Titanic (1943)

[Foxbat]

Directed by Herbert Selpin & Werner Klingler
Starring Sybille Schmidt, Hans Nielsen, Karl Schonbock, Charlotte Thiele & Otto Wernicke
German language with English subtitles.
Region classification is unclear but probably Region Zero.

Here’s a simple fact: I’m a sucker for a movie that has some baggage. Sometimes even a bad film can be intriguing by keeping in mind the circumstances surrounding its making whilst viewing. And so it was inevitable that when I discovered that a movie of the Titanic was made in Nazi Germany, I just had to get my hands on a copy.

So, what are the circumstances that make this movie worth a look? Well, the suicide of Herbert Selpin just after completion. He had been heard to criticise the German army and was arrested by the Gestapo. He was later found hanging in his prison cell, the victim of an ‘arranged suicide’. The movie was also banned shortly after release because the scenes of panic were deemed to strong for the German public (who, at that time were suffering greatly from Allied bombing raids). And finally, the footage of the great ship sinking was used (uncredited) in Britain’s A Night To Remember (1958).

And on top of all that baggage, the scenes of panic on the ship were filmed on the liner Cap Arona. This ship went on to be used to evacuate a concentration camp in 1945 and was accidentally bombed by the Allies in the bay of Luebeck with only a few survivors.

So, what’s it like? It’s a strange breed that tells the tale of the Titanic as a propaganda piece where the villains are the directors of the White Star Line and the hero is a German first officer who tries to save the poor folk in steerage. It is definitely anti-British but is also a well made and well acted piece of historical fiction.

It spends a lot of film time on the White Star directors and their greed, just to emphasise to the German public(I surmise) how allegedly poorly led and exploited the British Working Class is at that period in history. How accurate or wild the accusations made against the White Star directors are in this movie, I can’t say - but it does provide a bit of drama leading up to the fatal holing by that oncoming iceberg. The shots of the ship going down are (for the time) simply superb and I can see why somebody would wish to use these shots for their own movie.

Extras on this DVD include the original 1912 newsreel and a White Star promotional film offering a tour of the Titanic sister ship Olympic.

In conclusion, an interesting and decent movie, made all the more interesting by the circumstances surrounding it. I suppose the big question is – how does it compare to Cameron’s Titanic? I’d rather watch this German version anyday.