil methods. Georges Méliès's fantasy shorts used that method. Several genuine color film technologies were also in use by the early 1920's.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Norton's character gives the coins to the street urchins, the first coin is visible in his hand before the trick.
- Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Inspector Uhl finds Leopold to tell him of Sophie and Eisenheim's relationship, Leopold asks "What where they doing? Touching? Kissing? Fornicating?" His face is only shown when he says "fornicating", but he mouths a completely different word. (see Trivia)
- Miscellaneous: Leopold shoots something before his conversation with Uhl. While they are talking, the object is dragged off screen (lower right). It's far too rigid and light to be an just-shot animal.
- Continuity: Eisenheim's eye color is different as an adult than it was as a child.
- Continuity: When Eisenheim is arrested, his arms are at his side and crossed at the exact same spot during his arrest at the beginning of the show (current time) and the flashback.
- Revealing mistakes: You can see Eisenheim's shadow at 1:28:35, but he is supposedly an illusion. At 1:29:03, when he is standing, his shadow is gone.
- Anachronisms: At the train station, the green trains have large, white, bold lettering in Helvetica, a font invented in 1957.
- Crew or equipment visible: In a scene in Leopold's office, the overhead light banks are clearly visible the top of the frame.
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When giving a private exhibition to the Crown Prince and assembled nobles, Eisenheim explains the legend of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone, referring to the sword as Excalibur. Though popular culture does commonly refer to the sword as such, Excalibur was actually a different sword, given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake after the sword he pulled from the stone was broken.
- Factual errors: The whistle on the train leaving the station sounds much like an American locomotive whistle, rather than the typical high pitched European steam whistle.
- Revealing mistakes: The way Sophie's locket has to be twisted from heart shape to oblong shape (and back), Eisenheim's picture inside would be torn apart in the middle.
- Continuity: When Uhl opens The Orange Tree folder in the theatre and sees the plans for the locket for the first time, there is a hole in the center of the sheet of paper. When Uhl is in the stables and looks at the plans a second time, the hole has disappeared.
- Continuity: The necklace changes from hanging on a chain, to hanging on twine several times throughout the movie.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- Revealing mistakes: SPOILER: After the Crown Prince Leopold commits suicide, you can clearly see him breathing as his stomach moves up and down.
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