S.O.S. Titanic

First of all, ANY Titanic film is going to be crushed by Cameron's version of this disaster! Not for its story line, but for its incredible attention to detail and its use of special effects. When this movie was made(1979)there was still so many mysteries about the sinking. Granted, the creativity is strained and the DVD version is hideously chopped and edited poorly, but the television version (I still have a tape of it from ABC when it aired again in 1981) is much clearer and the characters are not so 'rushed' through the plot. I do agree that Jansen did a sloppy job of playing Astor, though. Seemed like he always wanted to be somewhere else, however in the television version many of his scenes were redone and he sounds much better. This show marked my beginning with a fascination for the Titanic. I later met survivors in 1987 and for that, I love this movie. It's too bad the television version is not on DVD...it's much, much better.

This is a very underrated film. If you look unbiasedly at it you can see where James Cameron got his inspiration, as some scenes of his Titanic are identical to this version. This is a well crafted film that tries to tightly stick to the point. It is very interesting that David Warner features prominantly in this version & in Cameron's. Why??? This film is very atmospheric & authentic, but unlike Cameron's version, it doesn't have the emotive sentimentality & glamour. Overall, this is an intelligent informative family film, for people who appreciate qualities other than special effects.

Cameron's was nothing more than a teen aged frolic and a technical masterpiece, but as far as catching the effectiveness of the era and expectations and afterwards, he is far below this one.

No doubt, this movie is where my fascination with David Warner began, as his portrayal of Lawrence Beesley is a marvel to listen to. Cameron felt the romance with Leigh Goodwin (portrayed by Susan St. James, Goodwin was a real woman on the Titanic, but I don't know if she knew Beesley, but the romance was fictitious regardless) was cold and icy. I found it to be utterly delightful compared to Jack and Rose's juvenile romp in the motor car.

And unknown to Cameron, Bernard Fox (best known as Doctor Bombay in Bewitched) who played Col. Archibald Gracie in the '97 Titanic movie, was Lookout Frederick Fleet in A Night To Remember.

So Fox and Warner are two actors who have been in two Titanic movies. What intriguing names.

Leachman's Molly Brown is a twist compared to Kathy Bates forgettable '97 interpretation or even Marilu Henner's out-of-date '96 telemovie portrayal.

It is fun to compare the movies and persons shown. This one did focus on a few more, such as the Harrises and the Marvins, the Countess of Rothes, Emma Bucknell, a bit more steerage.

The '96 telemovie with George C. Scott as the captain is the only one to show the Allisons, altho it doesn't clearly say what that was all about with the nanny, Alice Cleaver.

Lawrence Beesley would jump to the lifeboat while still holding his night clothes, he wasn't wearing them. Fred Barrett would ask him why he had them, and he replied he had no idea.

This movie was rich, however, with the shoeshine lads, the sensational music, from the sauna (as someone else mentioned) to the mundane (but it was all they had) steerage music.

There is a much stronger feeling of Irish third class here than in any other Titanic movies, and we get a more overal feel of those in peril here, as compared to Cameron's version with only Rose in danger.

Wireless operator Harold Bride as well as chief wireless operator Wilde have never been decently shown in a movie. Night to Remember had David McCallum and the '96 movie showed them also, but the overturned lifeboat has only been observed in Night To Remember, and only if you have really read about it, do you realize that is what is happening here in S.O.S. Titanic.

Great fun in having to pinpoint the Strauses because Mrs. Straus would call her maid by her first name, Ellen, and I recalled from reading that Mrs. Straus' maid's name was Ellen Bird.

The only way the Strauses were shown in this movie.

Interesting also to note that in 1912, wives were listed under their husbands names, but maids were listed individually.

The biggest complaint about this movie is the wrong date shown, which I suppose is inexcusable for the subject matter.

Pearl Harbor wasn't attacked on December 9th, 1941.

Still this one is nowhere near the worst. That would have to be the 1931 version. The '53 Babs Stanwyck one is a bit wincing also.

And I'm not familiar with the Queen Mary, so its usage here is hardly a hindrance to me.

Helen Mirren's moment as the maid who converses with Thomas Andrews is inspired.

In watching this one as I type this, the silence throughout much of it is as effective, if not more, than Cameron's symphony orchestra.

Sadly, I am aware that what I have just ordered is indeed an edited copy.

The opening with the Carpathia is missing, with Ian Holm's chilling "my ship" as he describes the Titanic.

Also missing is the elderly woman leading the steerage in song.

And I fear the wonderful exchange between the shoe shine lads is cut also.

The sauna may also be missing.

And one post lists Charles Herbert Lightoller as the First Officer, another post says he was the second Officer.

Lightoller was the Second Officer, highest ranking surviving officer from the Titanic.

Shot at Shepperton on a TV budget. Numerous familiar British faces, including a relatively young Helen Mirren, flit in and out of this good, straightforward account of the Titanic disaster along with several Irish actors below stairs, including a remarkably young and dashing Gerard McSorley (who I first encountered nearly twenty years later in an episode of 'Father Ted') as the nearest equivalent in this version to Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 epic.

David Warner had an exceptionally demeaning supporting role in James Cameron's later travesty, but is here soulful and sympathetic as real-life survivor Lawrence Beesley (1877-1967), who was entirely omitted from Cameron's version, but whose burgeoning romance with Susan Saint James gets the most screen time in this version and is far more interesting and touching to follow than the egregious scenes between DiCaprio & Kate Winslet which eat up footage in the remake.

"S. O. S. Titanic" is a 1979 television movie with 3h 14 min. Running time; unfortunately, it was released on VHS in Brazil with 97 minutes running time. It is impossible to develop the characters and create charisma for them reducing the film in half-time. The cast is excellent, with names such as David Janssen, Ian Holm, Helen Mirren, David Warner and many others, but as previously mentioned, is impossible to appreciate a mutilated film. The depleted work does not show what the writer and the director intended to show to the viewer. The discussion of the class struggle in the ship (it is social or economic) between the American Leigh Goodwin and the British Laurence Beesley is a great moment of the film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "S. O. S. Titanic"