I’m fresh from seeing a very strange movie called Titanic. Not the one with Kate Winslet and the guy who looks like her kid brother. This is a German-language film made in 1942 under Hitler. The movie elevates English greed and bumbling to epic heights, and the lone voice of sanity is (totally fictional) First Officer Pederson, the only German on board, who practically begs the stupid owner and the stupid captain to slow down because if we hit an iceberg at this speed then oh the humanity.
The film was conceived and overseen by Josef Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment, as a propaganda vehicle. It was not a smooth shoot. Partway through filming the director, Herbert Selpin, made some complaint about the government so Goebbels had him killed. A new director came in to finish filming the traumatized cast. By the time it was completed though, the Allies were bombing Germany all up and down so Goebbels blocked its release figuring the public might be further demoralized by a film full of death and panic.
Today the movie has impact of a different kind. Watching characters like buffoon John Jacob Astor and his idiot countrymen running around squawking in German is a strange experience. The sinking stuff (water pouring in etc.) is very well done.
Song of the Day: Norah Jones, Sinking Soon
Stolen Rembrandt — keep your eye out — big reward
