An unhappily married couple struggle to deal with their problems while on board the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic.
Unhappily married and uncomfortable with life among the British upper crust, Julia Sturges takes her two children and boards the RMS Titanic for America. Her husband, Richard, also arranges passage on the doomed luxury liner in order to allow him to have custody of their two children, Annette and Norman. Meanwhile, Annette begins a romance with a young American college student and tennis player, Gifford Rogers. Unfortunately, their family problems soon seem minor when the Titanic strikes an iceberg.—Daniel Bubbeo <[email protected]>
Her marriage in ruins, Julia Sturges attempts to return to the United States with her two children, Annette and Norman. Her husband, Richard, manages to locate her and joins her on board ship but there appears to be little to reconcile them. Annette begins a romance with a young American college student, Gifford Rogers and Norman revels in the time he gets to spend with his father. They are on board the RMS Titanic. However, once the doomed ship strikes an iceberg, their family problems seem quite unimportant.—garykmcd
Stuck in an unloving marriage, rich socialite Julia Sturges boards the RMS Titanic with her two young children with the intent of divorcing her husband, Richard, when she arrives in the Unites States. At the last minute, Richard discovers her plan and manages to get on board the Titanic in an attempt to convince her to remain with him and have custody of their two children. However, their marital problems take a backseat when the doomed ship collides with an iceberg and begins its descent into history.—Jwelch5742
"There's been so much love lost between us." Titanic (1953) by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen is a Romantic Drama about a discordant married couple-Julia Sturges (Barbara Stanwyck and Richard Sturges (Clifton Webb)--aboard the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic who are trying to find an amicable way to separate themselves and their children. Themes of family devotion, romance, and duty drive this story to its tragic outcome. As the obvious inspiration for the 1997 adaptation by James Cameron, this Titanic juxtaposes the privileged from the poor, the passengers in relation to the crew, the ordinary from the extraordinary, as well as new romance and longtime romance. Here also, dramatized historic details lend a sense of intimacy, urgency, and relatability to the emotion that stirs all relationships on board. Knowing in advance that the ship will sink and take hundreds of lives with it makes the storytelling of the main characters all the more compelling, as we wonder...Will Julia and Richard repair their broken marriage in time? And, if so, Who will survive?—T.B. Hayes
Julia Sturges (Barbara Stanwyck), who is back then estranged from her husband Richard (Clifton Webb), is travelling in first class on the RMS Titanic. Determined to remove her children from her husband's high society world in Europe, Julia secretly takes their two children, 17-year-old Annette (Andrey Dalton) and 10-year-old Norman (Harper Carper), and plans to raise them in her hometown of Mackinac Island, Michigan. However, after he learns of her plans, Richard buys a steerage ticket aboard the vessel from a Basque immigrant in hopes of intercepting them and taking the children back to Europe. Richard and Julia have a heated confrontation about the ultimate custody of their children.
As the vessel prepares for departure, Captain Edward J. Smith (Brian Aherne) receives a suggestion from the shipping company representative that a record-setting speedy passage would be welcomed. Other passengers include a wealthy woman of working class origins based on Margaret "Molly" Brown, Maude Young (Thelma Ritter); a social-climbing snob, Earl Meeker (Allyn Joslyn); a 20-year-old Purdue University tennis player, Gifford "Giff" Rogers (Robert Wagner); who falls in love with Annette Sturges; and a Catholic priest who has been suspended for alcoholism, George S. Healey (Richard Basehart).
Julia realizes that Annette is old enough to make her own decisions, and therefore may choose to return to Europe with her father, but insists on keeping custody of Norman. This angers Richard and later, before dining at the captain's table, he aggressively confronts Julia. She then reveals that Norman is not his son, but rather the result of a one-night stand she had after leaving a party where she was belittled in the days before Richard had made her over into his image. He agrees to relinquish custody of Norman (but promises to take care of him and Julia financially), being cold and distant to him from this point on.
Second Officer Charles Lightower (Edmund Purdom) expresses his concern to Captain Smith about the ship's speed when they received two messages from other ships warning of iceberg sightings near the route. However, Smith assures him that there is no danger before the lookouts spot an iceberg dead ahead later that night. Although the crew tries to steer clear of danger, the ship is gashed below the waterline and begins taking on water. When Richard finds Captain Smith, he insists on being told the truth; the ship is doomed and there are not enough lifeboats for everyone on board. He tells his family to dress warmly but properly; then they head outside.
Richard and Julia have a tearful reconciliation on the boat deck, as he places her, Annette and Norman into a lifeboat. Unnoticed by Julia, Norman gives up his seat in the lifeboat to an older woman and goes looking for Richard. When one of the lines becomes tangled, preventing the lifeboat from being lowered, Gifford climbs down and repairs it, only to lose his grip and fall into the water. Unconscious but alive, he is dragged onto the lifeboat. Meeker disguises himself as a woman to get aboard a lifeboat but Maude Young notices his shoes and unmasks him before the others in the lifeboat. On the spectrum of courage and altruism, George S. Healey pulls oneself together and heads down into one of the boiler rooms to comfort injured crewmen.
As the Titanic is in her final moments, Richard and Norman find each other. Richard tells a passing steward that Norman is his son and then tells Norman that he has been proud of him every day of his life. Then they joined the rest of the doomed passengers and the crew in singing the Welch hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee". As the last boiler explodes, the Titanic's bow plunges, pivoting her stern high into the air while she rapidly slides into the icy water. The remaining survivors are last seen waiting in the lifeboats for help to come as dawn approaches.
