Hollywood’s Best Titanic Movies

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On the night of April 14, 1912, White Star Lines’ RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Two hours and forty minutes later, the Titanic slipped beneath the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, claiming the lives of 1,517 crew and passengers.

The sinking of RMS Titanic was later dramatized in film, television and on stage. The first movie came right on the heels of the disaster in 1912 via a 10-minute “newsreel” that featured shots of the Titanic’s sister ship Olympic. The dramatizations later got better – sort of – with these five Titanic theatrical films rating the best.

1. Titanic (Paramount, 1997)

Budgeted at a whopping $200 million, Paramount Pictures’ Titanic made a huge splash in 1997. James Cameron produced, wrote and directed this seagoing monstrosity, with Leonardo DiCaprio (Jack Dawson), Kate Winslet (Rose DeWitt Bukater), Billy Zane (Cal Hockley), Kathy Bates (Molly Brown), Frances Fisher (Ruth DeWitt Bukater), Gloria Stuart (Old Rose) and Bill Paxton (Brock Lovett) heading the cast.

Titanic blends fact and fiction, depicting an on-board romance involving street artist Jack Dawson and betrothed society girl Rose DeWitt. The story unfolds through the eyes of the 100-year-old Rose, a Titanic survivor, who recounts her tale aboard the doomed ocean liner.

Titanic features actual footage of the “unsinkable” White Star liner resting on the bottom of the North Atlantic. A huge set was constructed in a water tank in Baja California, Mexico, where the dramatic sinking of RMS Titanic was recreated.

Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, Titanic ended up taking home 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography (Russell Carpenter) and Best Music/Original Dramatic Score (James Horner).  

• On DVD: Titanic Special Edition (20th Century Fox, 2005)

2. A Night to Remember (Rank, 1958)

A Night to Remember – based on the 1955 book by Walter Lord (1917-2002) – is considered to be the most authentic of the Titanic movies. Earl Ambler scripted the movie and Roy Ward Baker directed. Kenneth More (Charles Lightoller), Ronald Allen (Mr. Clarke), Robert Ayres (Arthur Peuchen), Honor Blackman (Liz Lucas), Anthony Bushell (Captain Arthur Rostron) and David McCallum (Harold Bride) head the large cast.

Budgeted at $1.68 million, A Night to Remember was filmed at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom. Actual newsreel footage of the Titanic was employed, along with scale models of the doomed liner.

The movie opens at the Belfast shipyards, where the pride of the White Star Lines is christened: “I name this ship Titanic. May God bless her, and all who sail in her.” But Titanic is hardly “blessed,” with the ship’s orchestra later launching into its final arrangement, “Near Thy God to Thee,” just before the mortally wounded passenger liner descends into the icy depths of the North Atlantic.

“Heartbreakingly lurid account…” reported Paul V. Beckley of The New York Herald Tribune (12/17/58).

• On DVD: A Night to Remember (Criterion, 1998)

3. Titanic (20th Century-Fox, 1953)

The trio of Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard L. Breen scripted 1953’s Titanic, with Jean Negulesco occupying the director’s chair. Clifton Webb (Richard Ward Sturges), Barbara Stanwyck (Julie Sturges), Robert Wagner (Giff Rogers), Audrey Dalton (Annette Sturges), Thelma Ritter (Maude Young), Brian Aherne (Captain Edward Smith) and Richard Basehart (George Headley) top the cast.

Like James Cameron’s Titanic, the 1953 version deftly weaves fact and fiction. Titanic purists can take heart somewhat, as the production did a little research, employing actual conversations and other data that had been presented in the official inquiries conducted by the British Board of Trade and the United States Congress.

Titanic’s special effects are quite good for the era, effectively recreating the panic and terror of that clear, star-studded night in 1912. One of the best scenes comes when Clifton Webb as Sturges – standing tall on the slanting deck of the stricken Titanic – tells his son that he’s never been prouder of him.

Titanic won a single Oscar for Best Writing.

• On DVD: Titanic (20th Century-Fox, 2003)

4. Raise the Titanic (Associated Film, 1980)

Clive Cussler’s 1976 best-selling novel forms the basis of this action/adventure movie written by Eric Hughes and Adam Kennedy and directed by Jerry Jameson. Richard Jordan (Dirk Pitt), Jason Robards Jr. (Sandecker), David Selby (Seagram), Anne Archer (Dana Archibald) and Alec Guinness (Bigalow) head the cast.

Made for a staggering $36 million, Raise the Titanic was filmed in the United States, England, Greece and Malta. One of the film’s largest expenses was the construction of a $350,000 Titanic model and a $6 million water tank to go with it.

Raise the Titanic centers on the old ship and its alleged lost cargo – a rare mineral called byzanium which is instrumental in building a new American defense system. The Soviets want the cargo too, resulting in a frantic search involving adventurer Dirk Pitt and evil Russian commandos.

Raise the Titanic bombed at the box office, with the vast majority of critics sinking it as well. But for cinema fans who like their science fiction/adventure movies blended with a bit of historical lore, then Raise the Titanic may just hold water after all.

• On DVD: Man Friday/Raise the Titanic (Lions Gate, 2006)

5. Atlantic (Wardour Films, 1929)

Victor Kendall scripted this movie from Ernest Raymond’s play The Berg. Ewald Andre Dupont directed, with Franklin Dyall (John Rool), Madeleine Carroll (Monica), John Stuart (Lawrence) and Ellaline Terriss (Alice Rool) heading the cast.

Atlantic was lensed at British International Pictures Studios in the United Kingdom. Producers wanted to use the title Titanic, but were threatened with a lawsuit by White Star Lines, who apparently wanted no further publicity concerning the sinking of their prized ocean liner.

Interestingly, Atlantic was released in both silent and sound versions. The movie was also produced in English, French and German in order to attract a wider, international audience. Columbia Pictures released the movie in the United States in 1930.

Atlantic is a crude picture from the early days of British Talkies, with hammy stage actors booming out their lines. And although the doomed ship is named Atlantic, make no mistake that this is a primitive cinematic recreation of the Titanic disaster, complete with its own rendition of “Nearer Thy God to Thee.”

One of the best scenes comes with the lowering of Atlantic’s lifeboats. This sequence was filmed on an actual ocean liner which had been docked on the Thames River in London.

• On DVD: Titanic: Disaster in the Atlantic/The Titanic Chronicles (DVD International, 1999)

Ocean voyage, anyone?