Titanic miniseries

Well, I was really looking forward to watching the first part of the new Julian Fellowes' Titanic miniseries this evening, and then my mom calls to clue me in to the sad reality that in my market the miniseries has been pre-empted by a fundraiser telecast. GRRR. The likelihood of me staying up until 1:00am to watch this and make it to church tomorrow is very, very slim, so I'll just wait for my pre-ordered DVD to arrive.



So for anyone who doesn't have the broadcast pre-empted by a fundraiser, please letme know how you enjoy it!

A Night to Remember

Five years after the less than authentic but unarguably heartfelt Barbara Stanwyck/Clifton Webb Titanic film graced movie theater screens, the story of the doomed ocean liner returned to theaters in A Night to Remember -- a straightforward and relatively frank appraisal of the sinking, based on the non-fiction work of the same name by Walter Lord. Now it has been YEARS since I've seen this film, but as I mentioned earlier with the 100th anniversary of the sinking fast approaching I wanted to take the time to revisit some of cinema's classic portrayals of Titanic. I feel as though I was able to approach this film with relatively fresh eyes since it has been years since I've seen it, so the particulars of this film were rather hazy in my memory. But I couldn't have asked for better timing -- having just finished the Walter Lord book for the first time, to watch this film immediately following made for a powerful, immersive Titanic experience.

From the opening frames, the first thing that struck me about this film is its air of authenticity when compared to the 1953 Titanic. Unlike many (most?) films from this era, A Night to Remember has an almost documentary-style feel, with an astonishing attention to detail. This is a film that has stood the test of time and holds up brilliantly today, its understated grace lending it an unparalleled air of authenticity and realism. It is almost a beat-for-beat, word-for-word visual realization of the book. Of course it has the limitations of 1950s special effects at its disposal, but focusing on "just the facts" and foregoing the temptation to embellish the film with fictionalized characters/occurrences, A Night to Remember stands apart as an unmatched visual document of the sinking, an authority lended credence by the knowledge that the reminiscences of so many survivors were available, lending their invaluable perspective to Lord's book and the subsequent film.

A Night to Remember doesn't spend a lot of time establishing its core cast, instead briefly introducing major players such as Chairman of the White Star Line J. Bruce Ismay (Frank Lawton), builder Thomas Andrews (Michael Goodliffe), and Captain Smith (Laurence Naismith). While there is no "star" couple focus with which to romanticize the storyline and "hook" viewers, Second Officer Herbert Lightoller (Kenneth More) stands the closest to the role of a central star. Lightoller was the seniormost officer to survive the sinking, and his actions as documented in Lord's book and this film are nothing short of astounding, and More's performance a revelation. Lightoller's position in the ship is unique in that it is a window into both the crew and passengers' experiences, since as an officer Lightoller could walk in both worlds -- and he was a critical player in the dispatching of the lifeboats after the collision.

Anchored by More's performance as the workmanlike, competent Lightoller, the entire film does an excellent job resisting the temptation to succumb to melodrama. Performances are excellent across the board, extremely honest, never giving in to the temptation to idealize (or, conversely villainize) individuals. This is a film that showcases both the admirable, best and bravest tendencies in mankind as well as those painful moments of "mob mentality" or cowardice. My favorite scenes evoke the genuine pathos of the moment without resorting to hysterics -- the moment when a father sees his wife and children into a lifeboat, and he and his wife exchange a final look knowing this will be their last, but refusing to speak of it. The moment just before the sinking when an elderly steward attempts to comfort a lost child with promises to find his mother, knowing they are about to plunge into icy waters. The moment when the members of the band silently acknowledge the futility of attempting to escape the sinking ship, instead regrouping and playing "Nearer My God to Thee." Taken as a whole the unvarnished honesty of the performances is just one of the factors that make A Night to Remember an unforgettable, classic document of the disaster.

Before closing there are a handful cast appearances I must point out. Honor Blackman, better known today as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, turns in a stellar performance as the wife and mother of the aforementioned gentleman who bids his family a heart-rending farewell at the lifeboats. Kenneth Griffith as wireless operator Jack Phillips gives a moving performance when he allows you to see the slowly dawning, horrific realization that perhaps his frustration with relaying useless personal telegrams blocked or slowed knowledge of the dangerous ice facing the Titanic. He's supported by David McCallum in one of his earlier film appearances as assistant wireless operator Harold McBride (McCallum best known for his roles in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS).

In the last week I've delved rather heavily into Titanic-related material, and the thing that strikes me the most -- and that this film drives home really well -- is the sense of unreality about it all, the disconnect between the impact of the iceberg and the initial complacency of so many of the passengers. Even the (lack of a) response by the nearby Californian -- all underscore the fact that in 1912 a disaster of this magnitude, occurring with THIS ship, was absolutely unheard of, completely unfathomable. Taken together, both the book and film versions of A Night to Remember document not only the disaster of the sinking and the horrifying, needless loss of life, but the beginning of the end of an era, a devastating crack in mankind's general confidence in themselves and their accomplishments. May carefully crafted works like this serve to ever remind us of our past, remind us of the best mankind is capable of when the unthinkable strikes, but perhaps most of all remind us in this very uncertain world remind us where true security lies -- the truth of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee," may  it be ever so.

Review: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

A Night to Remember
By: Walter Lord
Publisher: Owl Books
ISBN: 0-8050-7764-2

About the book:

First published in 1955, A Night to Remember remains the definitive, classic tale of the sinking of the Titanic. Walter Lord interviewed more than sixty survivors before committing their searingly vivid recollections to his minute-by-minute account of the Titanic's fatal collision and the experiences of both passengers and cew under pressure of the unthinkable: the swift plummet into icy waters of the ship promised never to sink.

With a new introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick, bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory, this fiftieth-anniversary edition of Walter Lord's classic brings the drama of that night back to life. As Philbrick concludes in his introduction: "From first to last, A Night to Remember is about the people who briefly inhabited the Titanic, and never again will an author have the opportunity to speak to so many of them. In this most essential way, Lord's book can never be outdone, making A Night to Remember the ultimate survivor's tale."

Review:

I cannot believe it's taken the impending 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic to compel me to finally delve into Walter Lord's 1955 recounting of the great ship's final hours, A Night to Remember. As detailed in the foreward to the fiftieth anniversary reissue, Lord possessed a lifelong, enduring fascination with the doomed Titanic, perhaps born out of a childhood trip on her sistership Olympia. Irregardless of the origin, Lord's passion for the subject shines in this slim volume's tightly-plotted recreation of the ship's final hours and the sinking's aftermath. Lord was in the unique and enviable position of being able to interview over sixty survivors of the sinking for his book, which he then incorporated into a blow-by-blow recreation of every moment -- from the collision with the iceberg to the Carpathia's rescue of less than a third of the Titanic's total passenger list. Lord's brisk, documentary style makes you feel as if you're watching a film of events unfold, lending the gradually dawning realization of the enormity of the danger facing the ship a depth and intensity that makes this an absolute page-turner.

As Lord comments in his acknowledgements, A Night to Remember "is really about the last night of a small town" -- and by extension the beginning of the end for an entire way of life. I confess that while I've always been susceptible to the "Titanic mystique" I never really thought about the socio-economic repercussions of the tragedy. From the massively wealthy movers & shakers (i.e. John Jacob Astor IV) to the poorest immigrants in Third Class, Lord lays out a convincing argument that the Titanic was the "last stand of wealth and society in the center of public affection" -- to wit, the loss of that class's exclusivity on privilege and relative immunity to bad press. A whole way of life, the close-knit culture of the First Class passengers, an air of civility and chivalry, all of that vanished on that icy night in April, rocking the world to its core and paving the way for the unsettled political and socially charged atmosphere of the 20th century.

This is an even-handed, balanced presentation of the events of April 14, 1912 and its aftermath. Lord manages to present what I feel is a relatively unvarnished view of events, but tells them in such a compelling manner that one never loses sight of the horror and human toll of that fateful day. A Night to Remember is not only an extraordinary document of the ship and her time, but of the best and worst that mankind is capable of, and of the dangers of letting the legend eclipse the great human toll of that night, and of what we can perhaps learn today from the ordinary men and women on that voyage who found themselves called to do extraordinary things.

Titanic (1953)

With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic rapidly approaching, I wanted to take the opportunity to revisit the history of that unfathomable disaster and some of the films inspired by it. Particularly the "other" Titanic films, beginning with the 1953 classic Titanic starring Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. While this film lacks the gloss, spectacle, and budget of its more famous 1997 counterpart, actually I prefer it. Yes, it lacks the more impressive special effects and spectacle of the James Cameron film, and one can take issue with various historical liberties (particularly common in Hollywood's "Golden Age"). But I think at least one of the many reasons a general public fascination with the Titanic has endured is that it is in many ways a cross-section of humanity. On that ill-fated liner were some of the richest and most privileged individuals in the world (i.e. John Jacob Astor) alongside the poorest of immigrants, and in the face of that iceberg all men and women were equalized. And that is the greatest strength of this 1953 classic -- bringing a human face to the tragedy.

At the centerpiece of this film (which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) is the strained relationship between Julia Sturges (Barbara Stanwyck) and her husband Richard (Clifton Webb). As the film opens Julia is fleeing her society-obsessed husband with her two children, Annette (Audrey Dalton) and Norman (Harper Carter) for a more humble, grounded life in her home state of Michigan. She almost makes a clean "getaway," if you will, but Richard foils her plans by purchasing a steerage passenger's ticket and coming aboard. Webb and Stanwyck are two of classic Hollywood's brightest stars, and they positively shine in their roles as the estranged couple. The tension and genuine sense of heartbreak in their scenes -- particularly evident in Stanwyck's expressions (Webb is much more stoic), as she throws herself whole-heartedly into the role of Julia -- is practically palpable. The emotion and the history and the heart-wrenching sense of lost opportunity between these two characters makes their road toward the film's inevitable conclusion -- the sinking -- that much more wrenching, driving home the human toll of the tragedy in a brilliant, heartfelt fashion.

There's a youthful love story here as well, one that crosses class boundaries and foreshadows the changing and loosening societal standards and norms of the still-young 20th-century. Annette Sturges is a daughter of privileged, raised (in particular by her father) with an eye to making a brilliant marriage. In only his tenth film appearance, a very youthful Robert Wagner plays the very middle-class Gifford Rogers, a Purdue student who determines to pursue an acquaintance with the lovely Annette despite her initial disdain of his distinct lack of antecedents. Their budding romance is a joy to watch, principally because one cannot help but like the energetic and determined Giff. And while some may argue Giff's eventual survival is contrived (he falls from the Titanic while attempting to cut a lifeboat free & is subsequently rescued), personally I like the fact that the sweet Giff and Annette romance has a chance of surviving post-sinking.

One of the biggest sticking points between Julia and Richard is her view of his general uselessness outside of transient social obligations. The biggest blow to Richard prior to the sinking isn't the dissolution of his marriage -- it's the discovery that his beloved son, the "prize" who will carry on his name, is actually the product of an affair. Norman idolizes his father, and seeing Richard shut the child is an extraordinarily painful moment. However, when it becomes clear that the ship is going down and that many will not survive thanks to an appalling lack of lifeboats, Richard steps up in an extraodinary fashion. In large part the reason this film works so well for me is the character of Richard and his actions during the ship's final moments. Watching Richard realize that family, not social trappings, are the only things that matter is just one way in which this film serves as a powerful reminder of the best that humanity is capable of in the worst of times. And I defy you not to shed a tear during Richard and Norman's final moments. That, people, is why Clifton Webb is a classic.

I can't go without mentioning Thelma Ritter's performance as Maude Young, her character one of the nouveau riche who is Margaret Brown (the "unsinkable Molly Brown") in all but name. Her no-nonsense, unflappable attitude towards, well, everything and everyone is an absolute joy to watch. She takes a particular interest in George Healey (Richard Baseheart) a former priest suspended for his reliance on alcohol. Healey is an absolutely heart-breaking character, completely lost and without purpose until during the sinking he resolves to try and rescue crewmen trapped in the engine room. Both Healey and Richard become unexpectedly heroic during the sinking, providing two of the film's best performances.

Clocking in at a relatively short ninety-eight minutes, Titanic is a well-paced, smartly executed film that holds up extraordinarily well over fifty years after its release. This is not a big, glossy epic by today's standards -- and even by the standards of Hollywood's classic era this film feels remarkably understated. By focusing on the Sturges and a handful of other passengers for the first half of the film, this becomes a remarkably intimate viewing experience -- so by the time of the collison and sinking, we as viewers are well-invested in the lives of this handful of players caught up in a horror beyond their imagination.

I found this quote by Stanwyck, on filming the scenes where the lucky passengers to acquire spots in lifeboats flee the doomed liner --

"It was bitter cold. I was 47 feet up in the air in a lifeboat...the water below was agitated. We were re-creating an actual tragedy and I burst into tears. I shook with great racking sobs and couldn't stop."

That sense of responsibility, if you will, towards the material and the history is glaringly apparent in Stanwyck's performance. Leaving the lifeboat this is a woman eviscerated. It is a brilliant showcase for Stanwyck's considerable acting talent and a testimony to the enduring power of a little film with a lot of heart. Worthwhile viewing, especially as we approach the 100th anniversary of that infamous weekend in April that saw the loss of so many lives.

Titanic miniseries update!

The Julian Fellowes-penned Titanic miniseries has been given a US air date! Parts one through three will air on Saturday, April 14th, followed by part four on Sunday, April 15th. (The three hour Saturday installment is going to be intense, I'm sure!) Thanks to Kaye for the heads up about broadcast dates. Here's a new trailer:

Titanic 2012

A few days ago the trailer for Julian Fellowes's (the genius behind Downton Abbey) Titanic miniseries surfaced online. The release coincides with the upcoming 100th anniversary of that tragic event. Here's a bit of info from ITV's website:

Oscar® award-winning writer Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park; Downton Abbey) and a stellar cast lead by Linus Roach (Law and Order UK; Batman Begins) and Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter; Survivor) collaborate in a spectacular retelling of the epic disaster.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the tragedy which continues to captivate the world’s imagination, Titanic follows four separate, yet intertwined, narratives building to a dramatic climax. With different lives united by a single horrifying event, the stories elegantly illustrate the contrast from the finery and opulence of first class passengers to the behind the scenes work and toil of the underprivileged. As the story unfolds, we gain a captivating insight into the world of 1912 and the tragic events leading up to their icy deaths. Produced by multiple BAFTA award-winning Nigel Stafford-Clark, Titanic is the global television event of 2012.

And here's the trailer: