In the extended broadcast cut, Mary Sloan (the stewardess played by Helen Mirren) is seen in a lifeboat watching Ismay enter it, then two scenes later is seen back on the ship, finding Thomas Andrews standing in the smoking room by the painting and telling him that he must save himself.
When passengers are shown fighting for their lives in the water, there is a wide-shot of the ship which shows the first funnel completely under water. About ten seconds later, a shot from behind the stern shows the first funnel still above water.
Before passengers are shown praying, there is a wide-shot of the ship which shows the bridge area has completely gone under water. Moments later the captain is shown on the bridge still above water.
Most of the exterior scenes were filmed aboard and around the R.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Even though the Queen Mary resembles the Titanic in a generic sense, one noticeable difference between the two liners is the color of the funnels. The Queen Mary's funnels are 'Cunard Red' (a deep reddish-orange hue) with black bands, while the Titanic's were 'White Star buff' (a creamy yellow tone) and not banded. This obviously could not be helped when filming scenes on the Queen Mary's upper decks, where the banded orange funnels are prominently visible. However, the visual FX shots of the Titanic model, including the colorized footage from A Night To Remember (1958), as well as the Boat Deck set seen during the sinking scenes, show the Titanic's funnels in the proper yellow color. Also, the Queen Mary has three funnels whereas the Titanic had four. The visual FX shots all show the ship with four funnels; there is one shot in the film where all three of the Queen Mary's funnels can be seen, before Captain Smith and three of his officers pose for a photo in front of the Queen Mary's forwardmost funnel. The scene takes place on sailing day, shortly before departure, but shows the tops of the funnels with no smoke coming out of them.
As real-life Titanic stewardess Mary Sloan, Dame Helen Mirren is standing in the lifeboat that J. Bruce Ismay (Sir Ian Holm) enters. In the next scene, she is in the first class smoking room speaking to Thomas Andrews (Geoffrey Whitehead).
The actual RMS Titanic's lifeboats were labeled SS Titanic, but they are depicted as simply labeled Titanic.
At the last change of watch before the collision, there is a shot of an illuminated sea. Neither moon nor sun was up at the time.
The Titanic's distress rockets were actually fired singly, not two at a time as depicted.
Violet Jessop, the only surviving female to pen an account of the sinking, is showcased here as an elderly Stewardess. Jessop born in 1887 would have in fact been only 24-25 years old when she was employed on the Titanic.
John Jacob Astor and wife Madeleine are shown conversing with Bruce and Julia Ismay at the Titanic's Grand Staircase while the Titanic is still docked in Southampton England. The Astors did not board the ship until it reach Cherbourg France.
As depicted later in Titanic (1997), the ship broke in two while still afloat, the stern section first righting itself and then turning on end. However, these facts were not established until after its remains were found in 1985. Eyewitness testimony at the inquiries had been conflicting, and the accepted version in 1979 was that the Titanic had sunk intact.
In the late stages of sinking, more than once large quantities of water are seen rushing down or spraying across an open-air deck that is still above the sea.
The water seen rushing over passengers occurred because the numbers 1-3 bulkhead compartments were full and the water escaped through whatever opening still remained like stairwells, ventilator shafts, cargo openings. It was reported that a wave rushed forward - albeit the sea was calm that night. The water came from the bulkhead chambers topping with seawater and spilling over whatever air opening was left.
The water seen rushing over passengers occurred because the numbers 1-3 bulkhead compartments were full and the water escaped through whatever opening still remained like stairwells, ventilator shafts, cargo openings. It was reported that a wave rushed forward - albeit the sea was calm that night. The water came from the bulkhead chambers topping with seawater and spilling over whatever air opening was left.
As the Titanic's lifeboats approach the Carpathia for rescue some of the well-dressed women in the boats are revealed to be mannequins.
In an early scene in the Titanic's wheelhouse, filmed in the wheelhouse of the RMS Queen Mary which is permanently moored in Long Beach, California, the forward-looking windows are clearly covered over on the outside with a translucent material, and a canvas screen can be seen above the starboard bridge wing rail; each is used to hide the view of the Long Beach skyline across the harbor channel. In a subsequent shot, after Captain Smith tells his officers that they are underway, the window coverings are absent and the skyline is briefly visible through one of the panes.
Although most of the exterior scenes aboard ship were filmed on the RMS Queen Mary, a retired ocean liner permanently docked in Long Beach, California, the interior scenes (with the exception of the ship's wheelhouse and stateroom corridors) were not; indeed the interiors were clearly filmed in a hotel and not on a ship. This is especially apparent in scenes taking place in rooms that were on the Titanic's upper decks, such as the smoking room and gymnasium. In the film the entrance to the smoking room, which on the real ship was on A Deck at the top of the aft Grand Staircase, shows stairs leading *down* into the room; the gymnasium, which was on the Boat Deck at the top of the forward Grand Staircase, appears to have a balcony above it and a high ceiling above that. None of the Titanic's First-Class public rooms had double- or triple-high ceilings, including the dining saloon which in this film has a high ceiling and a split-level floor plan, neither of which were present on the real ship.
On board the rescue ship, a radar assembly is visible on top of the bridge, even though radar wasn't installed on ships for another 30 years.
When Beesley is escorting Leigh to her stateroom, they pass a modern day fire alarm and bell set up on the wall.
In the last shot of the Titanic's wireless operator, he is sending a repeated "S.O.S.", but the movements of his hand do not match the timing of the sounds from the equipment.
As Beesley jumps into the lifeboat and the other lifeboat is lowered atop it, both lifeboats are clearly extremely old, covered in rust and cracked layers of paint, even though the actual Titanic was brand new. In addition, the edge of the portion of the hull built for the set can be seen, along with the water in the studio tank beyond it, where more of the ship ought to be.
As the French father puts his children in the lifeboat, the angle up to him from the children's POV clearly shows the ceiling of the soundstage behind the father's head, and also shows that the portion of the funnel on the set is only about ten feet high and ends abruptly.