 Herbert Selpin, the film's director, was removed from the project after making unflattering remarks about the German war effort.He was personally questioned by Goebbels and 24 hours later he was found hanged in his cell.The film itself was withdrawn from circulation shortly after release on the grounds that a film portraying chaos and mass death was injurious to war morale, though it has also been suggested that its theme of a morally upright hero standing up to a reckless leader steering the vessel to disaster was too politically sensitive for the Nazis to tolerate.