The Other Passengers

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Was anyone else a little disappointed that the passenger list didn't include many of the passengers from the real Titanic? I was fairly familiar with the Titanic story before the movie came out, and I was looking for some the most noted real passengers, but only saw a few. Of course I did recognize Molly Brown, Bruce Ismay, Captain Smith, Lightoller, and Andrews. I thought Victor Garber did a wonderful job with this part. I think he was my favorite character in the whole movie. I noticed Benjamen Guggenheim in his evening clothes and I thought that the old couple lying on the bed might have been Ida Straus and her husband. But there were many others I expected to see. John Jacob Astor cut open a life jacket to show his wife, who I think might have been pregnant, what was inside. The whole deal with the Allison family, Alice Cleaver, and baby Trevor. I also thought there might have been a mention about Lawrence Beesley and Emily Ryerson, among other passengers that have been mentioned in the books I've read. Another thing that I didn't see much of was the wireless operators. After repeated ice warnings, one operator told them to "Shut up! We're busy!" I loved the movie and it was much better than I ever imagined it would be, but I would have liked to see some of these things.

Annie :) :) :)

-- Annie (titanic16@hotmail.com), January 05, 1998

Answers

I'm waiting for the DVD "special edition" with the extra half-hour of footage from the director's cut.

-- Thomas M. Terashima (tom@nucleus.com), January 05, 1998.

Well, in any movie there's always something viewers wish was in the movie. Movies can't please every one in every way. I loved the movie, just as well as you. They did an awesome job!

-- Heather (ClickyLove@aol.com), January 05, 1998.

Hi Annie:

There is a screenplay of unknown origin (with typos galore) from the film floating around the web (www.script-o-rama.com, for one). This document indicates that scene 197 plays out the famous story where Ida Strauss refuses to enter the lifeboat (this was the same scene on the boat desk in which Thomas Andrews complains to Lightoller about not fully loading the lifeboats). If this was the shooting script, the scene was probably shot, then edited out for time considerations. Also according to the screenplay, scene 240 identifies the elderly couple in bed as Isador and Ida Strauss, "holding hands like young lovers."

J. J. and Madeline Astor WERE in the film. In fact, they were part of the dinner party scene where Jack turns the tables on Cal.

Also according to this screenplay, scenes 121-122 play out Jack Phillips' famous brush-off of Cyril Evans' last attempt to warn Titanic of the ice (this goes on while Rose and Jack are trysting in the back seat of Billy Carter's Renault).

I quite agree with you about Victor Garber's portrayal of Thomas Andrews. Mr. Garber did a wonderful job, and gave the character of Thomas Andrews a great deal of dignity. I think the film slights Colonel Gracie, though. Bernard Fox has done mostly comedy roles here in the US, usually playing the stuffy Englishman, and he seemed to play Gracie the same way. In fact, the screenplay refers to Colonel Gracie as a "mustachioed blowhard" who was never without a brandy snifter. He was definitely of the "old boy" club, but he escorted a number of "unattached" ladies to the lifeboats, assisted in loading the last one or two boats, and stayed on board the ship until it literally sank from under him. I thought he deserved better.

It would have been nice to see more of the historical characters in the film, but they weren't the main characters, Jack, Rose and Cal were. And I've read elsewhere on the web that Cameron is planning to release a "director's cut" of the film on video, with many of the deleted scenes restored.

Cheers!

P.S.: Remember the late 70's film "SOS Titanic"? It was shot on board the Queen Mary and featured David Warner (Lovejoy) as Lawrence Beesley. He's probably the only person in the world to make TWO trips on the Titanic.

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), January 06, 1998.


Thanks Kip: I KNEW I had seen him before in a Titanic movie and it was driving me nuts! The man must have a death wish!

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), January 07, 1998.

This movie made $30 million this weekend, a lot of people who paid their $8 knew nothing about the real story besides the boat sinking. Too many historic characters would be overkill. An introduction of Lorraine Allison would have made for haunting scenes, I wish Cameron didn't leave that family out. Cameron wanted this to be a love story primarily, not a who's who documentary. Three hours was pushing the envelope as is, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. For those who don't know the Allison story, they were first class passengers and Lorraine was the only 1st class child not to survive. Lorraine clung to the skirts of her mother. The mum stayed on the boat with her husband. Her baby brother Trevor was put in a lifeboat with his maid.

-- Jen (jendrew@hotmail.com), January 13, 1998.


Note to Jen Drew:

Actually, the story of the Allisons is a little more complicated. . .

Baby Trevor Allison left the Titanic with a nurse by the name of Alice Cleaver, whom the Allisons hired in the UK at the last moment. Unbeknownst to them, Ms. Cleaver had previously been convicted of killing one of her own children (some nurse!).

After the collision, the husband/father, Hudson Allison left their stateroom to find out what was going on (he didn't believe the ship was in danger). When he didn't reappear, his wife and their maid both became hysterical, so without a word, Ms. Cleaver bundled up Trevor in a blanket and headed for the Boat Deck, where they were evacuated in a lifeboat (don't remember which one just now).

Mrs. Allison refused to leave the ship without finding her baby, so they all perished. Ms. Cleaver made it to New York, evidently intent on using Trevor to reap some reward from the Allison family. The Allisons justly blamed Ms. Cleaver for the deaths of Mrs. Allison and Lorriane.

Cheers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), January 19, 1998.


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