Screen Directors Playhouse: The Titanic Incident (1955)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Disappointing entry in the TV series has card sharks Mrs. Owen (Barbara Morrison) and Paul Bernard (Leo Genn) trying to pull one over on a British gentleman (Phillip Reed) but things take a turn for the worse when their ship, the Titanic, hits an iceberg and it turns out that only two of the three are going to be able to get on a lifeboat. The story makes this thing sound far more exciting than it actually is and if you're a fan of stuff dealing with the Titanic then it's best you just skip this movie because its just bound to disappoint. I think the biggest problem is the actual story and all the stuff that happens to the three characters leading up to the sinking of the ship. We've seen this type of story countless times where the crooked woman falls in love with the good man and has second thoughts about ripping him off. This was a staple of countless "B" movies in the 30s and 40s and the material just comes off really lame here and it never manages to build up any drama. When the Titanic starts to sink I think most are going to recognize most of the footage from earlier movies. This old footage also doesn't fit it too well with the current stuff as there are countless problems including the fact that it's clear the actors aren't "cold" or in cold weather. Another problem is that the three leads just aren't all that interesting but I'm going to say that the majority of this issue could be blamed on the screenplay. Director Ted Tetzlaff can't manage to build up any drama and in the end the viewer is just left watching this thing hoping that it eventually picks up steam but sadly it never does.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Disappointing entry in the TV series has card sharks Mrs. Owen (Barbara Morrison) and Paul Bernard (Leo Genn) trying to pull one over on a British gentleman (Phillip Reed) but things take a turn for the worse when their ship, the Titanic, hits an iceberg and it turns out that only two of the three are going to be able to get on a lifeboat. The story makes this thing sound far more exciting than it actually is and if you're a fan of stuff dealing with the Titanic then it's best you just skip this movie because its just bound to disappoint. I think the biggest problem is the actual story and all the stuff that happens to the three characters leading up to the sinking of the ship. We've seen this type of story countless times where the crooked woman falls in love with the good man and has second thoughts about ripping him off. This was a staple of countless "B" movies in the 30s and 40s and the material just comes off really lame here and it never manages to build up any drama. When the Titanic starts to sink I think most are going to recognize most of the footage from earlier movies. This old footage also doesn't fit it too well with the current stuff as there are countless problems including the fact that it's clear the actors aren't "cold" or in cold weather. Another problem is that the three leads just aren't all that interesting but I'm going to say that the majority of this issue could be blamed on the screenplay. Director Ted Tetzlaff can't manage to build up any drama and in the end the viewer is just left watching this thing hoping that it eventually picks up steam but sadly it never does.
