The list is long for the number of movies made on the 1912 sinking of the cruise liner the Titanic. The first version not containing the name of that fatal ship was November 1929's "Atlantic." The British International Pictures' movie is based on the 1929 London West End play, 'The Berg,' written by Ernest Raymond, where it ran for a measly 29 performances.
Just as future Titanic movies have, the first talkie version contains subplots to make the lead up to the ship's collision with an iceberg all the more interesting. The film introduces several passengers, most notably the philandering husband who has an affair on the ship while his wife is lamenting his habitual cheating. Actress Madeline Carroll plays the faithless husband's daughter, Monica.
The movie's producers wanted to name the film 'Titanic.' But the fated ship's owners, White Star Line, and its lawyers enacted a court injunction to stop the movie from mentioning the ship's name anywhere, feeling the loss of lives were so recent, 17 years, that it would have been inappropriate to reopen those wounds. Both parties agreed to call the sinking ship the "Atlantic." Even though a White Star passenger liner 'Atlantic' sank in 1873 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, with a loss of 535 passengers and crew, the event was so long ago the company felt no survivors were alive to see the film version. Another concession was the producers faded to black at the movie's ending when the doomed passengers were reciting the Lord's Prayer before showing the already filmed sinking reenactment.
Since "Atlantic" was distributed to German and French-speaking countries (it was the first German talkie film), the movie became one of the first talkies to film varying versions specifically geared for certain countries. The practice, known as Multiple-Language Versions (MLVs), was popular from 1929 until the early 1930s. This ended when studios realized subtitles made it cheaper to translate than hiring international actors who knew the language. In "Atlantic's" case, German and French actors waited in the wings while their English-speaking counterparts filmed their scenes. Then, using the same film crew, the German-speaking actors duplicated the same scene in German, then on to the French. In some MLV's, the primary English actors learned phonetically how to say their lines while the supporting cast spoke their particular language. If a production were lucky, the main actors were bilingual or multilingual.
For instance, Madeleine Carroll knew French, majoring in the language in college. She was a stage actress for a couple of years before appearing in her first film in 1928. Carroll, 23 when she appeared in "Atlantic," was already popular in both England and France, traveling back and forth between the two countries to act in their films. She's noted for playing opposite Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 "The 39 Steps," becoming the highest paid English actress two years later.
As for White Star Line, the company merged with its chief rival, Cunard Line, during the Depression before being gobbled up by Carnival Corporation in 2005. Passengers on Carnival will notice the term the 'White Line Service," which is a luxury service offered by the company giving its customers extra comfort for a higher premium.
Just as future Titanic movies have, the first talkie version contains subplots to make the lead up to the ship's collision with an iceberg all the more interesting. The film introduces several passengers, most notably the philandering husband who has an affair on the ship while his wife is lamenting his habitual cheating. Actress Madeline Carroll plays the faithless husband's daughter, Monica.
The movie's producers wanted to name the film 'Titanic.' But the fated ship's owners, White Star Line, and its lawyers enacted a court injunction to stop the movie from mentioning the ship's name anywhere, feeling the loss of lives were so recent, 17 years, that it would have been inappropriate to reopen those wounds. Both parties agreed to call the sinking ship the "Atlantic." Even though a White Star passenger liner 'Atlantic' sank in 1873 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, with a loss of 535 passengers and crew, the event was so long ago the company felt no survivors were alive to see the film version. Another concession was the producers faded to black at the movie's ending when the doomed passengers were reciting the Lord's Prayer before showing the already filmed sinking reenactment.
Since "Atlantic" was distributed to German and French-speaking countries (it was the first German talkie film), the movie became one of the first talkies to film varying versions specifically geared for certain countries. The practice, known as Multiple-Language Versions (MLVs), was popular from 1929 until the early 1930s. This ended when studios realized subtitles made it cheaper to translate than hiring international actors who knew the language. In "Atlantic's" case, German and French actors waited in the wings while their English-speaking counterparts filmed their scenes. Then, using the same film crew, the German-speaking actors duplicated the same scene in German, then on to the French. In some MLV's, the primary English actors learned phonetically how to say their lines while the supporting cast spoke their particular language. If a production were lucky, the main actors were bilingual or multilingual.
For instance, Madeleine Carroll knew French, majoring in the language in college. She was a stage actress for a couple of years before appearing in her first film in 1928. Carroll, 23 when she appeared in "Atlantic," was already popular in both England and France, traveling back and forth between the two countries to act in their films. She's noted for playing opposite Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 "The 39 Steps," becoming the highest paid English actress two years later.
As for White Star Line, the company merged with its chief rival, Cunard Line, during the Depression before being gobbled up by Carnival Corporation in 2005. Passengers on Carnival will notice the term the 'White Line Service," which is a luxury service offered by the company giving its customers extra comfort for a higher premium.