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In 1942, with the war going fairly well for Germany, Joseph Goebbels green-lit a lavish, technically complex account of the sinking of the Titanic, one with a decidedly different viewpoint. All blame falls on Evil British plutocrats, and a decent, ethical German officer is the only competent man on the bridge. Kino’s features a game- changing extra — a superb commentary that explains everything about this crazy picture.

Titanic (1943)

Blu-ray

Kino Classics

1943 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 85 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Sybille Schmitz, Hans Nielsen, Kirsten Heiberg, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, Karl Schönböck, Charlotte Thiele, Otto Wernicke, Franz Schafheitlin, Sepp Rist, Claude Farell, Theodor Loos.

Cinematography: Friedl Behn-Grund

Film Editor: Friedal Buckow

Visual Effects:< Ernst Kunstmann

Original Music:< Werner Eisbrenner

Written by Herbert Selpin, Walter Zerlett-Olfenius

Produced by Tobis Filmkunst

Directed by Herbert Selpin, Werner Klingler

Everyone loves movies about the sinking of the Titanic, and if...

German artists faced a painful choice under the Nazis. Many fled abroad, driven by ideology or religion; a few resisted. Those remaining had little choice beyond collaboration: Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ dictatorial control of German culture, especially cinema, demanded public and private conformity. Usually, Goebbels tolerated a Jewish spouse or off-hand criticism, but occasionally he felt compelled to make an example.

This article briefly profiles two men who became such “examples.” Among the millions killed by Hitler’s regime, it’s easy to overlook individual tragedies. Yet their fates show that fame, wealth and talent were no guarantee against persecution.

Joachim Gottschalk had a promising career (and life) cut tragically short. Born in Calau, Brandenberg in 1904, Gottschalk acted on stage throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Gottschalk married Meta Wolff, a Jewish actress, in 1930; three years later, they had a son, Michael. When the Nazis came to power, Wolff was denied right to work onstage.

On the evening of April 12th 1912, the White Star liner Rms Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage to the brave new world that was America, taking nearly fifteen hundred souls with her into the cold, lonely depths that were to become her final resting place. As with any great tragedy, in time movies are made about them, and the tragic story of the sole outing of the most luxurious, not to mention fastest, liner in the world at the beginning of the last century has been tackled a number of times.

Arguably the most famous, but unquestionably the most successful, of course, is James Cameron's 1997 magnum opus starring Leonardo De Caprio and Kate Winslet (not forgetting fabulous supporting turns from David Warner and Billy Zane), which sails back into cinemas this April in glorious 3D to celebrate both its own fifteenth anniversary and...