Sadly Over-hyped

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I remember first seeing this film on "Saturday Night At The Movies" on NBC. I enjoyed it then, and still enjoy it today. I don't really try to compare this and the Leonardo DiCaprio version...too many years in between and a different approach to the story, but I like them pretty equally.I am reviewing this film based on the recent Blu Ray edition. Sometimes it is very obvious that a Blu Ray edition of an old film is a significant improvement, this time it is not. That is not to say that it isn't a good transfer. There's little to complain about in this edition in terms of clear picture, other than a bit of graininess that may just be a result of 63 years.First off, this film is not about the Titanic. The Titanic is the setting. The story is actually about one family that is disintegrating, and their final act happens to occur on the ill-fated journey. The warring man and wife are Clifton Webb, in what is probably his finest role, and Barbara Stanwyck, in perhaps her best later role. The dialogue between two is about the best you'll find of a man and wife at war; top notch writing and delivered with real sting. The daughter is siding with the father and is quite bitter toward the mother. The younger son is left adrift by the father when he learns that he is not the father.Robert Wagner plays a young college man with romantic attention toward Webb's daughter...not unlike Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the later film...though here their romance is secondary to the failing marriage of the parents.Audrey Dalton plays Webb's daughter and is quite unpleasant about it. Harper Carter (still living as of this writing) is quite good as the young son.Filling out the cast is the wonderful Thelma Ritter, here -- I'm assuming -- representing the real Molly Brown, though named Maude Young in this story. Brian Aherne is the Titanic's captain. Richard Basehart has a very good role as a defrocked priest who is an alcoholic. Allyn Joslyn -- more often a very good comic actor -- plays an average guy who tries to latch on to the rich passengers on the ship, and turns out to be the coward on board.I have noticed in a couple of posts that reviewers said that the special effects were poor. Come on folks...this was made in 1953. For that era, the scenes here are darned good. There is one spot -- when the son is trying to find his father after the Titanic begins to list -- where it's obviously just a drastically tilted camera, because people are walking and climbing and descending stairs too normally. Ah well.I've actually watched this "Titanic" more often than the Leonardo DiCaprio film. I don't try to compare them. They're both excellent in different ways.

In the cruel month of April 1912, the luxurious "Titanic" has begun its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Movie viewers of all generations will know how it ends. For this story, the focus is on one particular family - headed by wealthy husband Clifton Webb (as Richard Ward Sturges) and his exceptionally well-dressed wife Barbara Stanwyck (as Julia). Unfortunately, their marriage is on the rocks. Aboard ship, the pair battle over who will win custody of young son Harper Carter (as Norman) and pretty daughter Audrey Dalton (as Annette). He is ready for long pants and she is ready for romance...The main supporting passenger is exceptionally handsome Robert Wagner (as Gifford "Giff" Rogers). He appropriately performs "Oh! That Navajo Rag", a contemporary hit song. Others characters of note include alcoholic priest Richard Basehart (as George Healey) and the unsinkable Thelma Ritter (as Maude Young). Producer Charles Brackett, who won an "Oscar" as co-writer, corralled a fine team for this version. While falling a little short of "A Night to Remember" (1958), "Titanic" (1953) hits all cylinders successfully and remains a fine example of Hollywood-produced product from the 1950s.******** Titanic (4/11/53) Jean Negulesco ~ Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, Richard Basehart

Whenever the subject of movies regarding the sinking of the Titanic comes around, it seems that this movie gets little to no discussion. Why has this Titanic movie been all but forgotten? Well, probably because it's for the most part a mediocre enterprise. There are some good things about it. Some of the sets and special effects are pretty good (though some floating ice is clearly Styrofoam). The acting is acceptable. It runs a lean ninety-eight minutes. However, two-thirds of that running time is spent on stuff BEFORE the ship actually hits the iceberg. The movie then rushes its way through to the end, which is EXTREMELY rushed. The main problem I had was with the human drama. While the opening of the movie states that they took care to accurately recreate the crew's actions and words, the parts of the movie concerning the passengers is clichéd and very familiar. This is not a terrible movie, but as I said, it's pretty mediocre. For a more interesting Titanic movie, watch instead "A Night To Remember" or even the Titanic movie the Nazis made during World War II.

The special effects are lacking compared to the superior, more finely detailed A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, but it's the snappy dialogue and superb performances by Stanwyck, Webb and Thelma Ritter that keep this soap- opera-at-sea afloat. Story-wise, it's superior to James Cameron's version. Stanwyck is Julia Sturges, a socialite wife on the lam from her controlling husband Richard, played to prissy perfection by Clifton Webb. She has decided to take their children, Annette and Norman (the Liz Taylor clone Audrey Dalton and an uncredited Harper Carter) back to America, as she has grown weary of the international social circuit she has married into. Richard follows her, but can only get a third class ticket (one of the films many inaccuracies), and sneaks into first class to force Julia's hand and bring his family back to Europe, where he can hopefully marry his daughter off to a titled nobleman. He manages to convince his daughter to return with him once the ship docks in New York, but before he can do the same with his son, Julia has a "high trump" that she plays to chilling effect, that will change all of their lives forever. Of course, the ship sinks before the chips can fall, but I like how the tension builds toward that moment in their cabin before they head down to the captain's table for dinner. Stanwyck plays it for all that its worth as only she can – bitter, world-weary and sad. Thelma Ritter is Maud Young, a character clearly based on the real-life Molly Brown who sailed onboard the real ship. She's a loud, brassy, slightly vulgar delight as she challenges the male passengers to a marathon poker game that only ends when the ship makes that infamous rendezvous with a certain iceberg. Also sailing with them is Robert Wagner as Giff Rogers, a healthy corn-fed All-American college student who falls for Annette. Brian Aherne is a rather dapper Captain Smith, Edmund Purdom (a Fox contract player best known for THE Egyptian) is the Second Officer Lightoller. Director Jean Negulesco maintains a proper amount of drama, humor and tension, but the screenplay by Frances Hackett and Albert Goodrich, despite its snarky dialogue, plays fast and loose with the facts of the disaster in the name of those aforementioned elements.