It may seem hard to believe today, but three films were made about the Titanic within six months of its sinking on April 15, 1912. Of course, all were silent films and shorts. The first was made just 29 days after the incident. "Saved from the Titanic" was a 10-minute short that featured a young actress, Dorothy Gibson, who survived the sinking. A 30-minute German film followed on Aug. 17, and a 23-minute French film came out in October.By 1929, sound films were being made, but this 1953 film was the first full-length Hollywood feature set on and about the Titanic. Even with some musicals, other films, and very good docudramas that followed well into the 21st century, the 1953 "Titanic" remains one of the best and most enjoyed films. That's because, unlike most films that have looked for the cause and the details of the disaster, "Titanic" is more about people. It's focus is on one family, a few other individuals, and some of the crew who just happen to be on the maiden voyage of the world's largest and most luxurious ship.We see the ship as it leaves Southampton, England on April 10, 1929; then when it stops near Cherbourg, France, and then at Queenstown (present day Cobh), Ireland. At each stop it takes on passengers. When it heads toward the open sea, it has about 1,300 passengers and a crew and staff of about 920 plus. A lot of things are at play in the inability to determine precisely the number of people on board the ship. An Encyclopedia Britannica article explains that in detail.Then, the film hones in on the Sturges family, around whom the rest of the drama unfolds. Clifton Webb plays Richard Ward Sturges, Barbara Stanwyck is his wife, Julia. The Sturges children are Annette (played by Audrey Dalton) and Norman, played by an uncredited Harper Carter. Other major characters we see are Gifford Rogers, played by Robert Wagner; and Thelma Ritter as Maude Young, Richard Basehart as George Healey, and Brian Aherne as Captain E.J. Smith. A number of actors play smaller parts, mostly of prominent people or key figures. Thus, we encounter John Jacob Astor and his wife, First Officer Murdock, Chief Officer Wilde, Isador and Ida Strauss, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Second Officer Lightroller.What we are treated to in this film, is a drama of life that takes place on board a huge ocean liner; and then the excitement, fear, worry, and tense scrambling to survive a disaster at sea. All of the cast perform it superbly.I have enjoyed all of the five or six films about the Titanic that I have seen. Each has its own special appeal and value. But this film, made just 40 years after the event, has a greater feel of reality. It may be in the more natural ease of early 1950s manners, customs, style, talk and peoples' looks to mimic those of the earlier period. The people in more recent films set in a more distant time are further removed from the culture and society. So, they don't seem as natural or real, but more like people in a play or movie.The beauty of this film is that one can fit in and feel as though you are a passenger on board the Titanic with the Sturges family and others. This is a wonderful drama on the high seas, before and during a disaster.

Fine telling of the story of the doomed ocean liner, focused on one family in particular on board. Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb play an unhappily married couple. He's a rich snob and she doesn't want her kids to grow up spoiled. So she boards the Titanic with them bound for America, where she boasts they will walk to school. The couple's differences seem irreconcilable, especially after one painful revelation. Then, of course, the ship sinks. Hope that's not a spoiler!Despite some unlikely casting, Stanwyck and Webb do a good job of selling themselves as a married couple. Their final scene together is especially well-done. Big kudos to Webb for one of his best dramatic screen performances here. Brian Aherne plays the ship's captain. Robert Wagner appears in an early role. Having met on this movie, he and Stanwyck would have a four-year relationship, despite the huge age difference. Richard Basehart, Thelma Ritter, and Allyn Joslyn are solid in small supporting roles. Obviously not the Titanic most people are familiar with today but very good and worth checking out. Unless you're an iceberg, the ending will have you in tears.

In the cruel month of April 1912, the luxurious "Titanic" has begun its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Movie viewers of all generations will know how it ends. For this story, the focus is on one particular family - headed by wealthy husband Clifton Webb (as Richard Ward Sturges) and his exceptionally well-dressed wife Barbara Stanwyck (as Julia). Unfortunately, their marriage is on the rocks. Aboard ship, the pair battle over who will win custody of young son Harper Carter (as Norman) and pretty daughter Audrey Dalton (as Annette). He is ready for long pants and she is ready for romance...The main supporting passenger is exceptionally handsome Robert Wagner (as Gifford "Giff" Rogers). He appropriately performs "Oh! That Navajo Rag", a contemporary hit song. Others characters of note include alcoholic priest Richard Basehart (as George Healey) and the unsinkable Thelma Ritter (as Maude Young). Producer Charles Brackett, who won an "Oscar" as co-writer, corralled a fine team for this version. While falling a little short of "A Night to Remember" (1958), "Titanic" (1953) hits all cylinders successfully and remains a fine example of Hollywood-produced product from the 1950s.******** Titanic (4/11/53) Jean Negulesco ~ Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, Richard Basehart

I've seen most of the dramatisations of the tragic maiden voyage of the Titanic including the recent 100th anniversary TV production but found this version of events the most satisfying and moving. Of course the whole point about any "Titanic" film is how to fill the space until the iceberg hits, which naturally means concocting fictional dramas amongst the passengers and on this occasion, slightly melodramatic as they were (an alcoholic priest, a tug-of-love between an American townie and her high-falutin' husband...), with sympathetic writing and strong playing, they certainly engaged my interest and by the bitter end, emotions too.Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck make an unlikely couple at first, but one comes to believe in their story, especially after Stanwyck makes her shock revelation to Webb as she desperately tries to maintain the loyalty of their two young children against the high-life allure of Webb's nomadic lifestyle. Their last scenes in particular have a rare poignancy as Webb at last shows the sacrifice and devotion that as both a father and husband he's sorely lacked before.In the lesser tales, we get to see Richard Basehart deliver a good performance as a fallen priest, who again rediscovers his vocation at the hour of greatest need and a young lantern-jawed Robert Wagner as the freshman suitor of Webb and Stanwyck's somewhat stuffy daughter. A singer and dancer he isn't though!While the special effects of the day are naturally and obviously based on a ship's model, these aren't too distracting. Occasionally you feel there aren't that many people on the boat itself and it's noticeable that there's very little coverage of the below-deck drama as the ship fills up with water, but the final scenes, especially the largely non-judgemental treatment of the captain and crew, seemed about right to me; there's no doubting the valour and devotion to duty of this particular captain in going down with his ship unlike a certain Italian captain in the modern disaster of the Concordia.This feature succeeds therefore in the quality of its writing (which was Oscar-nominated) and sensitive direction and acting rather than the special effects, which surely is as it should be.