Titanic | |
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Directed by | Robert Lieberman |
Produced by |
Harold Lee Tichenor Rocky Lang |
Written by |
Ross LaManna Joyce Eliason |
Starring |
Peter Gallagher George C. Scott Catherine Zeta-Jones Eva Marie Saint Tim Curry Harley Jane Kozak Marilu Henner |
Music by | Lennie Niehaus |
Cinematography | David Hennings |
Editing by | Tod Feuerman |
Distributed by | RHI Entertainment |
Release date(s) | November 17, 1996 |
Running time | 173 min. |
Country | Canada/United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $13,000,000 (estimated) |
Titanic is a made-for-TV dramatization that premièred as a 2-part miniseries on CBS in 1996.[1] Titanic follows several characters on board the RMS Titanic when she sinks on her maiden voyage in 1912. The miniseries was directed by Robert Lieberman.[2] The original music score was composed by Lennie Niehaus.[3] This is the first Titanic movie to show the ship breaking in two.
Plot[]
Titanic has three main story threads:
- Isabella Paradine is traveling on the Titanic to join her husband after attending her aunt's funeral in England. On the Titanic, she meets Wynn Park, her former lover. She falls in love with him again, and after a brief affair, she sends her husband a wireless saying they cannot be together anymore (despite their daughter). When the ship starts sinking, Isabella must reluctantly leaves Wynn when he forces her to board a lifeboat. As the boat is lowered, Isabella confesses a long kept secret that her daughter Claire is actually Wynn's. Later on board the RMS Carpathia she is grief stricken when she finds Wynn's lifeless body on deck amongst other victims who have died of hypothermia, but luckily, when the Carpathia reaches New York she is reunited with her family, blissfully unaware of Isabella's tryst because the telegram was never sent out due to the sinking.
- Also in first class is the Allison family, a real family who traveled on the Titanic, returning home to Montreal with their two small children and new nurse, Alice Cleaver. They gradually become wary and suspicious of her hysterical and neurotic behavior. Later one, a fellow maid asks her if she'd seen her in Cairo the previous month, but soon realizes that she remembers her from the highly publicized trial where Alice was accused of throwing her baby off a train. When the Titanic starts sinking, Alice Cleaver panics and quickly boards a lifeboat with Trevor, the Allisons' infant son. The parents with their small daughter are unaware that the baby is safe and refuse to leave the ship without him, which in the end costs them their lives.
- In third class, a young vagrant named Jamie Perse steals a ticket to get on board. He manages to become friends with one of the crewmen, Simon Doonan, who is also a robber, but later is revealed to be a much more violent and callous criminal than Jamie. The young man falls in love with Aase (pronounced "Osa") Ludvigsen, a recent Christian convert and missionary. On the night of the sinking, Aase is raped and beaten by Doonan, causing her to lose her faith and will to live, but Jamie manages to get her into Isabella's boat, #14. Unbeknownst to them, Doonan also snuck onboard that same boat, disguised as an old woman. After the ship sinks, Aase is knocked off the lifeboat by Doonan after recognizing him and he attempts holding all the passengers in the boat hostage with a revolver, but Officer Lowe, who is in charge of the boat, hits Doonan in the head with a paddle, snapping his neck. Jamie himself manages to survive when he accidentally falls into one of the last lifeboats before the Titanic sinks and atones for his past life after he finds Aase in the makeshift hospital aboard the Carpathia. In the end, upon arriving in New York, the two plan to start a new life together.
Cast[]
Actor | Role[3] |
---|---|
Peter Gallagher | Wynn Park |
George C. Scott | Captain E. J. Smith |
Catherine Zeta-Jones | Isabella Paradine |
Eva Marie Saint | Hazel Foley |
Tim Curry | Simon Doonan |
Roger Rees | J. Bruce Ismay |
Harley Jane Kozak | Bess Allison |
Marilu Henner | Margaret "Molly" Brown |
Mike Doyle | Jamie Perse |
Sonsee Ahray | Aase Ludvigsen |
Felicity Waterman | Alice Cleaver |
Malcolm Stewart | First Officer William Murdoch |
Kevin McNulty | Second Officer Charles Lightoller |
Kavan Smith | Fifth Officer Harold Lowe |
Terence Kelly | Captain Arthur Rostron |
Scott Hylands | John Jacob Astor IV |
Jane Mortil | Madeleine Astor |
Tamsin Kelsey | Clarinda Jack |
Eric Keenleyside | "Black" Billy Jack |
Katharine Isabelle | Ophelia Jack (as Katherine Isobel) |
Kevin Conway | Hudson J. Allison |
Barry Pepper | Assistant Marconi Operator Harold Bride |
Reception[]
Titanic received mixed reviews from critics. The New York Daily News commented on the fact that the acting was substandard and the ship's operators and owner are portrayed "about as sympathetically as those connected with the Exxon Valdez."[4] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also referenced the "embarrassingly bad acting" and out of place scenes.[5]
The film however bears some resemblances to the 1997 theatrical film of the same name in that the female leads, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kate Winslet, respectively, are at odds with the privileged lifestyles they're living. Also, a historical personality, First Officer William McMaster Murdoch commits suicide in both films, an event which cannot be proven.
Awards[]
Titanic received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special. It was also nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special.[6]
Year | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special | David Husby, David E. Fluhr, Adam Jenkins, Don Digirolamo | Won |
Outstanding Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special | Joe I. Tompkins, Jori Woodman | Nominated |
References[]
- ↑ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985612,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
- ↑ http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:174347~T3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115392/fullcredits
- ↑ http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/11/15/1996-11-15__titanic__miniseries_is_sub-.html
- ↑ http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1996/9611170101.asp
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115392/awards
External links[]
- Titanic (TV miniseries) at the Internet Movie Database
- Titanic (TV miniseries) at AllRovi
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Titanic (1996 TV miniseries). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Titanic Database Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |