Titanic

This film has been overshadowed by the 1997 blockbuster, but this 1953 story of the tragic ocean liner certainly stands tall on its own merits, not the least of which are the star performances by Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck.

Built around the domestic drama of a fictional family, the well-known story of the sinking of the Titanic unfolds in an unrelenting and straightforward fashion. Brian Aherne (as the captain) is the victim of delayed and incorrect information and sails the ship right into the iceberg. We get glimpses of the rich and famous who populated the doomed ship as well as the luscious interiors of the ship.

The special effects are tremendous without taking over the film. The final scenes of the sinking ship are awesome. But the story of innocent passengers takes center stage here. Stanwyck and Webb are a squabbling couple with two children. The girl (Audrey Dalton) is a snob who is charmed by a college boy (Robert Wagner). Thelma Ritter plays a Molly Brown- like character addicted to loud jewelry and cards. Richard Basehart plays a defrocked priest. Allyn Joslyn plays the infamous coward who dresses like a woman to gain a seat on a lifeboat. Oh, and that's Mae Marsh the kid gives his seat to.

The final scenes of Webb and son are superb. An excellent film.

What a surprise to see this 1953 sinking of the Titanic after the long and expensive James Cameron version. To say that Jean Negulesco's version is better is saying only half of it. In fact it is much, much better. The whole story told in half the time with a scrumptious script by Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch and superb performances by Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. The 1953 special effects are as effective as anything in Cameron's film but, I believe, that the secret of the older version is that the heart and mind of the filmmakers were on the human drama and the effects came to be part of it and not its center. It was also a time when stories were told thinking of an adult audience. The poignancy of of the tale is thought out by thinking people for thinking people. In the modern version, Leo teaches Kate how to spit, remember? Just look in Negulesco's version the power of the unfolding. Two disasters, one natural, irreversible, the other, human with unexpected twists and turns. Thelma Ritter plays Molly Brown with extraordinary little touches. Look at her eyes when she witnesses Webb shabby treatment of his son. Young and gorgeous Robert Wagner is a delightful plus. I advise you to rent it, you'll be amazed.

The story follows a handful of characters, most fictional but a few real ones, on the ill-fated transatlantic sea voyage in 1912 that ended in tragedy. Wife Julia (Barbara Stanwyck) and husband Richard Ward Sturges (Clifton Webb) are squabbling over the upbringing of their two children, daughter Annette (Audrey Dalton) and son Norman (Harper Carter). Julia admits that Annette is a hopeless snob, but she plans to bring young Norman up in America where she hopes to make a normal person of him. When hubby balks at giving up his son as expected, Julia has one ace up her sleeve. Complications ensue, some of them quite touching even considering the overall situation.

Meanwhile drunkard George Healey (Richard Basehart) staggers around on deck, nouveau riche Maude Young (Thelma Ritter) tries to relax, and ship's captain Smith (Brian Aherne) is oblivious to the impending danger. Robert Wagner stars as the wholesome college boy whose teeth practically sparkle who might be able to bring Annette down to earth.

The setting and situation are familiar to most by now, but I still enjoyed this disaster effort that resembles the future disaster "epics" of the 1970's. It follows the usual formula of establishing the characters and their petty troubles before casting them into harm's way, many of them to their doom. I thought Stanwyck and Webb were an odd couple on paper, but it works out fine in the movie, and Webb is very good, especially during the last 20 minutes or so. I was also impressed with Edmund Purdom as a ship's officer with a suspicion of the dangers ahead. The movie won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch & Richard L. Breen), and was also nominated for Best B&W Art Direction.

While I saw and enjoyed the current "Titanic," I've always held a special place for the excellent 1953 version. Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch's Oscar-winning screenplay, deftly blending fact with fancy, tells the story compellingly in about half the time of the Cameron film. And what a cast! Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, Richard Basehart, the young Robert Wagner (looking positively "DiCaprioesque," as it were!), the (unfortunately) near-forgotten Brian Aherne, and the underrated Audrey Dalton all give sterling performances. The special effects are equal to anything in the Cameron film. And it all comes together under Jean Negulesco's sure-footed direction. As I say, you've seen the Cameron film, now see the film where they got it right!

To update these comments almost seven years after they were originally written, the DVD of this film is definitely one for any Titanic buff to have in their collection. It features TWO separate commentary tracks, one by critic Richard Schickel and stars Robert Wagner and Audrey Dalton, the other by Titanic historians. There is also the original theatrical trailer and newsreel footage of the film's premiere and Oscar wins. Most impressive of all, though, is a fascinating feature-length documentary, narrated by Victor Garber (ship-builder Thomas Andrews in the Cameron/DiCaprio film), about the sinking of the Titanic and how's it's been presented in films and on TV from the silent era to the present. All this on one DVD.

Just a precaution: If you are expecting a completely accurate historical account of the night with all the scientific details neatly in place, look elsewhere. This film instead focuses (touchingly) on the human drama involved with the ship, with many of the elements of real passengers' accounts rolled into the story of Clifton Webb and wife Barbara Stanwyck (Both excellent; when Isn't Barbara Stanwyck excellent?) and their children. A few real characters are involved, but for the most part the drama surrounding the fictional characters is in the forefront. A beautiful and striking account, the film deserved a few more Oscars than it got, primarily for Miss Stanwyck and a supporting Oscar for Robert Wagner, who does wonderfully in his role.