anic on film able!’: the Tit ‘This ship’s unsink arlane Brian McF
SCREEN EDUCATION
ISSUE 60 46 Brian McFarlane considers the enduring fascination with this maritime disaster and reflects on some its finest and not-so-fine cinematic renderings.
here is a breathtaking moment in Noël Coward’s play Cavalcade T when a young couple, on the deck of an Atlantic liner, are talking about the prospect of their lives together: ‘This is our moment – complete and heavenly,’ says the young woman. As they make to move inside, she picks up her shawl, which has been hanging over a rail. It has been covering a lifebelt and when they walk away the ship’s name on it is revealed: S.S. Titanic.1 Frank Lloyd’s 1933 Oscar-winning film version of the same Opposite page: Mr and Mrs Clarke (Ronald Allen and Jill Dixon) in A Night to name reproduced this moment without remember Above: The Titanic sets sail in 1912 ) comment; no comment was needed because the awful implications would tory and, more specifically, its repeated would be enough; rich man and humble have been obvious to all viewers. And the surfacings (perhaps an unfortunate meta- Irish immigrant died together with de- moment had not lost its power to move in phor) in popular cinema. grees of heroism and cowardice that had a 1995 revival of the play in London. nothing to do with the rigidly separated In spite of the two devastating world classes to which they belonged. This year’s exhibition of artefacts from the wars that have occurred since the Titanic ship at the Melbourne Museum proved went down in the North Atlantic on its How far do the film versions of theTitan - hugely popular, with viewing queues as- maiden voyage in 1912, as well as nu- ic’s last hours go towards finding expla- sembled every quarter of an hour to merous other tales of horror, few stories nations for the ongoing fascination with maintain some sort of order and to avoid can still chill the blood, in my case at this nearly 100-year-old disaster? It is, of overcrowding. Vast numbers of people least, the way that of the Titanic does. In course, not just films: there are dozens of made their slow way past recreations of this study, I want to pursue some of the other responses to the Titanic in histori- the ship’s departure, through the gran- recurring features of the films that grap- cal accounts, novels, books for children, deur of the recreated first-class hallway, ple with the story of the unsinkable a book based on the recipes of its first- the grand staircase and a first-class cab- floating palace: the appallingly smug class dining room,3 sheet music memori- in, through the comparative austerities of confidence in material achievement; the alising the numbers played by the band4 the third-class hallway and a third-class blatant class distinctions underlined in and plays such as Coward’s and Ernest cabin, and through galleries displaying an the contrasting treatment of those who’d Raymond’s The Berg.5 In introducing the extraordinary range of surviving artefacts, paid fabulous sums for staterooms and video version of Atlantic, E.A. Dupont’s from silver serving dishes to a child’s those who were herded together in 1929 version of Raymond’s play, David marbles.2 Most moving of all was the steerage; the collapse of a whole era McCallum (who played wireless operator
memorial gallery where the names of the and its complacencies in a few hours. As Harold Bride in Baker’s 1958 film) ISSUE 60 passengers were listed on wall charts, Second Officer Lightoller (Kenneth More) claimed: ‘No other historical event would making abundantly clear the stark differ- says in A Night to Remember (Roy Ward inspire so many books and films.’6 This SCREEN EDUCATION ence in survival rates between those in Baker, 1958): ‘I don’t think I’ll ever feel may be an extravagant claim, but cer- first, second and third class. The long sure again – about anything’, a remark tainly the Titanic disaster has had a re- queues snaking their way to admission that pinpoints the symbolic significance markable afterlife, suggesting that its sig- made me ponder the significance of the of this tragedy. Never again would any- nificance does resonate well beyond the Titanic disaster in twentieth-century his- one be certain that wealth and name details of the particular occasion.
47
Brian McFarlane ‘This ship’s unsinkable!’: the Titanic on film anic on film able!’: the Tit ‘This ship’s unsink an), an), m - , - k - - - -
- c - - - hildren in in hildren c k (1929), (1929), Titanic c ughes ughes H onor Bla onor ic H an ) and Ja and ) Piccadilly t as ( as tit c u L iz iz L e Winsle e aye), who are reconciled reconciled are who aye), t One of the most expensive expensive most the of One H 8 was his first sound film. As film. sound first his was as (John Merivale) and and Merivale) (John as c elen elen lu ose (ka ose H t site page: site R
Atlantic o er ight to remember to ight b llaline Terriss), who go down with the the with down go who Terriss), llaline n ool (Franklin Dyall) and wife Alice Alice wife and Dyall) (Franklin ool o E Opp (leonardo diCaprio) in in diCaprio) (leonardo R A Left: minent disaster and the need to main to need the and disaster minent security of sense passengers’ the tain possible. as long as Dupont, a director not much ofheard doesn’t shy away melodrafrom today, ing qualities of the passengers, signified signified passengers, the of qualities ing band, ship’s the of music cheerful the in start. film’s the from at hinted are nar film’s the at couples three are There John wheelchair-bound centre: rative R ( him; leave to refusing she together, ship Tate- Freddie philandering the in up built is Tension films. later the of between crucially more but pairs, these im of knowledge increasing crew’s the ma in his treatment of what is plainly based on a real-life catastrophe. But while the disaster elements such as the hullcollapse well are of the great ship’s ing its way through the sea, then cutting cutting then sea, the through way its ing the of first board, on life of shots brief to bar the at passengers of then and crew night,’ lovely a ‘What cards. playing or Captain before just passenger, one says ‘I say, to heard is James) (Gordon Collins needlessly passengers my want don’t ominous nature’s of sense The worried.’ pleasure-lov cheerful the and potential wife resentful and Clarke-Smith) (D.A. ( Clara Moni couple young the and end; the at (John Larry and Carroll) (Madeleine ca honeymoon. their on are who Stuart), in echoes find will couples three These outcomes and patterns character the films of its time, it opens on a forward forward a on opens it time, its of films plough liner ocean the of shot tracking antic Atl British in figure émigré major a Dupont, Ger in background a with history film man expressionist filmmaking in the the in filmmaking expressionist man his with success a scored had 1920s, Britain, in film silent last and Tim Bergfelder writes, ‘although obvi ‘although writes, Bergfelder Tim ously modelled on the fate of the the of fate the on modelled ously le for changed was ship the of name the reasons’. gal natural hazard; man has not effectively has not effectively man natural hazard; under full submission nature brought of this accounts for and the awareness quoted above. remark Lightoller’s - - ), 7 arlane Brian McF ing viewer interest until the catastrophe catastrophe the until interest viewer ing concen am I films four the and strikes, degrees varying to so do all on trating success. varying with and The central narrative fact of all these films is – and must be – that this sup- posedly unsinkable ship hit an iceberg than on its maiden voyage and more lost as a consequence. 1500 lives were elements in some recurring are There of this basic sce- the films’ treatment nario: the build-up to the appearance the inadequacy of the of the iceberg; deter lifeboats (their numbers absurdly capacity in cubic mined by the ship’s feet, not by numbers of passengers the ‘women-and-children-first’ mantra, the ‘women-and-children-first’ couples both old and newly married players still to be parted, card refusing at the table as the ship starts to sink, God, My playing ‘Nearer, the band’s to Thee’ as the ship goes down – and such touches. Underpinning many more at the idea of them all is the incredulity vulnerability to a the floating palace’s - - - A Night to to Night A , Jean Negulesco’s Negulesco’s Jean , Atlantic and James Cameron’s Cameron’s James and (1953), Baker’s Baker’s (1953), per wonder, to me led – (1997) Remember Watching/re-watching four of these films films these of four Watching/re-watching Dupont’s – Titanic Titanic effect the about originally, very not haps their on ending tragic known widely a of presumably It procedures. narrative keep to has filmmaker the that means matters, other in interest audience’s the the of possibility no is there that aware rescue the to coming cavalry’s maritime is outcome the that minute; last the at referring not I’m dreadful. inescapably that, films documentary purely to here of selection and arrangement through account authentic an at aiming are facts, fic to but chronicle, they events the of a as event real-life a take that films tion we tragedy classical In point. starting what by moved be to and expect to tend by than rather individuals befallen has surprising, not is It catastrophe. mass either tended have filmmakers that then, stories, personal on focus to or invent to captur of means a as relationships, on
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484848 enough staged, there is something curi- ously under-populated about the film at large. Its dramatic action seems, for much of its length, little more than a se- ries of discrete scenes, highlighting first this, then that couple or individual, and the effect is somewhat as if we were watching episodes from a play, with each of the ‘moments’ admittedly mak- ing its impact, but rather as if in a vacu- um. However, as the news of impending disaster spreads and the first intima- tions of fear are felt, the tension does grow, and Dupont’s direction acquires a mounting rhythm in which the personal and the huge power of the elements are caught in inescapable tandem. Charles Rosher’s camera, now favouring tilted and unexpected angles, moves inexo- rably to the extended montage that en- acts the mass panic that ushers in the film’s last third: the film cuts from the effort of lowering the boats to crowds of shouting crew and passengers, to women being dragged into the boats, close-ups intercut with overhead ‘plac- ing’ shots, and over this sharply edited fever of activity the band plays on.
The film looks somewhat creaky and stagy now but some of that staginess still pays off as characters stake their claims on our attention, both as individ- the hymn played as the ship sank9) but the time he came to direct 20th Century uals and as representatives of their also with the words of The Lord’s Prayer Fox’s version of the story.10 He is on classes. As the crew rush into the bar over the series of shots and fades of the record about the ‘tremendous technical near the end, one of them shouts, ‘We’re film’s last minutes, as the camera picks problems’ in making Titanic and as hav-
ever again would anyone be certain that wealth and name would be enough; rich man and humble Irish immigrant died Ntogether with degrees of heroism and cowardice that had nothing to do with the rigidly separated classes to which they belonged.
all one class now.’ Well, of course they out various groups, the crash of waves ing wanted to make it in colour.11 The are not, as plenty of subsequent behav- in the dark and, after a slow fade, the relationships at the centre of the film are iour would attest, but this issue of class long shot of the sky with a hint of sun developed more amply than those in
haunts all the films that draw on the about to appear from behind the clouds. either Atlantic or A Night to Remember, ISSUE 60 Titanic catastrophe. There is, however, and Negulesco commented that ‘since a quite potent sense of the end of an era the audience would be anticipating a
Titanic SCREEN EDUCATION about this version that is missing from catastrophic climax right from the begin- the Hollywood films.Atlantic ends on an Romanian-born Negulesco had been ning of the picture, I wanted to make the explicitly religious note: not merely the in Hollywood since the early 1930s and build-up, the preliminaries, as gay and band’s playing of ‘Nearer, My God, to had earned a reputation for turning out light as possible, without hints of dark- Thee’ (reputedly, but not conclusively, attractively glossy entertainments by ness’,12 a remark that overlaps my
49
Brian McFarlane ‘This ship’s unsinkable!’: the Titanic on film anic on film able!’: the Tit ‘This ship’s unsink - - A k c ve: ve: a o j h) in in h) b t A
site page page site which o
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ight to remember to ight o E ohn phillips (kenne phillips ohn bleak with loss and grief, the band’s bleak with loss and grief, the band’s My God, to Thee’, playing of ‘Nearer, the genuinely awe-inspiring shot of the by the bows’ ship sinking ‘hard great voice-over utter and Michael Rennie’s ing the appalling statistics of lives lost, this is a moving conclusion to an ac- count of a terrible event. would question the priority of children. of priority the question would film is not the great Titanic Negulesco’s but it does such a subject might call for, convey a persuasive sense of the luxuri- ous, beautiful ship and the build-up to its impending destruction. The compla- unsinkability and cency about the ship’s its capacity to deal with any damage an re- might inflict is caught in a iceberg markable and chilling shot of the ship and trying to pass the lethal iceberg contrasted with the horrifying detail of the shots of watertight doors shutting below and their potential for trapping humans frantically trying to escape. ‘Per The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: haps deferring to survivors’ susceptibili- climax admits of little ties, the film’s panic.’ j n t L the -
- - 13 - of
mounting
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power
arlane Brian McF huge
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the tandem. ichard Sturges’ moral reclamation as as reclamation moral Sturges’ ichard
nied by Norman, whom he accepts accepts he whom Norman, by nied that fact the despite son his as proudly repa the in card trump her playing Julia, otherwise. him told has game, triation various levels of the ship: those in third various levels of the ship: those in third uninhibited, a just a bit more class are unruly. bit more with concerned centrally more is film The of drama the in particularly personal, the R accompa death his to bravely goes he ent sorts of pleasure that obtain in ent sorts of pleasure al plots to suggest an overall sense of of mak- busyness, and in the interests cultural clash ing the US-European the viciousness of the replace largely film would that Baker’s class differences Vestiges of highlight five years later. felt only in the differ class matters are As if to strengthen our grasp of Sturges’ Sturges’ of grasp our strengthen to if As is he persona, trivial his of off sloughing Meeker ‘cowardly’ the with contrasted escape to tries who Joslyn), (Allyn inci recurring a woman, a as dressed of days these In films. these in dent woman-and- the equality, gender greater to open perhaps is axiom children-first one no presumably though question, and
direction
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upont’s the
uropean high life. Julia Sturges high life. Julia Sturges tantish European (played with a compelling sense of dis- satisfaction at the deal life has dealt her by Barbara Stanwyck) is decamping Norman (Harper with her two children, and Annette Carter), a young boy, a beautiful Dalton), already (Audrey aim is to get them young woman. Julia’s the shallow internationalaway from life by her estranged husband, favoured who has bribed (Clifton Webb), Richard a poor passenger for his ticket and his her father but Annette adores identity. falls for a handsome American college boy and, because this is a Hollywood film of the 1950s, a way must be found to keep them both alive at the end. (The Winslet-DiCaprio outcome forty-odd an option in years later was hardly of the film is in the 1953.) The strength marshalling of these (and other) person- comment above on how filmmakers deal deal filmmakers how on above comment outcome. tragic well-known a with The class commentary that informs the film discussed is less clearly previous some extent it is To here. foregrounded by a sense of conflict between replaced wholesome American values and dilet-
caught D
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505050 A Night to Remember Cameron’s film nearly forty years on. In to signify Baker’s concern for telling the Baker’s film, the documentary approach story with regard for the actuality. There In 1990, director Roy Ward Baker tends to play down the personal so that is, indeed, a title immediately after the claimed that ‘the whole purpose of mak- the film’s star emerges as the ship itself. film’s credits that reads: ‘The producers ing the film was to show a society which Baker’s producer was William MacQuit- gratefully acknowledge the assistance of had persuaded itself into a view that you ty, who, Baker recalls, was ‘emotionally Captain Grattridge, OBE, ex-commo- could make a ship which could never be involved because he is an Ulsterman dore of the Cunard Line, of Commander sunk’.15 He was also concerned that the and the ship was built in the Ulster ship- Boxhall, who was Fourth Officer of the hough there is little scope for extended performance, there are some vivid sketches of vanity, panic, courage, devotion, Tself-preservation – and more. film should be in the mode of drama- yards. He remembers being held in his Titanic, and of many survivors of the dis- documentary, and this intention places father’s arm, as a very small child, to see aster who recalled their personal experi- his film at several removes from the pre- the Titanic as it went down the river.’16 ences.’ No doubt this research helps to vious two discussed here, let alone from account for this film’s striking degree The screenplay by Eric Ambler, who had of realism, and producer MacQuitty de- written two previous Baker films (1947’s scribed Lord’s book as ‘the first full and The October Man and Highly Dangerous true account of the sinking of the Titan- from 1950), draws heavily on Walter ic, cross-checked and verified by its au- Lord’s book of the same name, not thor … over a period of twenty years’.18 merely for its factual recording of the events leading up to the ship’s destruc- My point in adducing this reliance on tion, but also in the detail of incidents such factual information is to draw and characters. For instance, there is a attention to the qualitative difference brief moment in which bellboys, in the between Baker’s film and the other ver-
disruption and mounting unease, are sions that made so much more melodra- ISSUE 60 ‘at ease – they seemed pleased that matic capital of the private lives of the nobody cared any longer whether they (largely) fictional characters. InA Night SCREEN EDUCATION smoked’ and elsewhere a passenger’s to Remember, personal lives are briefly hysterical protests: ‘I don’t want to go sketched: Second Officer Lightoller into the boat! I’ve never been in an open (Kenneth More, the only ‘name’ in the boat in my life.’17 These two details, film), the complacent aristocrats (Patrick chosen almost at random, are cited here Waddington and Harriette Johns) taking
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Brian McFarlane ‘This ship’s unsinkable!’: the Titanic on film anic on film able!’: the Tit ‘This ship’s unsink - - - Book Book
The entering entering as a clergyman clergyman a as in his ship’s log, log, ship’s his in and to a final title title final a to and SS California SS Titanic RMS Carpathia RMS of Common Prayer Common of in not was ‘sacrifice the suggests that precautions, ensuing of view in vain’ for ‘lifeboats of provision the especially it but done, enough soberly is This all’. to wanted Baker that suggest does some took viewer the that sure make disaster. the from positive thing reception at the The film had a mixed the which I haven’t time of release, by the ship’s band before it succumbs to to succumbs it before band ship’s the by the between Thee’, to God, My ‘Nearer, the and orderly be to attempts officers’ to trying are they those of panic mounting for scope little is there Though reassure. some are there performance, extended courage, panic, vanity, of sketches vivid more. and – self-preservation devotion, the that mind in keeps direction Baker’s there and character, central the is ship the through crashing water of images are of depths, lower its flooding hull, ship’s passen third-class of back holding the the of sinking the survivors the over panning camera the to board on of words the soundtrack the on repeats from Thanksgiving General the gers desperate to make their way to the the to way their make to desperate gers are boats inadequate the where decks the and funnel a of collapse the of held, verti almost liner great the of image final film this And sinks. finally it before cal not post-sinking: the to attention pays never about remark Lightoller’s to just to but again, anything about sure feeling the of captain the ------arlane story, is succinctly succinctly is story, Titanic Brian McF verybody up!’ in the corridors. corridors. the in up!’ verybody E does, but rather as a sober exposition that of a tragic event, and it is arguable in the most mov- results this approach first ing account to date. In the film’s contrast articulat- is ongoing there third, ed between the luxury and elegance of the first-class accommodation and the and these convivial knees-up in third, glimpses of the passengers’ lives are interspersed with shots of work on the and its operators, ship: the radio room the kitchens, the sailors the boiler room, Shots of Lightoller adjusting a on duty. photo of his wife and of an officer who to sleep has earned preparing rest his - encapsulate the personal and the pro life. fessional aspects of the ship’s lighted the of shots of beauty serene The series a to way gives night by sea at ship pas both for board on life of vignettes of im the of unaware all crew, and sengers of classes various the ways the tween knock Stewards treated. were passenger second- and first- the at deferentially alert, the sound to doors cabin class simply steerage in steward the while ‘ shouts minent disaster, and these are shattered shattered are these and disaster, minent the and bell ship’s the of ringing the by the When ahead’. straight ‘iceberg of cry establish film the breaks, news alarming be contrasts appalling) (and clear es as shocking the of one issue, class The way. terse this in raised potently but between too, contrasts other are There reac hysterical the and phlegmatic the played music cheery the between tions, pects of the the of pects - -
- alph Michael) and so on. These These on. so and Michael) alph R onald Allen) emerge, the gambler gambler the emerge, Allen) onald R a sense of their characters and back and characters their of sense a real film’s the is ship the but ground, (Lau Smith Captain Consequently, star. Thomas designer Naismith), rence White and Goodliffe) (Michael Andrews Ismay Bruce J. chairman Line Star screen more given are Lawton) (Frank maiden its in stake their establish to time cata its to responses their and voyage, differentiated. neatly are ending strophic Early attention is also paid to mundane matters like the checking of supplies and passenger lists: all this is no doubt intended to persuade us of the authen- to see. This is a ticity of what we are itself as a fiction film neither presenting as Atlantic does nor as a solidly crafted Titanic melodrama as Negulesco’s Yates ( Yates establish to moments few a given are leave of their servants, the bridal party party bridal the servants, their of leave Dixon (Jill couple young the which from and
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52 52 52 opposite page: james cameron’s tITANIC; rose and jack try to escape the rising waters left: chairman j. bruce ismay (frank lawton) escapes in A NIGHT TO REMEMBER below: steerage passangers locked below decks IN A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
Rose, who boards the ship with her so- cially aspirant mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) and caddish fiancé Cal (Billy Zane). The other star turn is provided by Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson who, in a card game, wins a ticket for the ship, which he boards with minutes to spare. Credibility is already under siege. The contrast between the luxuri- ous appointments of first class and the workaday facilities of third are briefly made and the class issue, so crucial to the whole catastrophe, is in general crudely articulated. Rose’s posh mother, on being introduced reluctantly to Jack, gives out with ‘Charmed I’m sure’, sug- gesting Cameron’s tin ear when it comes to nuances, as does her treatment of the ‘unsinkable’ Molly Brown (Kathy Bates),22 who represents ‘new money’ to Ruth. There are early shots of the engine room, whose design recalls Fritz Lang’s Me- space to deal with here. But, as two aggeration. The villain is a society (given tropolis (1926) and the brief glimpses of very good accounts of the critical re- an individual face perhaps in the person the boiler rooms look like something out sponses to the film, those of Geoff of the managing director of the White of Dante’s Inferno. Mayer and Jeffrey Richards, suggest, Star Line21) that has hubristically pre- the prevailing divide was between those sumed to have nature under its control; But all this is pretty perfunctorily done. who saw it as primarily an exercise in and the very name – Titanic – seems to This Titanic is not so much a film about ‘realism’ with ‘documentary’ aspirations epitomise just this kind of presumption. the great ship and its tragic destruction and those who considered it either as but a bloated, foolish romance between too likely to ‘descend’ into melodrama Titanic sulky, bored Rose, at odds with her as distinct from those who wished it upper-class connections, and free- had been bolder in this respect.19 Mayer James Cameron’s film (he is responsible spirited Jack, with Cal as a conventional is particularly interesting on the con- for the screenplay as well as direction) stage villain, sneering and leering his trasting elements of melodrama in this interrelates the recollections of the Titan- way through to a predictably venal dis- film and James Cameron’s, concluding ic’s voyge by 101-year-old survivor Rose that ‘the later film is shaped by the de- DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart) with the mands of Hollywood in this era of the present-day search by Brock Lovett’s blockbuster. Baker’s film, on the other (Bill Paxton) team for a famous diamond, hand, reflects the distinctive qualities of ‘le coeur de la mer’, in the sunken wreck the British cinema in the late 1950s, on the ocean floor. Lovett finds a sketch qualities that are characterised by of a young woman in a safe among the “good taste”, restraint and reticence, or wreckage; it is shown on television, and
what Jeffrey Richards calls “sober real- the old woman makes contact with him ISSUE 60 ism”’, but which Mayer sees as and begins her story with ‘It’s been belonging ‘to the tradition of the “modi- eighty-four years … ’ SCREEN EDUCATION fied melodrama” with its “well-made” qualities’.20 More than any of the other The film then cuts to the loading of peo- films, and without sensationalism, it un- ple and cars onto the ship, in the proc- derstands that the true story is horrific ess providing opportunity for a star enough not to need embroidery or ex- entrance from Kate Winslet as the young
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Brian McFarlane ‘This ship’s unsinkable!’: the Titanic on film anic on film able!’: the Tit ‘This ship’s unsink - -
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site page: site ER and and o n in in n C IGHT m pp EFT duction, shot in three languages’. three in shot duction, is this Titanic The one true thing about delivery old Rose’s the eloquence of the Gloria Stuart im- of her recollections. with the authority bues her brief scenes experience and her state- of a lifetime’s ment about the loss of life – ‘1500 went sank be- into the sea when the Titanic the saved from neath us. Only six were only mo- the film’s water’ – provides ments of genuine feeling. derive here discussed films four The production different markedly from circumstances. the of ‘one film, sound first Dupont’s time, its of productions expensive most pro multilingual ever first the also and Negulesco’s Negulesco’s all with system, studio efficient highly a implies. this that expertise and gloss the context a in belongs film 1958 Baker’s is and restraint, filmmaking British of of notions documentary with imbued that is context Cameron’s And realism. commercially (and expensive hugely of lucrative) the of sinking The of major significance. If filmmakers are filmmakers If significance. major of such to themselves address to going to right a have we least the matters, of seriousness proper a is expect dis films four the Among approach. only that arguable is it here, cussed happened what of terribleness the mine some with viewer the leaves rather, but, do. to work emotional the naming 1953 the licence; of elephantiasis cinematic the avoids serious Being job. 1997 Cameron’s as same the not is event an such about does it but portentous, and solemn being of point a proportion, of sense a require was what on seizes and knows that view event. the about important truly Night to Remember to Night under doesn’t restraint Its requirement. A N A OFFI hy o L in ship sinking - - -
- - - 23 ose and Jack Jack and ose arlane R reviewer seemed to to seemed reviewer will yearn for the movie it it movie the for yearn will Brian McF Titanic Titanic Sight & Sound Sound & Sight given enough scope to his overheated overheated his to scope enough given when imagination undernourished but com Just behaviour. human to comes it char to approach cartoon-like his pare vivifying of way Baker’s with acterisation succinct few a in crew and passengers of advantage the had he then, but, shots writer. actual an by screenplay a some predictably are there fair, be To of those as (such moments spectacular in breaking ship the falling, funnel the (the elements recurring some and two), third- and first- the how in difference the to summoned are passengers class My ‘Nearer, playing band the lifeboats; passengers steerage the Thee’; to God, reactions the grilles; locked at back held the to designer the and captain the of the justify can nothing but unthinkable), minutes) (194 length preposterous film’s which to uses disproportionate the and dis the to it of most put, is length this per star DiCaprio’s and Winslet of play sonas. The vapidity of the final shot, shot, final the of vapidity The sonas. revenant the when to class first in stairs the on appear those from ovation standing a receive the of characteristic is below, gathered that use (to processes thought film’s was, film the as Popular loosely). term the me to have a finger on the film’s pulse pulse film’s the on finger a have to me who everyone ‘Not wrote: she when sees but ambition, raw just than rather gence, with littered it find will do who those demon as well as opportunities missed spending.’ conspicuous of strations might have been had it been made by a by made been it had been have might intelli and imagination, with filmmaker - - – - - - any ose ose R ose with an axe, axe, an with ose R ose about to fling herself herself fling to about ose R ven when he is forced to to forced is he when ven E ose-Jack affair recalls any number of of number any recalls affair ose-Jack jumping overboard and clinging to a bit bit a to clinging and overboard jumping trying Cal bounderish the and debris of inade the into way his bribe and lie to fic the on concentration Its boats. quate improbable their and characters tional (e.g. antics creature tormented on, early overboard by safety to pulled be to only is, she that molest of accused is turn in who Jack, wonder you makes etc.) etc., her, ing to attention his turn didn’t Cameron why people real-life interesting the of some have wouldn’t that expect I board. on play when the ship hits the iceberg. The The iceberg. the hits ship the when play R in dramas and comedies Deal New out win love true of exigencies the which it that except class, of barriers the over the of films those than crasser much is ro a As 1930s. egalitarian would-be images preposterous of full is it mance, at about fool two the which in that like film’s the for posing if as prow, ship’s the ear- of is dialogue their and publicity, conven utterly all is It banality. searing the in outrageous then puerile, and tional pipe a to handcuffed up ends Jack way by rescued be to only on. going worth not is it But … then point this at say and clean come should I vulgar stupid, big, a is this think I that epic truly of disaster real a of trivialisation terrible this takes Cameron proportions. the of one with it overshadows and event in – recent in stories love dumbest cinema. this of sinking the that acknowledge loss consequent the and palace floating wants still he business, grim a was life of and Jack fictional on focus to us
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545454 Brian McFarlane is Adjunct Associate 8 Tim Bergfelder ‘Life Is a Variety McFarlane (ed.), Methuen/BFI, Professor at Monash University. His most Theatre: E.A. Dupont’s Career in London, 1977, p.51. recent book is The British ‘B’ Movie, German and British Cinema’, in 16 ibid. co-authored with Steve Chibnall. The Destination London: German- 17 Lord, op. cit., pp.76, 55. fourth edition of his Encyclopedia of British speaking Emigrés and British Cin- 18 William MacQuitty, A Life to Film will be published later this year. • ema, 1925–1950, Tim Bergfelder & Remember, Quartet Books, Lon- Christian Cargnelli (eds), Berghan don, 1991, p.322. Endnotes Books, New York & Oxford, 2008, 19 Geoff Mayer, Roy Ward Baker, 1 Noël Coward, Cavalcade, Part II, p.32. Manchester University Press, Man- Scene 5, in Play Parade, Heine- 9 Lord, op. cit., p.81. chester, 2004, pp.78–91; Jeffrey mann, London, 1934, p.54. 10 There had been a German film also Richards, A Night to Remember: 2 For a profusely illustrated guide to called Titanic made in 1941 and The Defininitive ‘Titanic’ Film, I.B. the exhibition, see Judith B. Geller, released two years later, but not in Tauris, London, 2003. Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition, Britain as it was banned by the 20 Mayer, op. cit., pp.91, 90 published by RMS Titanic, Inc., Allied High Command. 21 Baker calls him ‘the villain of the Atlanta, 2001 (latest reprint 2009). 11 ‘Jean Negulesco’ in The Celluloid piece’ in a 1994 interview, in 3 For titles, see
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Brian McFarlane ‘This ship’s unsinkable!’: the Titanic on film