The Titanic Incident

I hate to disagree with reviewer Elliot, but I found the 30-minutes solidly entertaining. I wasn't sure where the premise was going once Paul used Susan to set up Sir Hubert as a patsy. Perhaps, I haven't seen enough of these plot ideas. Anyway, Genn is calculating as Paul, Reed is charming as Sir Hubert, while Wynn is certainly gorgeous even if her turn as Susan is a little uneven.

I thought the entry very well produced, especially the elaborate ballroom scene, festooned in detailed fashion. True, the final scenes are stock footage, but then I don't expect a TV production to pop for original calamity footage. The clip they did get, however, is impressive. On the whole, the episode would be unremarkable without the twist ending, which caught me by surprise. In my little book, the twist makes this a somewhat memorable entry and worth remarking on.

Screen Directors Playhouse: The Titanic Incident (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Disappointing entry in the TV series has card sharks Mrs. Owen (Barbara Morrison) and Paul Bernard (Leo Genn) trying to pull one over on a British gentleman (Phillip Reed) but things take a turn for the worse when their ship, the Titanic, hits an iceberg and it turns out that only two of the three are going to be able to get on a lifeboat. The story makes this thing sound far more exciting than it actually is and if you're a fan of stuff dealing with the Titanic then it's best you just skip this movie because its just bound to disappoint. I think the biggest problem is the actual story and all the stuff that happens to the three characters leading up to the sinking of the ship. We've seen this type of story countless times where the crooked woman falls in love with the good man and has second thoughts about ripping him off. This was a staple of countless "B" movies in the 30s and 40s and the material just comes off really lame here and it never manages to build up any drama. When the Titanic starts to sink I think most are going to recognize most of the footage from earlier movies. This old footage also doesn't fit it too well with the current stuff as there are countless problems including the fact that it's clear the actors aren't "cold" or in cold weather. Another problem is that the three leads just aren't all that interesting but I'm going to say that the majority of this issue could be blamed on the screenplay. Director Ted Tetzlaff can't manage to build up any drama and in the end the viewer is just left watching this thing hoping that it eventually picks up steam but sadly it never does.

Leo Genn is a gambler, happy to be on the maiden voyage of a new luxury liner. His sort-of wife, May Wynn, is in a different cabin, bringing in suckers for Genn's poker games. One of them is Philip Reed, scion of a wealthy family. He's mad about poker, and he's in love with Miss Wynn, who's tired of the the life she's leading. Good thing for her it's the Titanic they're traveling on.

The director of this episode, Ted Tetzlaff, only directed a few, well-received programmers. He's better remembered as a cameraman, serving in that capacity for more than a hundred movies, usually A pictures for one of the major studios.

By the way, the mechanical cheating device that's shown here used to be available in a catalogue of methods, from fixed decks of cards, to elaborate furnishings, to separate the sucker from his bankroll.