Evening star., 1953-05-21

Rouge Wn1cn occupied the PaIt
Virtually the full resources Of
20th Century-Fox studio have
gone into the exciting, documen-
tary-looking Titanic" It fairly
bristles with stars, among them
Clifton Webb, Barbara Stan
wyck and Brian Aherne. Its
story apparently misses no vital
detail of a catastrophe that
stunned the civilized world. That
It does 80 Is deemed. unobjec-
tionably, to justify the addition
Of q few that are not part Of
the record.
The Aim produced and CO.
written by Charles Bracket,
and directed by Jean Negulesco,
makes vividly clear why the
Titanic disaster has captured
and held mankind'S imagination.
It contains the quintessence Of
drama.
The Titanic was the largest,
most luxurious, and apparently
safest of ocean liners. The rich
and celebrated of two continents
Wed for the honor of being
aboard on her maiden voyage
from Cherbourg to. New York.
Hundreds of them made it, put
ting 2,229 including crew and
steerage passengers, aboard. The
ship was on a record run and
the whole world was watching.
Then, as she neared the Grand
Banks on April IL. 1912, the
Titanic's bottom was ripped
out Of her by q submerged ice
berg.
Her vaunted safety proved q
myth when she sank with 1,617
passengers and crew members
still aboard while her band
blared, and the dying sang,
"Nearer My God to Thee"
This is the mere skeleton Of
the unforgettable story. On 1t
producer Bracket and his as
sociates have superimpoSed dra-
matte touches calculated to show
how the Titanic's passengers be-
haved in their hour Of crisis.
The burden Of this latter falls
upon a flred-up pair in Webb
and Miss Stanwyck. They play
the Richard Sturgeses, husband
and wife, and the parents Of two
children. One Of these Is a
beautiful debutante daughter.
the other q son turning into his
teens.
The Sturges family's voyage
begins on a bitter note. He, an
international socialite, is deter
mined his children shall grow up
In the continents most fashion,
able circles. She. q Michigan
girl weary Of the Biarritz set,
is determined to take them back
to the clean, democratic air OF
her native State.
The raging of this ariStocratic
family feud is not allowed to
dominate the Titanic'S story.
The SturgeseS are icily polite
most Of the time, capable Of
mingling graciously with the
John Jacob Astors, the Strausses,
and other celebrities aboard.
With the others, they are inter-
ested in discovering the Titanic,
her luxurious shops, her lavish
play facilities, her regal dining
salons. They keep up daily with
the progress Of the proudest ship
Of her time.
Thus, If it is the story Of the
Sturgeses that Is to pinpoint the
human drama Of the Titanic
tragedy, 1t is also the one that
creates the sense Of what 1t
meant to be aboard so luxurious
q ship.
The human drama, Of course,
Is that which inhereS in the dis
covery Of the feuding couple in
their hour Of separation. and his
gallant death, that they love
each other.
\ \ X i
Negulesco'S direction OF I'll
tanic" Is artfully aimed at CIV
ing the screenplay a documen-
tary realism. In the main it Is
successful In that the suspense
is maintained in spite Of the fact
that every one knows the story's
ending. There is a feeling
throughout the long f1lm that
this is how it was on the
one Of mankind's voyages that
started most hopefully and ended
most disastrouSly.
Webb in felicitouS role gives
one of his best screen perform
ances in Titanic" the evolu-
ton of a rich playboy into a
penIIine1v heroic human. AS his