The siren
They say the siren that sounds when the ship sinks is purely fictional, so why was it also done for The Unsinkable Molly Brown? To build tension or something?
shareCinematic license. You see the same sort of thing on any reality cop show where the violator isn't even running, but the sound man dubs in wailing sirens for every minor traffic stop. When's the last time you saw an ordinary speeder pulled over with the siren going full blast?
shareAnother thing to remember is that at the time this film was made, the general public didn't know too much about the sinking. I mean, they knew the bare facts -the ship sunk after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage- but they didn't know any of real details. Plus, there wasn't a huge amount of interest in the wreck at the time. It was over forty years since the event, and memories had faded.
It wasn't until a year later, when Walter Lord wrote his book A Night to Remember, that interest was reawakened. Lord had the good fortune to be able to interview almost a hundred living survivors and get their first hand accounts. As well, he took the time to actually read over the evidence givin from the two official inquiries. From this, he was able to put together a real accurate depiction of the sinking. He was able to illuminate details like there was no general alarm sounded, no rushing for the boats until the end, etc.