The Titanic story obscured by !stars!. The film is not bad per se, but amazingly, it provides little tension for its characters or suspense for the viewer. It is pale on its own and certainly so in comparison to "A Night to Remember" (1958).
As the voyage begins, Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck are in a shattering marriage, held together only by their son(*) of about 12 years; this is the central theme.
Oh, by the way, the Titanic strikes an iceberg, is sinking, and there aren't enough lifeboats for all. This motivates Webb and Stanwyck to rethink their lives and to reunite just in time to be permanently parted by the sinking.
Other stars appear as real or composite characters whose various life situations are revealed as the disaster unfolds. (Included is Thelma Ritter of oh-so-many movies, with her same old penetratingly-voiced, wisecracking character.)
This story formula---a disaster envelops fictional characters whose life stories unfold and resolve as the crisis plays out---is a standard, e.g., "The High and The Mighty" (1954), the later "Airport" movies, et al.
(*)apparently omitted from the foregoing credits.
As the voyage begins, Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck are in a shattering marriage, held together only by their son(*) of about 12 years; this is the central theme.
Oh, by the way, the Titanic strikes an iceberg, is sinking, and there aren't enough lifeboats for all. This motivates Webb and Stanwyck to rethink their lives and to reunite just in time to be permanently parted by the sinking.
Other stars appear as real or composite characters whose various life situations are revealed as the disaster unfolds. (Included is Thelma Ritter of oh-so-many movies, with her same old penetratingly-voiced, wisecracking character.)
This story formula---a disaster envelops fictional characters whose life stories unfold and resolve as the crisis plays out---is a standard, e.g., "The High and The Mighty" (1954), the later "Airport" movies, et al.
(*)apparently omitted from the foregoing credits.