 It was the first movie he made under a new contract with Rank to make seven films in five years at a fee of £40,000 a film.The film was to a significant extent fictional, based on real events but with numerous changes made to increase its drama and appeal.The composite characters, while based in large part on Americans, are depicted as British, and the involvement of American passengers was either limited or left out (with the exception of the Strauses, Guggenheim, Molly Brown and Colonel Gracie).