The first Hollywood telling of events of that cold clear night back in April 1912 and it chooses do so with a family drama as the lead, which actually thanks to strong scripting and superb leads works remarkably well.
Fair enough there is little in the way of historical accuracy, skip to 'A Night To Remember' for that, but the 'human side' is handled brilliantly. Most of the main characters are completely fictional, even more so than 1997's Titanic, but this is a good thing in that you're not putting words or actions into the mouths of real people.
The family at the centre of the story are the result are being torn apart, not least by certain major revelations, but as the ship goes down disaster at least brings redemption and forgiveness.
Whereas the 1997 movie has the stunning effects, the 'event' feeling, few would say it was well scripted or acted, and rightly so. This 1953 effort however is packed with underrated actors excelling with strong material.
Not least the leads Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck, Webb delivers an infectious discerning charm. Credit to must go to the drunken priest played by Richard Baseheart (his last line is my summary) and Brian Aherne's captain is a believably honourable if ultimately responsible captain. As the young 'love interest' couple Robert Wagner and Audrey Dalton are more believable and wholly less irritating than 1997's Jack and Rose.
Many mentions have already been made about the father and son ending, and they're right, it is genuinely moving, the son clearly worships his father like a hero and makes the brave gesture of giving up his seat on a boat to 'make a swim for it' Enough to make any father proud.
It's clear to me as a longtime (pre 1997) Titanic fan that if you want the best film re tellings of this story, you are best off with the two films of the 1950s.
Fair enough there is little in the way of historical accuracy, skip to 'A Night To Remember' for that, but the 'human side' is handled brilliantly. Most of the main characters are completely fictional, even more so than 1997's Titanic, but this is a good thing in that you're not putting words or actions into the mouths of real people.
The family at the centre of the story are the result are being torn apart, not least by certain major revelations, but as the ship goes down disaster at least brings redemption and forgiveness.
Whereas the 1997 movie has the stunning effects, the 'event' feeling, few would say it was well scripted or acted, and rightly so. This 1953 effort however is packed with underrated actors excelling with strong material.
Not least the leads Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck, Webb delivers an infectious discerning charm. Credit to must go to the drunken priest played by Richard Baseheart (his last line is my summary) and Brian Aherne's captain is a believably honourable if ultimately responsible captain. As the young 'love interest' couple Robert Wagner and Audrey Dalton are more believable and wholly less irritating than 1997's Jack and Rose.
Many mentions have already been made about the father and son ending, and they're right, it is genuinely moving, the son clearly worships his father like a hero and makes the brave gesture of giving up his seat on a boat to 'make a swim for it' Enough to make any father proud.
It's clear to me as a longtime (pre 1997) Titanic fan that if you want the best film re tellings of this story, you are best off with the two films of the 1950s.