 This film, like Capra’s _Dirigible (1931)_ (qv), is also loosely  based on the crash of the airship Italia, flown by Umberto Nobile,  around May 25, 1928 near the North Pole, and the international  rescue effort that cost early Polar explorer Roald Amundson his  life. The Pilot who rescued Nobile also crashed when returning to  rescue more survivors and had to be rescued himself.