Titanic (1953)

An unhappily married couple struggle to deal with their problems while on board the ill-fated ship.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch

Stars:

Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Clifton Webb	...	Richard Ward Sturges
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Julia Sturges
Robert Wagner	...	Gifford Rogers
Audrey Dalton	...	Annette Sturges
Thelma Ritter	...	Maude Young
Brian Aherne	...	Captain E. J. Smith
Richard Basehart	...	George Healey
Allyn Joslyn	...	Earl Meeker
James Todd	...	Sandy Comstock
Frances Bergen	...	Madeleine Astor
William Johnstone	...	John Jacob Astor

Storyline

Unhappily married and uncomfortable with life among the British upper crust, Julia Sturges takes her two children and boards the Titanic for America. Her husband Richard also arranges passage on the doomed luxury liner in order to let him have custody of their two children. Their problems soon seem minor when the ship hits an iceberg.

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Plot Keywords:

ship captain | maiden voyage | year 1912 | 1910s | disaster movie | 

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Taglines:

TITANIC in Emotion...in Spectacle...in Climax...in Cast!

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

None of the Olympic class ships (of which Titanic was the second) had double height public rooms as portrayed in the film. All public rooms were single height to save construction costs.

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Goofs

Mr. Sturges buys a ticket from a 3rd class "Spanish" passenger. In fact, the Spanish passengers (3) were on 1st class and (5) on 2nd class. There were not Spanish passengers on steerage.

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Quotes

Second Officer Lightoller: [while loading Collapsable D] Please sit down the moment you get in the boat.
Second Officer Lightoller: [He turns to see an old woman standing next to him] Alright, Mrs Straus.
Ida Straus: Please sir, no.
Second Officer Lightoller: [Looking confused] But Mrs Straus this is the last lifeboat!
Ida Straus: Please Sir, I have been with Mr Straus most of my life, and I will not leave him now.
[Mr and Mrs Straus embrace]
Second Officer Lightoller: [Lightoller sighs, and turns to another woman] Alright madam.
Second Officer Lightoller: [shouting through Mega-Phone] Lower away!

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Connections

Featured in National Geographic Video: Secrets of the Titanic (1986)

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Soundtracks

Oh, That Navajo Rag
(1911) (uncredited)
Music by Egbert Van Alstyne
Lyrics by Harry Williams
Sung by Robert Wagner and danced by him with Audrey Dalton

User Reviews

"Spectacular it isn't, good film making it is"

The first I ever saw or heard of the sinking of the Titanic, was one Saturday evening, when my family sat to watch this film on the old Saturday Night at the Movies. I have been captivated by the subject ever since. Of course, since seeing this version,back in the early sixties, I have read Walter Lord's book A Night To Remember, saw the movie A Night To Remember based on that book, painfully sat through two terrible TV movies on the subject, was incredibly bored by the fictional, Raise The Titanic, and totally enthralled by James Cameron's definitive (for me) version. This movie remains, on it's own terms, solid big studio Hollywood entertainment.

Right at the start we're given a good fictional story, with Barbara Stanwyck taking her two kids on The Titanic, to get them away from her snooty husband, wonderfully played by Clifton Webb in one of his best roles. In order to get on the ship, Webb must pay a steerage passenger a great deal of money for a ticket, and agreeing to make sure that the steerage passenger's wife and kids make the voyage okay. This set's up a great scene later on, as the ship is sinking, but it is also about as much of the people on the lower decks that you'll see in this version.

The scenes between Clifton Webb and Barbra Stanwyck are outstanding, There is one scene in particular, when they are arguing about the fate of they're children, that she tells him a long kept secret, that though brief in nature, is played to perfection.

As for the supporting cast, they are not wasted either. Thelma Ritter, one of the truly great character actors, is excellent as usual. A young Richard Basehart, as a priest questioning his faith, is not on the screen a lot, yet is quite convincing. A young Robert Wagner does just fine trying to win the hand of Audrey Dalton who is equally as good as Clifton Webb's snooty daughter. There are several real life passengers portrayed, such as Isador and Ida Strauss, and their big scene where she refuses to leave her husband behind, is touching and heartbreaking.

If you are looking for a realistic account of the sinking of the Titanic, you won't get it here. What you do get, is excellent acting, tight drama, and some heart wrenching moments that you won't ever forget. Spectacular it isn't, good film making it is.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Basque French Spanish

Release Date:

13 July 1953 (UK)

Also Known As:

Nearer My God to Thee

Filming Locations:

Stage 4, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,805,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1