Continuity mistake: When Paulette is dressing young Danielle, before her father's arrival with the new stepmother, just before Louise says, "She must be lovely," she passes the window with items on the windowsill. When Daniel runs to that window the items change. (00:04:30)
Continuity mistake: Before Auguste De Barbarac arrives home, from the upstairs window young Danielle is speaking to young Gustave, who is down below. The window/frame/hinge differ between exterior shots facing Danielle and the interior shots facing the courtyard. The wallpaper is an entirely different print as well, and the silver pitcher does its own vanishing act. (00:04:50)
Visible crew/equipment: When Auguste is leaving the manor he kisses the Baroness, and at the start of the next shot as he begins to speak to the three girls, the reddish actor's mark becomes visible in front of the Baroness' feet as her gown moves when she turns. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.) (00:08:50)
Visible crew/equipment: After Auguste rides away the Baroness tells her daughters to go back to their lessons, and when Danielle says, "Wait, it's tradition," the Baroness stops and just as she turns the actor's mark is visible at he feet, in front of her gown. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.) (00:09:30)
Continuity mistake: When Auguste falls off his horse, the ground leading to the gate is blanketed in long pronounced shadows of tree trunks, but when young Danielle runs to him the only shadows are of treetops (branches and leaves). (00:09:55)
Continuity mistake: When Danielle's father is leaving, the sun is on his right, but when we see a closeup of his face, it is lighted from his left. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: When Auguste is lying on the ground after falling from the horse, Rodmilla turns him over onto his back. In the two shots facing up towards Rodmilla and Danielle, Auguste's right arm is lying across his chest with Danielle holding his right hand, but in shots facing down towards Auguste, his right arm is outstretched on the ground, up near his head. Additionally, in the same shots Danielle goes back and forth from leaning her left hand on the ground at her side, to having her left hand in front of her, on her father's chest. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: After Danielle's father says "I love you" to her, he dies and his head falls. Then when the shot changes to Danielle and the Baroness, you see his head fall again. (00:10:40)
Continuity mistake: When Auguste dies, the Baroness cries, "No!" and puts her right hand up to her mouth, then uses both hands to shake him as she pleads, "You cannot leave me here!" Next shot her hand is back up to her mouth, but when it cuts again she is still shaking him as she pleads, "You cannot leave me here!" (00:10:50)
Continuity mistake: When Auguste dies, the Baroness stands up to be consoled by Maurice, and Auguste's left leg is crossed over his right, but in the next overhead shot his legs are uncrossed. (00:11:10)
Revealing mistake: When Danielle's perfectly aimed apple causes Henry to fall off the horse, his scabbard (at Henry's left) bends and flops around despite the fact that Henry's sword is supposedly in it, as seen in the following shots. (00:14:30)
Continuity mistake: When Danielle places the coins she received from Prince Henry on the table in the close-up, their positions differ in the next shot as she rushes around the table. (00:16:35)
Visible crew/equipment: When Danielle rushes upstairs to finish serving the breakfast, she says, "Good morning Madame, Marguerite, Jacqueline. I trust you slept well." Just as Danielle places the bowl of eggs in front of Marguerite, the actor's blue T-mark taped to the floor is visible under the table, as the camera pans around. The tape mark is positioned between the Baroness and Jacqueline, where Danielle will be standing momentarily. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.) (00:17:20)
Continuity mistake: In the first scene when we see Danielle serving breakfast to her stepmother and stepsisters just after the Prince releases Maurice, she leaves the kitchen with her hair pulled back, when she enters the dining room her hair is pulled forward. (00:17:20)
Audio problem: When Danielle brings the salt to the dining table, the Baroness sprinkles a spoonful of salt over the single shelled hard-boiled egg in the bowl, with its removed cracked shell lying on the plate beneath. After the stepmother rebukes Danielle, we hear the distinct sound of her cracking the hard-boiled egg's shell with her spoon, just before she says, "Eggs are cold," even though the egg has no shell. (00:17:40 - 00:19:00)
Continuity mistake: When Prince Henry first approaches Leonardo da Vinci and then chases after the thief, the horse he rides on is dark bay in color and has no markings on its face. After he shouts, "Ugly peasant bastard!" in Henry's next close-up he rides a black horse with a white 'L' shape mark between its eyes. (00:20:20)
Continuity mistake: When Gustave walks over to Danielle and continues to say, "Five days in the stocks," his arms are down at his sides, but next shot as Danielle playfully flicks his nose, his hands are snugly under his belt in front of him. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD.) (00:21:50)
Continuity mistake: When Danielle is behind the four-paneled privacy screen, as she tosses her dress over it, there is a painting which hangs on the wall, about a foot away from the window to her right. When Gustave tosses the 'courtier' gown to her, the painting is gone, though it should actually be visible if it were there. (00:22:05)
Continuity mistake: When Danielle is with Gustave, she walks behind the four-paneled privacy screen and tosses her dress over it. In the following shots, the dress hangs over either the second panel from her left or second panel from her right, depending on the shot. (00:22:15)
Continuity mistake: When Henry returns with Leonardo's container, the master painter promptly removes the painting. The servant behind Leonardo holds the tube with his right hand and closes the Fleur-de-lis clasp with his left hand, but next shot his hands have switched. (00:23:40)
Answer: They would have become indentured servants - basically their debt be bought by someone in the Americas and they would be forced to work for the buyer until the debt had been worked off.