I think James Cameron's TITANIC is one of the best films ever made. It is epic in scale, grand in storytelling and will have more than an ephemeral grip on films and audiences to come. If there is ever another film made about Titanic, it will most certainly get compared to 1997's version before the 1953 version or before A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. But having said that, let me tell you that Jean Negulesco's version is very well done. There are even quite a few similarities between the two films. While A Night To Remember was a very well done film concerning more with the factual events, Titanic (1953) and Titanic (1997) are factual films against the backdrop of young love and love in general. Having a fictitious romance blooming on board was smart and both films play well because of it. It enhances the peril and imminent danger that one feels when the ship is going down. We know and are a little familiar with some of the people on board and we sympathize with them as the ship heads imminently to Davey Jones locker. While Cameron's film is in a class by itself, this film starring Barbara Stanwyk and Clifton Webb holds its own quite nicely.
Stanwyk and Webb play an unhappy married couple who are heading to The U.S from France. With them are their two children. Norman is the impressionable son and Anne is the snooty, country club destined, caviar eating, don't touch me I'm too beautiful for you, daughter. She looks and acts similarly to Rose did in the 97 version of Titanic. Also along for the ride is a young Robert Wagner, who plays Giff Rogers, a DiCaprio look-alike with a soap opera name who falls for Anne.
There are some obvious similarities with the two versions, one of course being the young lovers but there are some other interesting and amusing resemblances. One of them being the comment that Molly Brown and Richard Sturgess ( Webb) both make concerning the dinner call. They are almost said verbatim and it is nice to see Cameron tip his cap in homage to some of the films that inspired him to make his billion dollar baby.
"Why is it the British always have to make the announcement for dinner like a damn cattle call?"
I enjoyed subtle touches like this.
As for the film itself. It is quite well done. I was very surprised and impressed to see the inside of the ship looking the way it did. The dining halls were filled with large banquet tables and lavishly dressed patrons and there was always music playing joyously somewhere in the background. The director and set designers went through great pains to ensure the authenticity and design of the ship.
Also well done was the story between husband and wife. There was some real turmoil with them and I could feel for both of them. The conflict between Norman and his dad was very emotional as well. I don't want to include a spoiler here but when you think of Rose and her loyalty to Jack in the modern Titanic, it actually pales in comparison to how father and son play out their last scenes together.
What could have been done a little better was some of the tragedy that Titanic stood for. There was ample time given to the convivial parties of the rich and famous but not enough was elaborated on with the lower class. Most of the people on board were shown as wealthy and prosperous. I knew that JJ Astor and his young wife Madeline were on board but I would have liked to see more about the young Spanish mother and her children that would have lost their husband had he boarded the ship at the beginning. I also would have liked to see some more of the festivities that were below in the third class passenger area. The one thing that this film forgot was that there was more than affluent people on board the Titanic. There was a plethora of different classes and races and different cultures on board the ship. This film would have you believe that only the rich occupied the ship. More also could have been done with the actual sinking of the ship. The act of the sinking was well done but in terms of the facts and figures, I wanted to know more. The writing team of Charles Brackett and Richard Breen could have done a little more to edify us with facts about what happened when the ship was about to sink. Maybe it is unfair to compare the two, but in Cameron's version, there were people swimming in the frigid waters, people hanging off the back of the ship and more than just flocks of passive passengers going down to their death without some pandemonium. I wanted to see more. I think there would have been more of a bucolic thrashing about to try to find something, anything, to save themselves. I don't care how stoic and virile you are, when faced with death, you would panic. I don't buy the narration that over 800 people sang their way to their graves. The screams of the dying and the freezing would have been ubiquitous and that is something that Titanic is missing. Again, unfair to compare but since I was spoiled enough to see 1997's version before 1953, it is an inevitable comparison.
This Titanic is however, quite the accomplishment. There is enough emotion in here to convey at least some of the lugubrious scenes of the night, and if you can watch this film without comparing the two Titanics, then you will see a very well done film. I enjoyed it quite a bit and was even surprised to admit to myself that most of the acting wasn't all that one dimensional the way it is in most "classic era" films. I could feel real emotion in the passengers and crew. And that is an achievement unto itself.
7 out of 10-- If you have seen Cameron's Titanic, then this one should be mandatory viewing. It is quite interesting and ominous to watch the ship sink and know that nearly 800 people were going to die on that ship. It's a true account of a horrible event in our history and for that it should be witnessed by young and old. It is quite a film.
Stanwyk and Webb play an unhappy married couple who are heading to The U.S from France. With them are their two children. Norman is the impressionable son and Anne is the snooty, country club destined, caviar eating, don't touch me I'm too beautiful for you, daughter. She looks and acts similarly to Rose did in the 97 version of Titanic. Also along for the ride is a young Robert Wagner, who plays Giff Rogers, a DiCaprio look-alike with a soap opera name who falls for Anne.
There are some obvious similarities with the two versions, one of course being the young lovers but there are some other interesting and amusing resemblances. One of them being the comment that Molly Brown and Richard Sturgess ( Webb) both make concerning the dinner call. They are almost said verbatim and it is nice to see Cameron tip his cap in homage to some of the films that inspired him to make his billion dollar baby.
"Why is it the British always have to make the announcement for dinner like a damn cattle call?"
I enjoyed subtle touches like this.
As for the film itself. It is quite well done. I was very surprised and impressed to see the inside of the ship looking the way it did. The dining halls were filled with large banquet tables and lavishly dressed patrons and there was always music playing joyously somewhere in the background. The director and set designers went through great pains to ensure the authenticity and design of the ship.
Also well done was the story between husband and wife. There was some real turmoil with them and I could feel for both of them. The conflict between Norman and his dad was very emotional as well. I don't want to include a spoiler here but when you think of Rose and her loyalty to Jack in the modern Titanic, it actually pales in comparison to how father and son play out their last scenes together.
What could have been done a little better was some of the tragedy that Titanic stood for. There was ample time given to the convivial parties of the rich and famous but not enough was elaborated on with the lower class. Most of the people on board were shown as wealthy and prosperous. I knew that JJ Astor and his young wife Madeline were on board but I would have liked to see more about the young Spanish mother and her children that would have lost their husband had he boarded the ship at the beginning. I also would have liked to see some more of the festivities that were below in the third class passenger area. The one thing that this film forgot was that there was more than affluent people on board the Titanic. There was a plethora of different classes and races and different cultures on board the ship. This film would have you believe that only the rich occupied the ship. More also could have been done with the actual sinking of the ship. The act of the sinking was well done but in terms of the facts and figures, I wanted to know more. The writing team of Charles Brackett and Richard Breen could have done a little more to edify us with facts about what happened when the ship was about to sink. Maybe it is unfair to compare the two, but in Cameron's version, there were people swimming in the frigid waters, people hanging off the back of the ship and more than just flocks of passive passengers going down to their death without some pandemonium. I wanted to see more. I think there would have been more of a bucolic thrashing about to try to find something, anything, to save themselves. I don't care how stoic and virile you are, when faced with death, you would panic. I don't buy the narration that over 800 people sang their way to their graves. The screams of the dying and the freezing would have been ubiquitous and that is something that Titanic is missing. Again, unfair to compare but since I was spoiled enough to see 1997's version before 1953, it is an inevitable comparison.
This Titanic is however, quite the accomplishment. There is enough emotion in here to convey at least some of the lugubrious scenes of the night, and if you can watch this film without comparing the two Titanics, then you will see a very well done film. I enjoyed it quite a bit and was even surprised to admit to myself that most of the acting wasn't all that one dimensional the way it is in most "classic era" films. I could feel real emotion in the passengers and crew. And that is an achievement unto itself.
7 out of 10-- If you have seen Cameron's Titanic, then this one should be mandatory viewing. It is quite interesting and ominous to watch the ship sink and know that nearly 800 people were going to die on that ship. It's a true account of a horrible event in our history and for that it should be witnessed by young and old. It is quite a film.