Titanic (1996 miniseries)

Titanic
poster which inaccurately shows flames leaping out of the smokestacks
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
Edited by	Tod Feuerman
Distributed by	RHI Entertainment
Release dates	November 17, 1996 - November 19, 1996
Running time	173 minutes
Country	Canada United States
Language	English
Budget	$13,000,000 (estimated)

Titanic is a made-for-TV dramatization that premiered 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. The original music score was composed by Lennie Niehaus.

Plot

Titanic follows 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 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 who are 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 on, 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. Unbeknownst to them, Doonan also sneaks aboard that same boat, disguised as an old woman. After the ship sinks, Aase is knocked off the lifeboat by Doonan after she recognizes him, and he attempts to hold the passengers in the boat hostage at gunpoint, 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. He subsequently 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

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."^[2] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also referenced the "embarrassingly bad acting" and out of place scenes.^[3]

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.

References

External links

• Titanic at the Internet Movie Database
• Titanic at AllMovie