Titanic (1943)

Third Reich's Nazi propaganda epic about a heroic fictional German officer on board of the RMS Titanic. On its maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable ship hits an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and starts to go down.

Directors:

Herbert Selpin, Werner Klingler (uncredited)

Writers:

Herbert Selpin, Walter Zerlett-Olfenius

Stars:

Sybille Schmitz, Hans Nielsen, Kirsten Heiberg

Cast

Cast overview:
Sybille Schmitz	...	Sigrid Olinsky
Hans Nielsen	...	1st Officer Petersen
Kirsten Heiberg	...	Gloria
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer	...	Sir Bruce Ismay (as E.F. Fürbringer)
Karl Schönböck	...	John Jacob Astor
Charlotte Thiele	...	Lady Astor
Otto Wernicke	...	Captain Edward J. Smith
Franz Schafheitlin	...	Hunderson
Sepp Rist	...	Jan
Claude Farell	...	Manniküre Hedi (as Monika Burg)

Storyline

Building the Titanic has been a huge financial effort, and White Star Line president Ismay wants her maiden voyage to hit the headlines. He urges Captain Smith to make the fastest possible crossing to New York. When iceberg warnings come in, the captain must ask himself if he is willing to risk the safety of his ship just to please Ismay.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi propaganda | anti capitalism | pro nazi | saving a life | 1910s | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

7 February 1950 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Titanic

Filming Locations:

Gdynia, Pomorskie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tobis Filmkunst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 80 min (censored)

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sinking scenes were filmed on board the former luxury liner Cap Arcona. This boat was used in 1945 to evacuate thousands of prisoners of the concentration camp Neuengamme (near Hamburg) to Denmark. The Cap Arcona was accidentally bombed by Allied forces in the bay of Luebeck. Only a few prisoners survived the sinking of the ship. Most were killed on board or shot by SS guards and Hitler Youth, who took position on the beach not far from the sinking ship. But the evacuation turned out to be a ruse. The Nazis secretly ordered all prisoners to be killed and the ship was laden with explosives so everyone would perish when the ship was hit by an Allied bomb.

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Goofs

When Petersen is taking the little girl on his arms from the ship, he's wearing his complete uniform, including the jacket. But when he's swimming in the sea the the lifesaving boat and has the girl on his shoulders, he's not wearing the jacket, until the court scene.

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Quotes

1st Officer Petersen: Who runs this ship? President Ismay or the captain?

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Alternate Versions

The Allied approved censored version ran 80 minutes and omitted two scenes; one where the British officers make snide comments about Petersen's presence on board the "Titanic" and, more substantially, the entire epilogue where Officer Petersen condemns Bruce Ismay's actions during the inquiry into the sinking. The final inter-title that blames the disaster on British capitalism was also removed.

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Connections

Version of Kraft Theatre: A Night to Remember (1956)

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Soundtracks

Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning Polka)
(uncredited)
Composed by Johann Strauss
played in the ballroom

User Reviews

Not as bad as expected

Look out for the scene when Petersen forces his Ex to enter the lifeboat and then guess who watched this movie quite carefully...James Cameron maybe? To put it short, if you are able to substract the propaganda and the resulting errors, it is better than the 1953-US version, especially regarding the special effects. Could anyone check out which ship "doubled" the Titanic? If it really is the "Gustloff" then we have a case of very bitter irony here...