THE IMITATION GAME (2014)

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Benedict Cumberbatch Born: July 19, 1976 Birthplace: Hammersmith, London, England, UK	Alan Turing Born: June 23, 1912 Birthplace: Maida Vale, London, England, UK Death: June 7, 1954, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England (suicide by poison)
Alex Lawther Born: 1995 Birthplace: Hampshire, England, UK	Young Alan Turing (age 16)
Keira Knightley Born: March 26, 1985 Birthplace: Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK	Joan Clarke Born: June 24, 1917 Birthplace: West Norwood, London, UK Death: September 4, 1996, Headington, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Matthew Goode Born: April 3, 1978 Birthplace: Exeter, Devon, England, UK	Hugh Alexander Born: April 19, 1909 Birthplace: Cork, Ireland Death: February 15, 1974, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK
Charles Dance Born: October 10, 1946 Birthplace: Redditch, Worcestershire, England, UK	Commander Alastair Denniston Born: December 1, 1881 Birthplace:Greenock, Scotland, UK Death: January 1, 1961, Milford on Sea, Hampshire, England, UK
Mark Strong Born: August 5, 1963 Birthplace: London, England, UK	Stewart Menzies Born: January 30, 1890 Birthplace: London, England, UK Death: May 29, 1968, London, England, UK
Allen Leech Born: May 18, 1981 Birthplace: Killiney, Co. Dublin, Ireland	John Cairncross Born: July 25, 1913 Birthplace:Lesmahagow, Scotland, UK Death: October 8, 1995, Herefordshire, UK (stroke)
Matthew Beard Born: March 25, 1989 Birthplace: London, England, UK	Peter Hilton Born: April 7, 1923 Birthplace: London, England, UK Death: November 6, 2010, Binghamton, New York, USA
James Northcote Born: October 10, 1987 Birthplace: London, England, UK	Irving John (Jack) Good Born: December 9, 1916 Birthplace: London, England, UK Death: April 5, 2009, Radford, Virginia, USA (natural causes)

I've now got myself into the kind of trouble that I have always considered to be quite a possibility for me, though I have usually rated it at about 10 to 1 against. I shall shortly be pleading guilty to a charge of sexual offenses with a young man. The story of how it all came to be found out is a long and fascinating one... but I haven't got time to tell you now. No doubt I shall emerge from it all a different man, but quite who I've not found out. -Alan Turing, 1952, Letter to Friend and Colleague Norman Routledge

QUESTIONING THE STORY:

Is Detective Robert Nock based on a real person?

No. "Detective Nock is a fake name - he was named after my old roommate," says screenwriter Graham Moore. "He gives us another perspective ... we can see how a normal person, not a bad person, could end up doing this horrible thing to Alan. We didn't want to create this story of Alan being a sad character that bad things happened to, so we decided to show his final years through the perspective of this fictional detective. ... Nock is not a bad person, not an evil person. The terrible thing that happened to Turing was not his fault and was deeply unfair and the injustice of that is something we all have to reckon with." Robert Nock is the only character in the movie with a fake name. -Tumblr (imitationgamemovie)

Did the police uncover Turing's homosexuality while investigating him for being a possible Soviet spy?

No. Here The Imitation Game deviates significantly from the true story. The real Alan Turing was not investigated for being a possible Soviet spy. Turing himself had reported a petty theft to the police, not a neighbor who heard noises. He changed the details of his story to cover up a relationship he was having with the suspected culprit, 19-year-old Arnold Murray. Instead of first suspecting Turing of espionage like in the movie, the police immediately honed in on Turing for violating the law of gross indecency due to his homosexual relationship with Murray. -The Guardian

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Genealogists have discovered that the real Alan Turing (left) and his onscreen counterpart, actor Benedict Cumberbatch (right), are related. They are 17th cousins dating back to John Beaufort, the first Earl of Somerset, who was born in approximately 1373. -Ancestry.com

Was Alan Turing really put on trial for being gay?

Yes. The Imitation Game true story confirms that on March 31, 1952, British authorities put Alan Turing on trial for indecency because he had homosexual relations with a 19-year-old man named Arnold Murray, twenty years his junior. Homosexuality was a crime in Great Britain in the early 1950s, falling under gross indecency in Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. To avoid jail time for his indecency conviction, Turing underwent chemical castration in the form of a year's worth of estrogen (stilboestrol) injections designed to reduce his libido. In addition to rendering him impotent, another side effect of the hormone therapy was that Turing developed gynaecomastia, or an enlarged chest (breasts). On June 7, 1954, approximately a year after his hormone treatments ended, Turing killed himself by eating an apple that he had likely injected with cyanide. We say "likely" because the apple was never tested for cyanide, though it was speculated that this was the delivery method.-Alan Turing: The Enigma

The general public became familiar with the name Alan Turing after learning of his indecency conviction and suicide. It would be years before they learned that he was also largely responsible for outsmarting the Nazis. -Tumblr (imitationgamemovie)

Was Alan Turing's codebreaking machine really named Christopher?

No. The Imitation Game true story reveals that the name of the real codebreaking machine was less personal. Unlike the movie, it was not named Christopher after Turing's late friend and first love, teenage companion Christopher Morcom (Morcom was a real teenage friend who Alan met at Sherborne School). Instead, Turing's machine was called the Bombe, named after an earlier Polish version of the codebreaking machine. Like in the movie, Turing created a much improved version of the Polish machine. The U.S. eventually produced its own equivalents, but they were engineered differently than the British Bombe created by Alan Turing and his team. -Empire Magazine

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Actor Jack Bannon (left) portrays Alan Turing's friend Christopher Morcom (right), who died suddenly in 1930.

Did Alan's friend Christopher really die suddenly of bovine tuberculosis?

Yes. The real Alan Turing met Christopher Morcom at Sherborne School, the boys' school in Dorset, England, which Alan attended as a teenager. The two became good friends, sharing an interest in math and chemistry (not codes and ciphers). Morcom, who was a year older, did die suddenly of bovine tuberculosis, which he had contracted as a small boy from drinking infected cows' milk. However, the headmaster did not coldly tell Turing of Morcom's February 13, 1930 death after Morcom had already passed away. In real life, 'Ben' Davis, the junior housemaster, had sent Turing a note earlier that day and told him to prepare for the worst. Turing also did not pretend that he had barely known Morcom. In real life, Turing's friends and family knew that he was devastated, and he even became close to Morcom's family after his passing. -Alan Turing: The Enigma

Was Alan's attraction to Christopher a mutual attraction?

Not likely. Though The Imitation Game movie implies that Christopher is also attracted to Alan, Andrew Hodges' biography indicates otherwise. Alan wrote of making it a point to sit next to Christopher in every class, stating that Christopher "made some of the remarks I was afraid of (I know better now) about the coincidence but seemed to welcome me in a passive way." Hodges again talks of Christopher's passivity toward Alan, stating that he gradually took Alan seriously, but always with "considerable reserve." In his writings, Alan indicates that Christopher was aware of his feelings, "Chris knew I think so well how I liked him, but hated me shewing it," indicating that while Chris liked the attention, Alan's affection went unrequited. -Alan Turing: The Enigma

Did Turing come up with the design for the codebreaking machine on his own?

No. Unlike the movie, Alan Turing didn't come up with the design for the improved Bombe machine on his own. Gordon Welchman, a mathematician who is not mentioned in the film, collaborated with Turing. -Alan Turing: The Enigma

Did Alan Turing's codebreaking machine look like the one in the movie?

For the most part, yes. However, the real codebreaking machine, the Bombe, was housed in a Bakelite box. Production designer Maria Djurkovic and her team researched the working replica that is on display at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England. "Our version of the machine had to look convincing," says Djurkovic. She and director Morten Tyldum decided to reveal the machine's inner workings. They also added more red cables to give the audience the feeling that blood was pumping through its veins. -Tumblr (imitationgamemovie)

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Alan Turing's real Bombe machine (top) at Bletchley Park in 1943. The machine's name was changed to Christopher for the movie (bottom) and more red cables were added to mimic veins pumping blood through the machine.

Is there a secret URL hidden in an Imitation Game teaser trailer?

Yes. The secret URL is in the form of an IP address and is hidden in the teaser trailer titled "Are You Paying Attention". The URL can be spotted at the trailer's 4-second mark when actor Benedict Cumberbatch asks, "Are you paying attention?" Look for the IP 146.148.62.204.

The link challenges you to complete a crossword puzzle based on the one that the real Alan Turing published in the London Daily Telegraph in 1942 in an effort to recruit more codebreakers for his team. Turing invited anyone who could complete the crossword puzzle in 12 minutes or less to apply for a job. In the movie, one of these individuals is Joane Clarke (Keira Knightley), who ends up being the only female applicant in a room full of men. Like Alan Turing's challenge, you are given a specific amount of time to complete the crossword puzzle found through the URL. Do you have what it takes to be a Turing codebreaker?

Was Joan Clarke really hired at Bletchley Park after solving a crossword puzzle in the newspaper?

No. The real Joan Clarke's introduction to Turing's team at Bletchley Park was less exciting than Keira Knightley's character's experience in the movie. In real life, Joan Clarke was already employed at Bletchley Park performing clerical duties. She had been recruited by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC & CS). A former math wiz at Cambridge, her mathematical talents were again noticed at Bletchley, and she was promoted to work with the group in Hut 8, led by Alan Turing. Andrew Hodges' biography also states that Joan Clarke had actually already met Alan Turing previously at Cambridge.

Did the Soviet spy, John Cairncross, really work with Alan Turing?

No. Our research into The Imitation Game true story exposed the fact that although John Cairncross did work at Bletchley Park and admitted to being a Soviet spy in 1951, he did not work as part of Alan Turing's group. "Their relationship is invented," says author Andrew Hodges. It is unlikely that they ever even had contact with one another, since communication between sections at Bletchley was very limited. In the movie, after Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) discovers that John Cairncross (Allen Leech) is a Soviet spy, Cairncross blackmails Turing by threatening to reveal his sexuality. -The Sunday Times

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As shown in the movie, Alan Turing (right) was a capable long-distance runner and often used running as a way to get the stress of his job as a codebreaker out of his mind.

Was Alan Turing really engaged to Joan Clarke?

Yes. In the movie, we see Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) ask Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) to marry him as a way to keep her at Bletchley Park, since her parents want her to move on with her life and find a husband. Though Turing does tell Joan about his attraction to men, in the film he only breaks off the engagement after John Cairncross, the Soviet spy, threatens to reveal that Turing is gay, which could in turn negatively affect Joan.

In real life, Alan Turing's marriage proposal in the spring of 1941 wasn't a ploy to keep Joan at Bletchley Park. He also didn't break off the engagement as the result of pressure from a Soviet spy. The real Joan Clarke says that the two were interested in one another, despite their relationship lacking a certain physical element. Turing even arranged their shifts so they could work together. They went on dates to the cinema and other places, and despite there not being much physical contact, they did kiss. Turing introduced Joan to his family. Author Andrew Hodges states in his Turing biography that "the idea that marriage should include a mutual sexual satisfaction was still a modern one, which had not yet replaced the older idea of marriage as a social duty."

During an interview found in the 1992 BBC Horizon episode "The Strange Life and Death of Dr. Turing," Joan says that Alan told her about his "homosexual tendency" the day after he proposed. "Naturally, that worried me a bit," admits Joan, "because I did know that was something which was almost certainly permanent, but we carried on." A fellow member of Turing's team called their relationship "quite delightful" and said that they were "very sweet together." Though there was talk of the future, including children, their engagement did not survive past the summer of 1941. Turing used an Oscar Wilde poem to break things off. -BBC Horizon

Gay and Lesbian news outlets criticized an early draft of The Imitation Game script, accusing the filmmakers of "straight-washing" the story. Black Bear Pictures rejected the allegations, issuing a statement that said, "There is not - and never has been - a version of our script where Alan Turing is anything other than homosexual."

Did Turing's team only pass along a percentage of the decoded messages?

Yes, but the movie's account of how the group decided which decoded messages to pass along to British forces is fictional. In the film, Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his team crack Enigma but hold off on telling their superiors for fear that the Germans will become suspicious and change the code. After they decide against passing along intercepted information about an impending attack on a British convoy, Turing goes to Stewart Menzies (Mark Strong) and together they come up with a system for deciding which cracked messages should be passed along to the British Army, Navy and RAF.

In reality, it was Menzies duty to come up with a method for deciding what percentage of gathered intelligence should be passed along. -The Telegraph

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Each letter pressed on the German Enigma machine (pictured above in the movie) caused a corresponding ciphertext letter to light up above the keyboard. Several rotors (usually 3 or 4) could be adjusted to reset the encryption, a process that would determine which letter corresponded to which ciphertext letter.

Was Alan Turing accused of treason and cowardice for not revealing Soviet spy John Cairncross?

No. As indicated above, the relationship between Alan Turing and John Cairncross was invented by the filmmakers. During our investigation into The Imitation Game true story, we learned that Turing and Cairncross did not work in the same section at Bletchley Park, and given that the groups at Bletchley were somewhat isolated from one another, it is highly unlikely that these two men ever met in real life, an idea that Turing biographer Andrew Hodges called "ludicrous." This fictional addition to the film, which finds Turing withholding the fact that Cairncross was a Soviet spy, has generated a significant amount of controversy and criticism, namely in that it places accusations of treason upon Turing. -The Guardian

Did Joan Clarke visit Alan Turing after the war?

No. Andrew Hodges' biography states that Alan wrote to Joan and told her that he had been found out, but there is no mention of Joan coming to visit Alan. At the time of his letter, Joan was engaged to be married, as Keira Knightley's character is when she visits Alan (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the movie.

Is there a reason why we don't see Alan Turing's suicide in the film?

On June 7, 1954, roughly a year after he underwent "chemical castration" (estrogen injections) as a way of avoiding prison time for his indecency conviction, Alan Turning ingested an apple that he had likely laced with cyanide (it is speculated that the half-eaten apple was the delivery method, though it was never tested). Biographer Andrew Hodges suggested that he was re-enacting a scene from the 1937 Walt Disney movie Snow White, his favorite fairy tale. The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum did film the suicide scene, but it did not make the final cut of the film. In real life, Turing's housekeeper found him dead in his bed, with the half-eaten apple next to him on his bedside table (BBC News).

"We never wanted to see him commit suicide on screen," says Graham Moore, the film's screenwriter. "This film was about paying attention to Alan Turing's tremendous life and his amazing accomplishments. It felt to us more ethical and more responsible to focus on his life and his accomplishments than the nitty-gritty of his suicide." -Tumblr (imitationgamemovie)

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Did Alan Turing take his own life by re-enacting a scene from the film Snow White, his favorite fairy tale?

Is it possible that Alan Turing's death was not a suicide?

Though the investigation and the coroner's verdict ruled the death a suicide, some believe that the death was caused by the accidental inhalation of cyanide fumes from a device used for electroplating spoons with gold. Turing's mother, Ethel, also believed his death was accidental (Alan Turing: The Enigma). "His mother wrote to me," says the real Joan Clarke, "and she said that although it was a verdict of suicide, she believed it an accident, and of course, his method was chosen to make it possible for some at least to believe that." -BBC Horizon

Was the Apple company logo inspired by the apple associated with poisoning Alan Turing?

No. This is just an urban legend. Apple has denied any correlation. -Empire Magazine

Was The Imitation Game movie filmed at the real Bletchley Park?

The only scenes that were actually shot at the real Bletchley Park (located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England) took place at the bar. This includes Turing's eureka moment, the engagement party scene, and his confession to John Cairncross about being gay. Other parts of the movie were filmed at Alan Turing's childhood school, where his picture is still on the wall (Tumblr - imitationgamemovie). Members of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) first visited Bletchley Park in 1938 and returned in 1939 to set up their operation. The park has since been converted into a museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1993 (BletchleyPark.org.uk).

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Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England was the main site of the United Kingdom's Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). Bletchley Park's centerpiece is the mansion pictured above.

WILD (2014)

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Reese Witherspoon Born: March 22, 1976 Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA	Cheryl Strayed Born: September 17, 1968 Birthplace:Spangler, Pennsylvania, USA
Laura Dern Born: February 10, 1967 Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, USA	Barbara Anne "Bobbi" Lambrecht Born: August 18, 1945 Death: March 18, 1991, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA (lung cancer)
Thomas Sadoski Born: July 1, 1976 Birthplace: Bethany, Connecticut, USA	Marco Littig Born: July 22, 1966 Birthplace: Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA Marco's name was changed to "Paul" in the movie and book. Photo taken in 2013.

I tried really hard to not only tell the truth in terms of the facts, fact-checking what I could, but also really searching my soul. What is the true story of this experience for me? And I took that really seriously. There's nothing in the book that I decided to make up because it sounded better to do this versus that. -Cheryl Strayed, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight Interview, October 2012



QUESTIONING THE STORY:


How far did Cheryl Strayed hike?

In June 1995, the real Cheryl Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the 2,663 mile long Pacific Crest Trail. The Wild movie true story reveals that Cheryl began her journey in Mojave, California and finished her 94-day trek at the Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon-Washington border. She had originally planned to complete her journey in Ashland, Oregon, which was just inside the Oregon border, but decided to continue to Washington.

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Left: Reese Witherspoon on the Wild movie set in 2013. Right: The real Cheryl Strayed is pictured ten days into her hike with her backpack that was nicknamed "Monster".

How closely does the movie stick to the Wild true story?

Screenwriter Nick Hornby stuck fairly close to Cheryl Strayed's memoir. A noticeable difference is that Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) makes less stops on her journey and doesn't encounter as many people as she does in the book. The movie also cuts out a few other important people, namely Cheryl's older sister Karen and her stepfather Glenn (his name was changed to Eddie in the book). Some of the events have also been reordered time-wise or combined. Cutting and condensing events was somewhat inevitable due to the movie's two-hour running time.

For example, in the movie, Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) has three significant encounters with people hiking the trail. She meets the friendly hiker Greg, a female hiker, and a trio of young men whom she refers to as the "Three Young Bucks." In the book, she also encounters a community of people hiking the trail, and she walks with some of them for brief distances. -EW.com


Does Cheryl only have one brother, Leif?

Cheryl does have a brother named Leif, but she also has an older sister, Karen, who is absent from the movie. Cheryl states in her memoir that following her mother's death, she and her siblings grew distant from one another. "Leif and Karen and I were inextricably bound as siblings, but we spoke and saw one another rarely, our lives profoundly different."

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From left to right: Cheryl Strayed, brother Leif, mom Bobbi, and sister Karen (not in the movie).

Is Cheryl's ex-husband's name really Paul?

No. Cheryl Strayed changed the names of a number of people in her book in order to protect their identities. This includes her ex-husband "Paul". "I have changed the names of most but not all of the individuals in this book," Cheryl states at the beginning of her memoir, "and in some cases I also modified identifying details in order to preserve anonymity." Cheryl's ex-husband's real name is Marco Littig (born Mark D Littig), which can easily be discovered through public marriage records and interviews he has done about his ex-wife and the Wild movie. Cheryl married Marco on August 20, 1988 when she was 19 and he was 22.

How old was Cheryl Strayed when she began her life-changing hike?

Cheryl Strayed was 26-years-old when she embarked on her 1,100 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Were Cheryl and her mother both students at the time of her mother's diagnosis?

Yes. Cheryl and her mother Bobbi were both seniors in college when her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Her mother had gone back to school when Cheryl was a freshman at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. The school offered free classes to the parents of students. -Oprah.com

How long did Cheryl's mother survive after her diagnosis?

Cheryl's mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, died seven weeks to the day following her lung cancer diagnosis. She was 45-years-old. -CherylStrayed.com

Was Cheryl's mother Bobbi single at the time of her death?

No. This is perhaps the biggest change from the Wild true story. In real life, Cheryl's mother Bobbi was remarried to a man named Glenn at the time of her passing. Glenn, whose name Cheryl changed to Eddie in her memoir, had been a father figure to Cheryl and her siblings when they were growing up (Cheryl's biological father, Ronald Nyland, had been abusive to her mother and Cheryl lost contact with him after they divorced). Following her mother's death, Cheryl and Glenn did not remain close, partially because Glenn remarried. However, in real life, she put Glenn's contact information on the motel registration form before starting her trek in Mojave, not her ex-husband Marco's ("Paul" in the movie). -Wild Memoir

Why did Cheryl Strayed and her first husband Marco divorce?

Following her mother's diagnosis, Cheryl admits that her husband Marco ("Paul" in the movie and book) did everything he could to make her feel less alone. However, it wasn't enough. "Once my mother started dying, something inside of me was dead to 'Paul,' no matter what he did or said," Cheryl confesses. After the diagnosis, she had put all of her effort into caring for her mother. "I just was really too young to be married and certainly too young to nurture that kind of commitment and bond given my own grief and what was happening in my life." (CherylStrayed.com). She also blames her drug use and rampant infidelity for contributing to her failed marriage (TIME.com).

Despite her best efforts to maintain a close bond with her brother and sister, Cheryl's once tight knit family unraveled upon her mother's death.

Does Cheryl really have her mother's horse tattooed on her arm?

Yes. The real Cheryl Strayed has a tattoo of her mother's beloved horse, Lady, on her left shoulder. She and her husband Marco got matching horse tattoos when they divorced. When her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer she asked the doctors if she would still be able to ride her horse. She was informed that she only had a year to live. -Oprah.com

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The real Cheryl Strayed (left) shows off the tattoo representing her mother's horse, Lady. Reese Witherspoon (right) gets the tattoo in the movie.

Did Cheryl really miss her mother's death while searching for her brother?

Yes. The Wild movie true story confirms that Cheryl's younger brother Lief disappeared as their mother grew worse in the hospital. Cheryl spent the night before her mother died looking for Lief. She found him, but by the time the two of them visited the hospital the following morning, their mother had already been dead for an hour. -TIME.com

Did Cheryl Strayed really eat her mother's ashes?

Yes. "My family and I had spread my mother's ashes in this plot of land that I grew up on in northern Minnesota," says Cheryl, "and there was just this little bit left, and I could not let go of my mother in the material world. I couldn't do it, so I did what came naturally to me, and so many people have written to me to say, 'I did that too.'" -George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight Interview

Did Cheryl and her brother Leif shoot their mother's horse?

Yes. In the book, the horse grew weak after Cheryl's stepfather, Glenn (renamed Eddie in the book), neglected it following the death of Cheryl's mother, Bobbi. Cheryl asks Glenn to put the animal out of its misery, but Glenn refuses. She then insists that her brother Leif must do it. He shoots the horse and Cheryl is present for the heart-wrenching moment. The horse doesn't die from the first shot. It dies slowly and it takes multiple shots to end it's life. -Wild Memoir

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The real Bobbi (top) poses on her horse. Actress Laura Dern (bottom) portrays Cheryl's mother Bobbi in the Wildmovie.

Did the real Cheryl Strayed abuse drugs following her mother's death?

Yes. Cheryl used heroin during the four-year period between her mother's death and the Pacific Crest Trail hike. She used again shortly before the hike. -Wild Memoir

Did Cheryl really become pregnant while using heroin?

Yes, but in the movie she says that she doesn't know who got her pregnant. In the book, her boyfriend "Joe" (not in the movie) got her pregnant, and he was also the one who had gotten her hooked on heroin. She had an abortion. Cheryl receives several letters from "Joe" while she is on her hike. He expresses that he wants to be her boyfriend and promises to get clean. She never finds out if he actually goes to rehab. Cheryl met "Joe" when she and Marco were separated but not yet divorced.

Did Cheryl's first husband really drive across the country to rescue her from drug addiction?

Yes. Cheryl ran off to Portland, Oregon with a man she refers to as 'Joe' in the book. She was separated from her husband Marco at the time, not yet divorced. Cheryl's best friend Lisa called Marco and told him about Cheryl's daily heroin habit. She pleaded with Marco to help. "I drove 36 hours straight to Portland," says Marco, "not knowing what I was going to do, but I knew I was the only person willing to do anything." Cheryl returned to Minneapolis with Marco and into counseling. -Daily Mail Online

Did Cheryl walk out of her therapy session?

No. The real Cheryl Strayed had been seeing a therapist consistently, not just for one session like in the Wild movie. Her internal thoughts that occur during her therapy sessions in the book are turned into dialogue with her therapist in the film.

Did a woman really drop Cheryl off in Mojave at the start of her trip?

No. The Wild movie true story reveals that it was actually a man who dropped Cheryl off in Mojave. However, the reason for the change is that the woman in the movie is the real Cheryl Strayed in a fitting cameo.

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The real Cheryl Strayed (left) and her onscreen counterpart, Reese Witherspoon (right), are photographed on the last day of shooting in Oregon. The cuts on Reese's forehead are makeup for the movie. Photo courtesy Cheryl Strayed.

Did Cheryl call her ex-husband before beginning her hike?

In the movie, Cheryl's last phone call before she begins her hike is to her newly ex-husband Paul (his name is Marco in real life). The real Cheryl Strayed didn't call her ex-husband Marco before she started her hike. She contemplated doing so but feared he would somehow figure out that she had used heroin again recently. -Wild Memoir

Did Cheryl really receive a copy of James Michener's The Novel in a package at Kennedy Meadows?

In the movie, Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) receives a copy of The Novel in a package at Kennedy Meadows, which triggers a flashback of her and her mother debating Michener, the book's author. In real life, she traded her book of Flannery O'Connor short stories for the Michener, giving her book to a family staying in a cabin near Packer Lake Lodge, a stop that was omitted from the movie. -Wild Memoir

Were her feet really badly damaged from her too-small boots?

Yes, like in the Wild movie, her feet suffered because her boots were too small, causing blisters and claiming six of her toenails, which she pulled or rubbed off. -Wild Memoir

Did Cheryl really order a free new pair of boots and lose her existing boots?

Yes, but it doesn't happen exactly like it does in the movie. She doesn't find out that she can get a new pair of boots until a later stop (not while at Kennedy Meadows) after the damage had already been done to her feet. In the book, Rex informs her that the outdoors store REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) has a satisfaction guarantee, and since her boots caused blisters because they were too small, REI will replace them for free. "...and now it was official: I loved REI more than I loved the people behind Snapple lemonade," writes Strayed. Like in the movie, she picks her new boots up farther along the trail (at Castle Crags) and in the meantime, she accidentally knocks one of her old boots over the edge of a mountain and tosses the other one in despair.

To avoid snow, Did Cheryl bypass a portion of the trail by herself?

No, after departing from Kennedy Meadows, she bypassed a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail with Greg, not by herself. -Wild Memoir

Did Cheryl really spend the night with a man named Jonathan after he invited her to a Jerry Garcia tribute concert?

Not exactly. They did meet in Ashland, but unlike the movie, the man she refers to as "Jonathan" in the book approached her at a club where he worked. They struck up a conversation over his Wilco t-shirt, not a Bob Marley shirt (though she did lose a Marley shirt earlier in the book). She met up with him the following night after he got off work and they fooled around in his tent, but they didn't sleep together due to the fact that neither had a condom. The next day they went to the beach, the same beach that Cheryl had once been to with her ex-husband Marco. It was then that she wrote Marco's name in the sand.

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The real Cheryl Strayed (left) pictured in July 1995 north of Belden Town. Reese Witherspoon (right) wears a similar Bob Marley t-shirt for the movie.

Did Cheryl really end up covered in frogs?

Yes. This scene is from the book and is very real. Other Pacific Crest Trail hikers have also reported seeing thousands of frogs jump for joy around them as they emerge from ponds and begin to discover their new legs. -Official Wild Facebook Page

Was Cheryl interviewed by the Hobo Times?

Yes, and it caused her to question whether she was actually homeless since she didn't have a house to return to. In her memoir, she never states if the story was actually published and picked up by Harper's, as the reporter implies it would be. Cheryl also did receive a hobo care package that included a beer. -TIME.com

Did Cheryl really encounter two potentially dangerous hunters?

Yes, but it didn't happen after she visits a putrid-looking pond to get water. She encountered them later in her trek, and they did ask her if she had water. -Wild Memoir

Did Cheryl get out of having a drink with the ranger after he got her box for her?

No. Near the movie's end, Cheryl convinces a park ranger to get her box and letters for her in exchange for a drink. However, she gets out of having a drink with him after the three young men ("Three Young Bucks") show up and want their boxes too. In real life, Cheryl had already met the young men (named Rick, Richie and Josh in the book) on the trail earlier and ended up bringing them with her to the ranger's for the drink.

http://newsiswealth.blogspot.in/

The real Cheryl Strayed (right) on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995. Reese Witherspoon (left) chats with the "Three Young Bucks" while drinking morning coffee in the movie.

Did Reese Witherspoon go without makeup for the role?

Yes. "Reese agreed to go without makeup on the trail," says Wild director Jean-Marc Vallée, "just so she could feel what it is to go on a hike and not focus on looking at herself. She had a real backpack on, which was about 75 pounds" (Wild Featurette). He had all of the mirrors covered in her hair and makeup trailer.

Did Cheryl's real-life daughter portray the young Cheryl in the movie?

Yes. Cheryl's real-life daughter, Bobbi, who is named after Cheryl's mother, portrays a 6-year-old Cheryl in the movie.

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The real Cheryl Strayed as a child (left) is portrayed by her own daughter, Bobbi Strayed Lindstrom (middle) in theWild movie. Pictured with Reese Witherspoon (right).

Did Cheryl really change her last name to "Strayed"?

Yes. In exploring the Wild true story, we learned that Cheryl legally changed her last name to Strayed in May 1995. "I chose it for myself," says Cheryl. "Its layered definitions spoke directly to my life and also struck a poetic chord: to wander from the proper path, to deviate from the direct course, to be lost, to become wild, to be without a mother or father, to be without a home, to move about aimlessly in search of something, to diverge or digress." She did not want to use the hyphenated last name Nyland-Littig that she had shared with her former husband, nor did she want the last name Nyland that she had in high school since she could not go back to being the girl she used to be. -NYTimes.com

Why did Cheryl Strayed hike the Pacific Crest Trail?

Cheryl hiked the trail as part of a transformative journey to become the woman her mother had always thought she was. As described in the questions above, Cheryl had lost her way following her mother's death. Unable to deal with her grief, she had become involved with drugs and had sex with random men. The hike was a way for her to shed her recent past and overcome her grief, so that she could start fresh on the other side.

TITANIC(1997)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Bill Paxton, Billy Zane | based on a screenplay by director James Cameron, whose fictional love story is intertwined with a chronicle of the April 1912 Titanic sinking

REEL FACE:	REAL FACE:
Bernard Hill Born: December 17, 1944 Birthplace: Manchester, England, UK	Captain Edward John Smith Born: January 27, 1850 Birthplace: Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England Death: April 15, 1912, Atlantic Ocean(perished during sinking of RMS Titanic)
Kathy Bates Born: June 28, 1948 Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA	Margaret "Molly" Brown Born: July 18, 1867 Birthplace:Hannibal, Missouri Death: October 26, 1932, Barbizon Hotel, New York City (brain tumor)
Eric Braeden Born: April 3, 1941 Birthplace: Kiel, Germany	John Jacob Astor Born: July 13, 1864 Birthplace:Rhinebeck, New York Death: April 15, 1912, Atlantic Ocean(perished in Titanic disaster)
Victor Garber Born: March 16, 1949 Birthplace: London, Ontario, Canada	Thomas Andrews Born: February 7, 1873 Birthplace: Comber, County Down, Ireland Death: April 15, 1912, Atlantic Ocean(perished in Titanic sinking)
Jonathan Hyde Born: May 21, 1947 Birthplace: Brisbane, Australia	Bruce Ismay Born: December 12, 1862 Birthplace: Crosby, Merseyside, England Death: October 15, 1937, Liverpool, England (cerebral thrombosis)

When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like. But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident… or any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.- Captain E.J. Smith, Captain of the RMS Titanic



QUESTIONING THE STORY:


Were Jack and Rose based on real people?

No. Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, portrayed in the movie by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, are almost entirely fictional characters (James Cameron modeled the character of Rose after American artist Beatrice Wood, who had no connection to Titanic history). The movie's love story is also fiction. It was created by Titanic screenwriter and director James Cameron. In addition to Rose and Jack, a handful of other characters associated with them are fictional as well. They include Rose's fiancé Caledon 'Cal' Hockley (Billy Zane), her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher), Cal's valet Spicer Lovejoy (David Warner), and the third class passengers, who include Jack's friends Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) and Tommy (Jason Barry). Some of the third class passengers were modeled after real people.


I heard there was a J. Dawson on board the Titanic, is that true?

Yes. A man who signed his name J. Dawson did board the Titanic. However, the J. stood for Joseph, not Jack. Born in Dublin, Joseph Dawson was a member of the Titanic crew. He worked as a coal trimmer (it was his job to even out the piles of coal that were shoveled into the ship's furnaces). James Cameron said that he was not aware of Joseph Dawson until after finishing his Titanic screenplay. Still, lovestruck fans of the 1997 movie ventured to J. Dawson's grave in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they left cinema stubs, personal photos, and pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio (the exact burial location is Grave 227 in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia). Another coincidental character created by James Cameron was Jack's Irish friend Tommy Ryan (Jason Barry). The ship's manifest lists a Thomas Ryan, a 27-year-old steward from third class whose body, if recovered, was never identified.


Who sketched Jack's drawing of Rose that we see in the movie Titanic?

Director James Cameron did the sketch of Rose (Kate Winslet) wearing the necklace. It is actually Cameron's hand, not Leonardo DiCaprio's, that we see sketching Rose in the movie. James Cameron also drew all of the pictures in Jack's sketchbook.


Were the movie's underwater shots of the Titanic wreckage real?

Yes. Most of the underwater shots of the Titanic wreckage are real. In 1995, James Cameron hired the Russian vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh and its two submersibles. He made a total of twelve dives to film the underwater close-ups at a depth of 12,500 feet below the North Atlantic. Special cameras and housings were designed to withstand the 6,000 pounds per square inch of water pressure. Each dive lasted approximately fifteen hours, but the cameras could only store 500 feet of film, which meant that only twelve minutes of footage could be shot per dive. As a result, a few of the underwater shots had to be faked.

Were any of Pablo Picasso's paintings lost with the Titanic?

No. After Rose (Kate Winslet) boards the ship in the movie, we see her displaying authentic paintings by the then barely-known painter, Pablo Picasso. Cal (Billy Zane) comments that the artist will never amount to anything. This is an obvious point of humor in the movie, but it also raises the question as to whether or not these paintings were in fact part of Titanic history. The answer is no. One of the paintings shown in the movie is Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (  shown here), which depicts five prostitutes in a brothel. It is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Were there any black passengers on board the Titanic?

Yes. Joseph Phillippe Lemercier Laroche was the only black man to perish in the Titanic sinking. Laroche, shown on the right in a family photo, was on board with his pregnant wife Juliette and their two young daughters. The story of this interracial family did not become widely known until three years after the movie's release, when the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry and the Titanic Historical Society featured the information as part of a Titanic exhibit. Joseph Laroche was born in Haiti in 1889 into a powerful family — his uncle, Dessalines M. Cincinnatus Leconte, was the president of Haiti. When he was fifteen, Joseph Laroche left Haiti to study engineering in Beauvais, France. Several years later, he met Juliette Lafargue, the 22-year-old daughter of a local wine seller. The two eventually married. Despite having an engineering degree, Joseph's skin color left him unable to find employment in France. The Laroches decided to return to Haiti and booked second-class reservations on the Titanic. After the ship struck an iceberg, Joseph loaded his wife and children onto a lifeboat and he went down with the ship. His body was never recovered. Shortly before Christmas of that year, Juliette Laroche gave birth to their son, Joseph Laroche Jr. Juliette never remarried.


Did Bruce Ismay really encourage Captain Smith to go faster?

During the U.S. Senate's Inquiry into the disaster, Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of the White Star Line, said the following, "I understand it has been stated that the ship was going at full speed. The ship never had been at full speed. The full speed of the ship is 78 revolutions. She works up to 80. So far as I am aware, she never exceeded 75 revolutions. She had not all her boilers on. None of the single-ended boilers were on." Ismay said that it was their intention to work the ship up to its full speed of 80 revolutions either on the next day (Monday) or two days later (Tuesday), depending on the weather.

Surviving passengers stated that they heard Bruce Ismay pressuring Captain Edward J. Smith to go faster, with one passenger even stating that he saw Ismay flaunting an iceberg warning during dinner. However, none of the surviving officers supported these accusations, and survivor testimony from some passengers was considered unreliable and at worst imaginative. Bruce Ismay was crucified by the newspapers for leaving the ship, and he quickly became a common target upon which to place blame. Yet, it is also possible that the testimony from the surviving officers, exonerating Ismay, was given in the best interest of White Star Line.


Did pieces of ice from the iceberg really land on the promenade deck?

Yes. Mrs. Churchill Candee, of Washington, said the following about the ice, "The first thing I recall was one of the crew appearing with pieces of ice in his hands. He said he had gathered them from the bow of the boat. Some of the passengers were inclined to believe he was joking. But soon the situation dawned on all of us." Survivor William Lucas reported seeing "about a couple of tons" of ice "on the forewell [deck] on the starboard side" of the ship. Fourth Officer Joseph Groves Boxhall said that he found "a little ice in the well deck covering a space of about three or four feet from the bulwarks right along the well deck, small stuff."

Did the Titanic's band continue to play as the ship went under?

Yes. 33-year-old Wallace Henry Hartley, a violinist, was the bandleader on the Titanic. Hartley (left) had a fiancée in Boston Spa, near Wetherby in Yorkshire, and he had spent time with her before leaving on the Titanic. After the ship struck an iceberg, Wallace Hartley assembled his eight-man band, and they eventually ended up on the Boat Deck near the entrance to the Grand Staircase. There, they played ragtime and waltzes. Specifically, survivors reported them playing "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "In the Shadows". No one is certain what the last song was that the band played as the ship went down. Newspapers reported that it was "Nearer, My God, To Thee" while some survivors said the tune was "Song d'Automne". All of the band members perished in the Titanic sinking. Wallace Hartley's body was recovered on May 4, 1912 by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett. Thousands of mourners lined the streets during his funeral procession in Colne, Lancashire, north-west of England.  See a picture of Wallace Hartley's funeral procession. Jonathan Evans Jones, the actor who portrayed Wallace Hartley in James Cameron's Titanic movie, is a professional violinist.


Were the third class passengers really locked below as the movieTitanic suggests?

Yes, but not exactly in the way that the film implies. Titanic history tells us that gates did exist which barred the third class passengers from the other passengers. However, these gates weren't in place to stop a third class passenger from taking a first class passenger's seat on a lifeboat. Instead, the gates were in place as a regulatory measure to prevent the "less cleanly" third class passengers from transmitting diseases and infections to the others. This would save time when the ship arrived in New York, as only the third class passengers would need a health inspection.

At the time of the sinking, some stewards kept gates locked waiting for instructions, while others allowed women and children to the upper decks. As a result of poor communication from the upper decks, the dire reality of the situation was never conveyed. The crew failed to search for passengers in the cabins and common areas, and the fact that some third class passengers did not speak English, also presented a problem. As a result, many of the third class passengers were left to fend for themselves. Only 25 percent of the third class passengers survived the disaster.

Did Officer Murdoch really commit suicide after shooting passengers and accepting a bribe?

After the release of James Cameron's 1997 movie Titanic, Officer William Murdoch's surviving relatives, other historians, and people from Murdoch's hometown of Dalbeattie, Scotland were angered over Cameron's decisive portrayal of First Officer Murdoch (right). In the film, he turns his gun on himself after shooting two passengers who are rushing a lifeboat. Based on witness testimony, historians are fairly certain that an officer did commit suicide, but it can't be said with absolute certainty that it was First Officer Murdoch. Also, there is no evidence to suggest that Murdoch ever took a bribe. James Cameron likely put the bribe in the film to show Cal's (Billy Zane) lack of integrity rather than Murdoch's. Studio executives flew to Murdoch's hometown where they issued an apology and made an $8,500 donation to Murdoch's memorial fund.


Did one of Titanic's giant funnels really crash down into the water?

Yes. This scene in the movie accurately depicts Titanic history. As the bridge of the ship sunk below the surface, the first funnel fell forward into the water, crashing onto some of the swimmers (in the movie, we see it crash down onto Jack's fictional friend, Fabrizio). The rush of water from the funnel's splash washed collapsibles A and B away, thrusting their occupants into the icy waters. It is believed that millionaire John Jacob Astor was killed by the falling forward funnel. When his body was found, it was badly crushed and covered in soot. Authorities used the initials "J.J.A." on the collar of his brown flannel shirt to positively identify him. He had been on board with his nineteen-year-old bride Madeline, who survived the disaster.  See a collage of John and Madeline Astor. While traveling on their honeymoon, Madeline became pregnant with their son, and she wanted to return home to have the baby in the United States. They booked a first class passage on the RMS Titanic.

Did some of the passengers choose to go down with the ship?

Yes. Near the end of the movie Titanic, we see an old couple embracing in bed as water pours into their cabin. The couple is first class passengers Isador and Ida Straus (left). Isador was the co-owner of Macy's department store. In real life, Isador and Ida were both offered a place on Lifeboat No. 8, but Isador chose to stay on the Titanic so long as there were women who remained on the ship. Ida refused to abandon her husband. Witnesses on the deck and in Lifeboat No. 8 heard Ida tell her husband, "We have been living together for many years. Where you go, I go." The couple was last seen sitting on a pair of deck chairs (not lying in bed like in the movie). Only Isador's body was recovered and identified.


Did Captain Smith really go into the bridge to await his fate?

In Robert Ballard's book, The Discovery of the Titanic, he claims that Captain Smith went into the bridge to await his fate at 2:17 A.M., three minutes before the ship went under completely.  View a photo of Captain Smith. This may have been partially based on the account of Philadelphia banker Robert W. Daniel, who claimed that just before he jumped into the water, he saw Captain Smith on the bridge, which was slowly being swallowed by the icy sea. James Cameron supports this account in his 1997 movie Titanic by showing Captain Smith enter the bridge and grasp the wheel as water crashes in. While some survivors testified that they saw Captain Smith enter the bridge, other Titanic survivors said that they saw Captain Smith in the water with a life jacket. It is possible that he may have jumped from the bridge area as the ship went down. A boy who was one of the last children to leave the ship told Dr. J.F. Kemp, a passenger on the Carpathia, that "Captain Smith put a pistol to his head and then fell down." Other witnesses reported having seen Captain Smith commit suicide as well. Surviving crewmen vigorously denied the possibility. His body was never recovered.

Did the Titanic's lights continue to burn until just before the ship went under?

Yes. Dr. Washington Dodge, a Titanic survivor who observed the ship's final moments from a lifeboat, said the following in an April 20, 1912 San Francisco Bulletin article, "We saw the sinking of the vessel. The lights continued burning all along its starboard side until the moment of its downward plunge. After that a series of terrific explosions occurred, I suppose either from the boilers or weakened bulkheads." This account is nearly identical to what is shown in the movie.

Did the Titanic really break apart as it sunk?

Yes. For years, whether the Titanic broke apart as it went under was a highly debated element of Titanic history. Some survivors testified that the ship did break apart as it sunk, while others said that it went under intact. Much of the uncertainty surrounding this was put to rest in 1985 when the wreck of the Titanic was discovered in two separate portions on the sea bottom. It is very likely that the ship broke apart much like the movie's depiction.

Were any of the passengers rescued from the water like Rose?

Yes. Only two of the sixteen lifeboats went back to pick up survivors, and they ended up saving six. The first was Quartermaster Perkis in Lifeboat 4, who was able to pull 5 people from the water but only 3 survived. The second boat was Lifeboat 14 headed by Fifth Officer Harold Lowe (right), who had gathered nearby lifeboats together to free up room in one of them. When Lifeboat 14 returned to where the Titanic had sunk (approximately 150 yards away), Officer Lowe and a working crew of six men picked up four survivors from the water. One of the four men found in the water, a William F. Hoyt from New York, died in the lifeboat. A British Inquiry asked Officer Lowe why he didn't return more quickly to help the people in the water. In his testimony, Harold Lowe responded by saying, "Because it would have been suicide to go back there until the people had thinned out." Lowe further stated, "...it would have been useless to try it, because a drowning man clings at anything." Lowe feared that the large number of people in the water would have swamped or overturned the lifeboat. It is Officer Lowe's boat that saves Rose (Kate Winslet) in the film.


How did Margaret Brown get the nickname "Unsinkable Molly Brown"?

When the Carpathia arrived at New York's pier 54, over 30,000 people, including reporters, clamored to interview the Titanic survivors. When reporters asked Margaret Brown to what she attributed her survival, Margaret replied, "Typical Brown luck. We're unsinkable." Reporters began referring to her as the "Unsinkable Mrs. Brown".  See a photo collage of Margaret "Molly" Brown. The nickname of "Molly" was a Hollywood invention created years later in the 1930s. It was part of a highly fictional tale that became the basis for the 1960 Broadway musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. In the movie Titanic, we get a glimpse of the friendship between Margaret Brown and John Jacob Astor. Before boarding the ship, Margaret had been traveling with J.J. Astor and his wife Madeline in Cairo, Egypt. Margaret booked a First Class passage on the Titanic after learning that her grandson Lawrence was ill.

How long could the people have remained alive in the water?

On the night of the Titanic sinking, the temperature of the salt water was likely around 28° F. The human body loses heat to the water about 30 times faster than it does to the air. When the core body temperature falls to approximately 89° F, a decrease in consciousness occurs. If the core temperature cools to below 86° F, then heart failure becomes a major concern, as it is the most common cause of hypothermia-related deaths. The people in the bone chilling 28° water above the sinking Titanic would have had anywhere from several minutes to an hour to live, depending on their physical condition and how much they flailed. Some people in the water might have believed that swimming would help their body to generate heat. In reality, people who swam or moved around a lot would have lost heat 35-50% faster and been susceptible to exhaustion. There were even several people who died from hypothermia in the Titanic lifeboats, because they were open and gave no protection against the cold. Regulations have since been put in place that require lifeboats to be fully or partially enclosed.


How many people were rescued by the Carpathia?

The Cunard liner Carpathia, under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron, was only fifty-eight miles away when Titanic sent her distress call at 12:25 A.M. It took the Carpathia four hours to reach the Titanic's position.  View a photo of the Titanic's lifeboats approaching the Carpathia. In all, 711 passengers were rescued and over 1500 perished in the disaster. Among the passengers rescued were 58 men; all of whom came under public scrutiny after news broke that approximately 150 women and children died (mostly from Second and Third class). Titanic survivor Adolphe Saalfeld said of the Carpathia, "The Captain and Officers of the Carpathia did all that was possible to make us comfortable, and to those that were sick or injured; they gave their most tender care. The icebergs were huge and the weather extremely rough on the voyage to New York."

Did Bruce Ismay really sneak into a lifeboat like in the movie Titanic?

No. There are no reports of Bruce Ismay disguising himself as a woman to sneak into a lifeboat as he does in the movie. However, First Class Passenger Jack Thayer said that he saw Bruce Ismay pushing his way into Collapsible C. Thayer "did not blame him," because from what Thayer could see, "It was really every man for himself." Of the 58 men who survived, Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of the White Star Line, received the most criticism, and in 1913, Ismay resigned from his job and from public life. London society labeled Bruce Ismay one of the biggest cowards in history, and both the American and English press ruthlessly attacked him. Some papers even published cartoons of Ismay deserting the ship.

Was the Heart of the Ocean (Coeur de la Mer) a real diamond?

No. The Heart of the Ocean diamond is a fictional device that James Cameron added to the plot in order to give Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) a reason to hear Rose's story. The Heart of the Ocean is based on the famous Hope Diamond that King Louis XVI of France gave to Marie Antoinette to add to her jewelry collection. The Hope Diamond is currently on display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. It holds no place in Titanic history. As a result of moviegoer fantasies surrounding the fictional Heart of the Ocean, the Asprey & Garrard jewelry company decided to make a real Heart of the Ocean diamond necklace. The 170-carat sapphire, surrounded by sixty-five 30-carat diamonds, was worn by Celine Dion during her performance of "My Heart Will Go On" at the 1998 Academy Awards Ceremony. The necklace later sold at a benefit auction for $2.2 million.


Can I visit the Titanic movie set?

Yes. The set, located at Fox's Baja Studios in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, still exists. The nearly full-scale Titanic replica created for the film was badly damaged when the filmmakers submerged it underwater to recreate the sinking. It was dismantled after filming wrapped. However, several of the Titanic interiors are still there, including Rose's 1st class stateroom, Jack's 3rd class stateroom, the purser's office (where Jack was handcuffed to the pipe), the outside deck, and the Palm Court (dining) room. Tours are available to the public.

Like the original ship, the replica (when it existed) was 60 feet from the boat deck to the water. Certain repetitive lengthwise sections of the ship were omitted, which made it shorter than the original 882.5 foot ship. The movie ship had only been completed on one side. As a result, there are several scenes in which the ship is reversed, such as in the "I'm the king of the world" scene where the crew galley skylight gives the reversal away. Very few of the ship's interiors were built into the replica's framework itself. Most were built on neighboring sound stages. The set designs, costumes and the ship itself were meticulously recreated.  View a comparison photo of Titanic's Grand Staircase. In several cases, James Cameron even hired the original manufacturers to reproduce such things as carpets and lifeboat davits.

Original Titanic Footage