Titanic: The True Story Behind The Movie Controversial Shootings

Titanic weaved between fact and fiction to fill in the blanks of that tragic night, and one of its most controversial decisions was including a scene where officer William Murdoch shot passengers and himself. Although James Cameron filmed it to resolve an ambiguity, it mired him and the movie in controversy. The real history is murky, relying on the eyewitness accounts of different people who survived the Titanic’s sinking.

Establishing the true story of what happened on the Titanic can be tricky, but there is no shortage of historical records. As it was such a major event at the time, passengers and crew on the boat shared their stories in news stories and letters. There were also two inquiries into the events of the sinking, one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States.

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James Cameron used a historical approach to make Titanic as realistic as possible, even basing Rose on real passenger Beatrice Wood. Despite his efforts, there is only so much that can be known with certainty about that night, and he took dramatic license where ambiguity existed. Titanic is still a fictional story,  and various plot points serve its narrative more than historical accuracy. William Murdoch’s shooting scene was a case of Cameron leaning into the most dramatic possible explanation. This choice resulted in an outcry: Although the sinking of the Titanic happened over a hundred years ago, many people still care about the events that transpired and the people involved. This is especially the case for the passengers and crew who died there — including William Murdoch.

In the movie, first officer William Murdoch was in charge of loading lifeboats. It was late in the evacuation, and there were not enough lifeboats for the people on board. No other ship was able to save the Titanic’s passengers in time, so being left out of the lifeboats was essentially a death sentence in the icy waters. As passengers scrambled for one of the last lifeboats, William Murdoch threatened them with a gun, saying, “I’ll shoot any man who tried to get past me.”

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Cal, Rose’s wealthy love interest, reminded Murdoch they had a deal to get him on the boat, but Murdoch threw the money Cal had given him back in his face, telling him the money wouldn’t save either of them. As a passenger tried to get past Murdoch onto the lifeboat, Murdoch instinctively shot him. The crowd pushed forward in response, pushing Tommy Ryan to the front, and Murdoch shot him, as well. Stricken by the guilt of what he had done, Murdoch put the gun to his own head and fired, and his body fell into the ocean.

Although much of the story in Titanic is real, it is also combined with fiction to present a clearer picture of that night and tie up the ultimate fates of its major characters. However, Murdoch’s surviving family and his hometown of Dalbeattie, Scotland took exception to the portrayal of Murdoch’s shootings and suicide. Cameron now considers the way he portrayed Murdoch without being sensitive to his family a mistake, and a studio executive contributed £5,000 to Dalbeattie’s memorial fund in his name as an apology. Nonetheless, Murdoch’s reputation as the first officer was tarnished by the portrayal, and there’s a lot of doubt as to whether it’s accurate. It’s not the film’s only controversy, like the still-debated Titanic ending, but it is the controversy with the highest stakes.

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While there is evidence of shootings aboard the Titanic, when and where they happened has been a matter of debate. Eyewitness accounts sometimes contradict each other. Some place the shootings at Collapsible A, the last starboard lifeboat to launch before the sinking, but other witnesses with more detailed accounts place the shootings as Collapsible C, an earlier lifeboat. These accounts say an officer fired shots, though accounts differ about whether they were warning shots or whether the officer shot one or two passengers in the process. There are further accounts of an officer shooting himself as the boat sank.

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However, very little evidence ties either of these events to first officer William Murdoch. Passenger Hugh Woolner claimed he saw Murdoch fire two shots in the air at Collapsible C, but the other accounts seldom mention any officers by name. The explanation that Murdoch was the officer mentioned as firing shots before shooting himself is possible, so Cameron used it to resolve Murdoch’s fate as a major character. Cameron’s explanation did not sit well with those who see William Murdoch as a hero who saved many lives by quickly loading the boats and getting them out to sea. There is also no evidence Murdoch ever took a bribe, as the movie shows, so the inclusion of the bribe is a slight to the real Murdoch’s integrity. Cameron does hold a high opinion of Murdoch, however, as he commented on his sense of responsibility and total devotion to duty. Murdoch was included in the final dream sequence, a nod to the idea that he’s still considered a hero in the movie even after the shootings.

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Accounts of the Titanic’s sinking are filled with wild true stories from the survivors, but it’s impossible to know exactly what happened. Someone likely fired shots at the lifeboats, fearing passengers would stampede the boats; however, it is impossible to definitively answer who it was or if the shots hit any passengers. Officers did commit suicide on the Titanic as it became clear they were doomed, and Murdoch may have been both the officer who fired shots at the lifeboats. Regardless, the history is unclear. Despite the controversy around his death, Murdoch did, in fact, save many lives on the Titanic, as his quick work loading the lifeboats is an established fact. Titanic’s controversy aside, at least it portrayed that aspect of Murdoch's character truthfully.