Gloria Stuart's role makes the film what it is !

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 1999)

Director James Cameron reportedly said he wanted a Hollywood veteran to play the role of Old Rose, whose character is aged 102 and a still-living survivor of the Titanic at the time of an undersea search. And a veteran he found in Gloria Stuart, Hollywood star of the 1930s and 1940s, and 87 years of age when the film was shot. Old Rose slowly tells her story and spins her way into the hearts of millions on every continent where this film has played. Eleven Oscars this film took home among fourteen nominations garnered (and most were deserved), but the greatest among the three missing statues on Oscar night was Gloria Stuart's. Without her this film was an f/x extravaganza with a serious lack of credibility. Di Caprio and Winslet simply aren't Clark Gable & Vivian Leigh and probably won't grow up to approach anywhere even close to the likes of them, either. Nevertheless, Cameron wanted a film that the world would remember and he got one -- that ship was as real as anything yet created out of thin air. Loudest applause for him and the massive crew that made this film possible, and for Gloria Stuart who made the story credible. Top rating (5 stars of 5) !