The movie Titanic is not perfect!
-Mistakes from the movie "TITANIC"-
Crew or equipment visible
Reflected in Rose's TV.
Revealing mistakes
A strip of desert is visible between the dock and the Titanic when docked at Southampton.
Factual errors
The Titanic's middle propeller was not used to move the ship away from the dock.
Continuity
When Captain Smith orders, "Take her to sea, Mr. Murdoch -- let's stretch her legs", they are standing to the right of the wheelhouse looking forward with the sun coming from their left. When Murdoch walks into the wheelhouse to carry out the order, the sun is behind him.
The draft markings on the Titanic's bow when Jack looks at the dolphins later change size and position.
Anachronisms
Jack claims to have gone ice fishing on Lake Wissota, which wasn't created until five years after the Titanic sank.
Jack claims to have visited the Santa Monica Pier, which did not begin construction until 1916.
The pipe frames supporting the third class berths have set-screw speed rail fittings, not developed until 1946.
Factual errors
Margaret Brown was never refered to as "Molly" until after her death.
Continuity
In the scene where Jack is teaching Rose to spit, there is no spit on his chin as he starts to turn around to face the ladies, but by the time he has completed his turn he has some on his chin.
Factual errors
The painting over the fireplace in the Titanic's first class smoking lounge in the film depicts New York Harbor, which was actually the painting on the Titanic's sister ship, "Olympic". The painter, Norman Wilkinson, had provided a scene of Plymouth Harbor for Titanic, but no pictures of this work survive.
Anachronisms
A closeup of Captain Smith reveals that he is wearing contact lenses.
Factual errors
The main characters have lunch in the Palm Court/Verandah on A Deck. These were not used for dining, although passengers could order tea or a small snack.
Cal orders lamb with mint sauce for himself and Rose. Lamb was only available for dinner on the ship, while mutton was reserved for lunch. The lamb was prepared in the D-Deck galley and would not have been served in the Palm Court.
Revealing mistakes
While Jack and Rose are walking on the promenade the day after he rescues her, a small hill with a building on it is visible over Jack's shoulder and above the ship.
Anachronisms
The button on the left side of Jack's borrowed jacket is a "Kingsdrew" button, first made in 1922.
Continuity
Jack takes Rose and Molly's arms to go into dinner. They start walking, but in the next shot they are still standing apart.
Crew or equipment visible
Reflected in the glass door opened for Jack as he enters the dining room.
Factual errors
The worship services held at 10:30 on Sunday April 14th, 1912, in the First Class Dining Room were open to all passengers of the ship.
Anachronisms
"Almighty Father Strong To Save" is sung during the worship service; the two verses used in the film were written by Robert Nelson Spencer in 1937.
Factual errors
During the scene when Rose "flies" from the ship's bow, the sunlight is clearly falling almost exactly straight across the ship from left to right. On the evening of the 14th, the ship would be steaming somewhere between WSW and SW; the lighting in the movie would indicate that the sun is between SSE and SE, when it actually would have been between W and WNW.
Revealing mistakes
In the same shot, the faces of Jack and Rose are lit from a different angle, though still from the left.
Continuity
The length of Rose's fingernails throughout the movie.
Factual errors
The hands sketching Rose are clearly too old to belong to Jack. (They actually belong to director James Cameron.)
Workers in the Titanic's engine room had to wear thick protective clothing to shield them from the heat generated by the engines.
Anachronisms
The gauges in the engine room are fitted with sweated tubing fittings, a plumbing technique not available when the ship was constructed. The fittings should have been threaded brass.
Factual errors
There was no door between boiler room 6 and the cargo area (and no access to any but authorized crew). If there had been a door, it would have entered the third cargo area aft, not the one where the Renault was stored.
Crew or equipment visible
Reflected in a brass panel on the front of the Renault that Jack and Rose find in the cargo hold.
Factual errors
When the radio operator sends out the "CQD" message, the pattern of dots and dashes he makes with the key is not intelligible Morse code.
When Captain Smith enters the wheelhouse, the ship's telegraph is set to "Full Reverse" instead of "All Stop".
Continuity
The sea water would be at or below freezing point, yet characters rarely display discomfort or disablement from being immersed.
Factual errors
Jack is supposedly held prisoner in the Master-at-Arms' office, which is depicted as having a porthole. On the Titanic, this room was an interior room and hence would have no portholes.
Continuity
That porthole is shown to be several feet below water, yet a later shot from inside the room shows the surface of the water visible inches above the porthole.
The broken glass that the axe sits behind.
Factual errors
The distress rockets were fired by Quartermaster George Thomas Rowe, who was put in charge of the boat in which J. Bruce Ismay escaped. In the film, Rowe can be seen firing the rockets as his boat is lowered.
The crew of lifeboat #14 didn't have flashlights to use when looking for survivors in the water. Cameron knew this when making the film, but used the flashlights to provide lighting.
It is impossible for voices to echo in the middle of the North Atlantic unless there is a large, flat object like a ship nearby.
Errors in geography
We are shown a shot of Rose's view of the Statue of Liberty from a ship, yet to obtain a view as indicated she would have to be on land.
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