Titanic (1953)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Charles Brackett (written by) &
Walter Reisch (written by) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1953 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Unhappily married and uncomfortable with life among the British upper crust, Julia Sturges takes her two children and boards the Titanic for America...

Plot Keywords:

Iceberg | Ship | Titanic | Unsinkable Molly Brown | Disaster

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Nearer My God to Thee (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1995) | USA:Approved (PCA #16223) | Germany:6

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The character of Maude Young, portrayed in this motion picture by Thelma Ritter, was obviously based upon Mrs. J.J. "Unsinkable Molly" Brown of Denver, Colorado. Even though the actual names of some of the other passengers were used in the film, Mrs. Brown's was not. It has been suggested that there was some dispute between 20th Century Fox and the Brown estate over the use of Molly Brown's character. Therefore, Molly Brown of the Denver, Colorado gold silver mining fortune became, for this motion picture, Maude Young of Montana lead mining.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Chairman of the White Star Line in fact sailed on the ship.

Quotes:

Maude: Over trump! Never send a baby for the beer!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Titanic: Breaking New Ground (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

A more poignant love story

I enjoyed this version more than James Cameron's magnum opus. The focus of the movie was more on human drama than special effects, though the latter was pretty decent for a 1953 movie. Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck are wonderful as an estranged couple who finally reconcile just before they have to part. I reckon their story is more poignant because it's a greater tragedy to be parted when a couple has history together, as opposed to Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's characters, who met aboard the ship. They only seem like they've known each other forever because the movie's so darn long.

I guess it's a matter of which you prefer, plot or effects. It's interesting to note that this Titanic won a screenplay Oscar - its only one - whereas James Cameron's Titanic won 11 Oscars but didn't even get a screenplay nomination. 10/10