The drama Titanic is directed by Jean Negulesco and stars Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, and Audrey Dalton. The film takes place in 1912 on the famous Titanic.
We all know the story of the great ship the Titanic and how it was the biggest ship ever built and then of course it sadly sank to the bottom of the ocean. But we do not all know the stories of the passengers of the Titanic and what it was like to be there as the Titanic was making it's voyage to the endless depths of the massive ocean. There wasn't enough lifeboats for everyone, only enough for the women and children. This film centers around a family on the ship, the Sturges family, and the battle in the family between the mother, Julia (Stanwyck), and the father, Richard (Webb). The family is extremely well to do and Richard wants their children to live a life like royalty while Julia wants them to be kind, humble people. Well they do not know yet that those problems will sink to the bottom of the list after they spend a few days on their trip to America.
The screenplay for this film was decent but it would have been much better with more characterization. By the time the film ended I really did not know who the characters were at all, and that could have been improved if the film was lengthened in order for more dialogue and plot could happen. I do like it when films have a small plot within a much larger plot, I always find that interesting. Other films that do the same type of thing is In Old Chicago with the great Chicago fire and Apocalypto with the Europeans discovering the Americas. The main flaw with the screenplay was the fact that all the characters weren't well developed and also the ending should have had much more drama to it.
The direction of this film was poor and this film could have been much better if it wasn't so. This is a majorly dramatic event and yet the film never makes it feel like it is. Negulesco never does any camera movements to make me feel like a ship in sinking and many people will die. She films it the same exact way she films the beginning of the film which is much more lighthearted. It could have been monumentally better but unfortunately not.
Even though Negulesco wasn't the greatest behind the camera at least she was able to get decent performances from the actors in their single dimensional roles. Clifton Webb played the part of a gentleman fine and he really did not need to do much more than that because even as the boat was sinking he was still a gentleman. Barbara Stanwyck is one of the great actresses but this film is not the reason why even though she also did a good job, just nothing extraordinary due to the limitation of her character by the writing. She did everything in her role very well though. The same is to be said about Audrey Dalton and all the other actors in this film, most of it centered on Webb and Stanwyck's characters though.
Now I would like to compare this film to James Cameron's Titanic which is far superior. The reason why the more recent Titanic is so much better is because it is a three hour film instead of only an hour and a half. For the first two hours we learn about Jack and Rose and grow to know them while we are not able to do it in this film. Then for the final hour is all the drama of the ship sinking, instead of a mere twenty minutes. I felt for Jack and Rose while I did not really at all care for anyone in the family in this film. Sometimes it is better for a film to be longer so the audience can grow into it.
Overall I give this film a 6/10 because even though I've said mainly negative things about the film it isn't bad. I would recommend James Cameron's Titanic to you much sooner than this though. It is very interesting to see an older film do something of such large proportions though and I would recommend it to anyone who likes classic films and also drama about true events.
We all know the story of the great ship the Titanic and how it was the biggest ship ever built and then of course it sadly sank to the bottom of the ocean. But we do not all know the stories of the passengers of the Titanic and what it was like to be there as the Titanic was making it's voyage to the endless depths of the massive ocean. There wasn't enough lifeboats for everyone, only enough for the women and children. This film centers around a family on the ship, the Sturges family, and the battle in the family between the mother, Julia (Stanwyck), and the father, Richard (Webb). The family is extremely well to do and Richard wants their children to live a life like royalty while Julia wants them to be kind, humble people. Well they do not know yet that those problems will sink to the bottom of the list after they spend a few days on their trip to America.
The screenplay for this film was decent but it would have been much better with more characterization. By the time the film ended I really did not know who the characters were at all, and that could have been improved if the film was lengthened in order for more dialogue and plot could happen. I do like it when films have a small plot within a much larger plot, I always find that interesting. Other films that do the same type of thing is In Old Chicago with the great Chicago fire and Apocalypto with the Europeans discovering the Americas. The main flaw with the screenplay was the fact that all the characters weren't well developed and also the ending should have had much more drama to it.
The direction of this film was poor and this film could have been much better if it wasn't so. This is a majorly dramatic event and yet the film never makes it feel like it is. Negulesco never does any camera movements to make me feel like a ship in sinking and many people will die. She films it the same exact way she films the beginning of the film which is much more lighthearted. It could have been monumentally better but unfortunately not.
Even though Negulesco wasn't the greatest behind the camera at least she was able to get decent performances from the actors in their single dimensional roles. Clifton Webb played the part of a gentleman fine and he really did not need to do much more than that because even as the boat was sinking he was still a gentleman. Barbara Stanwyck is one of the great actresses but this film is not the reason why even though she also did a good job, just nothing extraordinary due to the limitation of her character by the writing. She did everything in her role very well though. The same is to be said about Audrey Dalton and all the other actors in this film, most of it centered on Webb and Stanwyck's characters though.
Now I would like to compare this film to James Cameron's Titanic which is far superior. The reason why the more recent Titanic is so much better is because it is a three hour film instead of only an hour and a half. For the first two hours we learn about Jack and Rose and grow to know them while we are not able to do it in this film. Then for the final hour is all the drama of the ship sinking, instead of a mere twenty minutes. I felt for Jack and Rose while I did not really at all care for anyone in the family in this film. Sometimes it is better for a film to be longer so the audience can grow into it.
Overall I give this film a 6/10 because even though I've said mainly negative things about the film it isn't bad. I would recommend James Cameron's Titanic to you much sooner than this though. It is very interesting to see an older film do something of such large proportions though and I would recommend it to anyone who likes classic films and also drama about true events.