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

To ensure authenticity, the producers recruited a former captain of the Queen Elizabeth as a technical consultant, and no background music was played during the feature film-the only music heard was that of the musicians aboard the ship.

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Goofs

Near the beginning, when one of the crew is reading the names of various actual passengers who were aboard the Titanic, he calls out the name "Mr. Archibald Butts". The man's correct name was Archibald Butt (with no "s"), secretary to U.S. President Taft.

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Quotes

Captain E. J. Smith: Can you still keep up steam?
Boiler Room Engineer: We'll give it a try, sir.
Captain E. J. Smith: Good, we need power for the Marconi instrument, and I want to keep the lights burning as long as possible. If there's a ship coming she has to see us.
Boiler Room Engineer: Right, sir.
Captain E. J. Smith: I presume you know, you may not make it out of here.
Boiler Room Engineer: Yes sir, that's the way of it sometimes.

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Connections

Referenced in Titanic Review (2012)

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Soundtracks

The Glow Worm
(1902) (uncredited)
Music by Paul Lincke
Played by the band on the Titanic

User Reviews

A Film to Remember

When I was young I was probably the only kid in years who had checked out our library's copy of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember." It began a lifelong fascination with the ill-fated liner. I was home sick on the couch a short time later when I saw this film for the first time on TV. Forty years later, I still remember how this movie touched me then. Even then I was hooked -- not just because the film dealt with the Titanic, but for some visceral reason I couldn't put my finger on. Still can't -- decades later. I'm not ashamed to say I continue to get choked up by the scene where Webb is on the slanting deck with his "son", telling the boy he's never been prouder of him. Fast forward several years and I'm sitting on the couch watching this film with my own son for the first time. Sure enough, I'm having a tough time not losing it all during the Webb and son scene (especially poignant now) when I sneak a peek over at my boy. I've seen him cry maybe two or three times in his whole life yet there he sat with unmistakably moist eyes. What a moment to share. I'm very happy to see so many other people here feel positively toward this movie. One of the defining movie experiences of my life.

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