Classic Hollywood spin on a now-familiar tale

Titanic (1953)

Starring: Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, Thelma Ritter, Audrey Dalton, and Brian Aherne

Writers: Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen

Director: Jean Negulesco

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Julia Sturges (Stanwyck) is determined to bring her family back to America and out of Britain, which she feels is superficial.  Her husband Richard (Webb) learns of the plan and purchases a steerage ticket; but "the usual," combined with a zealous captain, may jeopardize all this.

Films about the Titanic were made back to 1912 itself, but the earliest that is not ultra-obscure (560-odd votes in 14.25 years at IMDb) dates from 1943.  This version, made ten years down the road, is a sufficiently nice movie for those who don't watch many classic movies.  It was made with a then-very high budget of $1.805 million and was reportedly a smash hit at the box office.  "TITANIC," read the PR, "in Emotion…in Spectacle…in Climax…in Cast!"

Then again, The Conqueror, a fictionalized epic in which John Wayne played Genghis Khan, was advertised as the best movie ever made, and it's usually considered a turkey.  This Titanic, despite being obviously much better, is not quite all the advertising cracked it up to be.

It rates 7.1/10 among users at IMDb, but it has not yet been mentioned on a list collected by TSPDT for their annually-updated 1,000 Greatest Films project.  Yet Manos: The Hands of Fate has been mentioned once, probably by some schizophreniac, on a ballot; and if it can make their Starting List, then absolutely anything can.  This film won an Oscar for Best Story and Screenplay (it was a single award back then), and was nominated for best art direction in a black-and-white film.  Could Manos have done the same?

Barbara Stanwyck was known as the "best actress never to win an Oscar"—although she was nominated for Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, and Sorry, Wrong Number—but in fact she won an honorary award in 1982.  She plays Julia with enough flair to get by, as do the rest of the cast.

Usually the term "forgettable" has a strongly negative connotation, but this film is a few steps above average and it certainly is.  It uses a concise 98 minutes to its fullest advantage.

NOTE: This version's original title was Nearer My God to Thee, and the song plays at the end of the movie.  I forgot to mention last night that I am expanding my collection of uplifting death songs and will use the version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.