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Sinking Feelings: Representing and Resisting the Titanic Disaster in Britain, 1914–ca.1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2013

Andrew Wells
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Abstract

The apparent lack of representations of the Titanic disaster in Britain between the start of the First World War and the end of the 1950s was due, not to a lack of interest, but to active resistance to such representations. Shipping interests, the press, government, and the public all opposed portrayals of the catastrophe, but their opposition depended much on the medium by which the sinking was to be represented, on the broader international context, and on the nature and status of individual memories of the events of 1912. Questions of fact, fiction, national prestige, and the ethics of representation dominated the first half century of the Titanic's cultural history in the United Kingdom.

Keywords

TitanicrepresentationmediafilmradiotelevisioncensorshipmemoryBBCmemoirsresistance
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 464 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © The North American Conference on British Studies 2013 

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References

1 See, for example, Guardian, 2 January 1998, A2–A3. See also Wyatt, Justin and Vlesmas, Katherine, “The Drama of Recoupment: On the Mass Media Negotiation of Titanic,” in Titanic: Anatomy of a Blockbuster, ed. Sandler, Kevin S. and Studlar, Gaylyn (New Brunswick, NJ, 1999), 29–45Google Scholar.

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23 Each of these authors (with the exception of Gibbs) is excerpted in Foster, Titanic.

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26 Two poetic responses to the sinking were published during the war, and references were made in the Times to a stage representation of the disaster and to the exhibition of films in music halls. See “Lavengro” in [Morris, John Howard], A Tribute to the “Titanic's” Engineers (Liverpool, 1916)Google Scholar; anon., The Call of the Spirit (London, 1917)Google Scholar; Times, 1 June 1915, and 3 and 5 February 1916.

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33 Lord to Longman, 14 June 1955, 258/17, University of Reading, Special Collections, Longman Group Archives (hereafter URSC: LGA). On the nostalgia of Long's text, see Biel, Down with the Old Canoe, chap. 5.

34 See, for example, memorandum, Lobley to Dawson, 16 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, University of Liverpool, Special Collections and Archives, Cunard Archive (hereafter ULSCA: CA).

35 Addendum to memorandum, Lobley to Dawson, 16 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, ULSCA: CA.

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38 Lord to John Guest, 14 November 1958, 263/33, URSC: LGA.

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40 Harrison to Rubinstein, 9 December 1963 and 23 April 1965, 263/33, URSC: LGA; Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph, 30 January 1962; Times Literary Supplement 3509 (29 May 1969): 584Google Scholar; Harrison, Leslie, “The ‘Californian’ Incident,” Merchant Navy Journal (March 1962)Google Scholar; Tonight, BBC TV, 16 March 1962; Points North, BBC TV, 21 March 1962; Tonight, BBC1, 5 February 1965.

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42 Harrison to Davis, 8 July 1958, 263/33, URSC: LGA.

43 Memorandum, Cotterell to Longman, 27 May 1955, 263/33, URSC: LGA.

44 Lightoller, Other Ships, 235–36, 241–42; “The Sinking of the ‘Titanic,’” I Was There, BBC Regional Programme, 1 November 1936; “The Sinking of the ‘Titanic,’” Sensation, BBC Light Programme, 4 March 1947.

45 Harrison to Rubinstein, 8 December 1958, 263/33, URSC: LGA.

46 See, for example, A. B. Cauty (White Star) to E. J. Foley (Mercantile Marine Dept., Board of Trade), 28 March 1930, MT9/2922, ff. 30–32, The National Archives of the UK: Public Record Office (hereafter TNA: PRO).

47 See Bottomore, Silent Cinema, 48–89.

48 Ibid., 69–95.

49 Ibid., 107–15; Mills, Pictures, 10–11, 18–19; New York Times, 9 June 1912, 14.

50 Bottomore, Silent Cinema, 115–22; Mills, Pictures, 19–21; Wedel, Michael, “Early German Cinema and the Modern Media Event: Mime Misu's Titanic—In Night and Ice (1912),” in Bergfelder and Street, Titanic in Myth and Memory, 97–110Google Scholar.

51 Wedel, “Early German Cinema,” 97.

52 On this interest in general, see Strobl, Gerwin, “‘Zum Ruhme Englands’: The ‘Vorgeschichte’ of the Nazi Film Titanic,” German Life and Letters, 60, no. 2 (Apr. 2007): 198–200CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Times, 17 April 1912, 10.

54 Times, 25 April 1912, 8.

55 Times, 17 April 1912, 10, and 8 May 1912, 10; Manchester Guardian, 21 April 1912, 12. On the inaccuracy of British perceptions of German schadenfreude, see Strobl, “‘Zum Ruhme Englands,’” 198–210. On Anglo-German rivalry, see in particular Kennedy, Paul, The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860–1914 (London, 1982), chaps. 14, 20Google Scholar; Ramsden, John, Don't Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890 (London, 2006), 70Google Scholar; Rüger, Jan, The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire (Cambridge, 2007)Google Scholar; Wilhelmine Germany and Edwardian Britain: Essays on Cultural Affinity, ed. Geppert, Dominik and Gerwarth, Robert (Oxford, 2008)Google Scholar.

56 See esp. Burgess, Douglas R., Seize the Trident: The Race for Superliner Supremacy and How It Altered the Great War (Camden, ME, 2005)Google Scholar.

57 It was the basis of a conversation between Captain Smith and Ismay in Titanic (1997), provoking an impassioned response from Ismay's grandson in a letter to the Independent, 26 February 1998.

58 Robert Peck, “Atlantic: The First Titanic Blockbuster,” in Bergfelder and Street, Titanic in Myth and Memory, 111.

59 See Mills, Pictures, 21–31.

60 Ibid., 23; Frank Bustard (White Star Line) to John Maxwell (BIP), 8 January 1930, MT9/2922, ff. 37–38, TNA: PRO.

61 Mills, Pictures, 24, 31. The -ic suffix was characteristic of all White Star vessels, as was recognised by the Board of Trade in their consideration of Atlantic. See memorandum (Marker to Hutchinson), 16 December 1929, MT9/2922, f. 23, TNA: PRO.

62 See the chapters by Ginette Vincendeau (“Hollywood Babel: The Coming of Sound and the Multiple-Language Version,” 207–24) and Higson, Andrew (“Polyglot Films for an International Market: E. A. Dupont, the British Film Industry, and the Idea of a European Cinema, 1926–1930,” 274–301) in “Film Europe” and “Film America”: Cinema, Commerce and Cultural Exchange, 1920–1939, ed. Higson, Andrew and Maltby, Richard (Exeter, 1999)Google Scholar.

63 The film was the first German talkie. Vincendeau, “Hollywood Babel,” 209, 211; Low, Rachael, Film Making in 1930s Britain (London, 1985), 92–93Google Scholar.

64 Mills, Pictures, 24–26; A. B. Cauty to E. J. Foley, 28 March 1930, MT9/2922, f. 30, TNA: PRO. The newspaper was the Bayerische Staatszeitung und Bayerische Staatsanzeiger, December 1929, 1-2.

65 Foley to Cauty, 29 March 1930, MT9/2922, f. 29, TNA: PRO.

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68 Cauty to Foley, 16 April 1930, MT9/2922, f. 3, TNA: PRO.

69 Cauty to Foley, 28 March 1930, MT9/2922, f. 30, TNA: PRO.

70 Times, 8 July 1938.

71 Today's Cinema, 15 July 1938, transcribed in MT9/2922, f. 21, TNA: PRO.

72 H.M. Cleminson to Foley, 21 July 1938, MT9/2922, ff. 17–18, TNA: PRO.

73 Foley to Cleminson, 22 July 1938, and Foley to Cleminson (unsent draft), 26 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 16, TNA: PRO.

74 Cleminson to Foley, 25 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 15, TNA: PRO.

75 Cleminson to Foley, 29 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 12, TNA: PRO. The Morro Castle was an American ship that caught fire in 1934 on its run from Havana to New York. The captain died from a heart attack before the fire started, and his replacement and chief engineer were later convicted for willful negligence. Altogether 135 passengers and crew died.

76 Minute sheet, 31 August 1938, MT9/2922, ff. 8–10, TNA: PRO.

77 Letter from Val Lewton (story editor for SIP) to Hitchcock, 8 August 1938, quoted in Schaefer, Eric, “The Sinking of David O. Selznick's ‘Titanic,’” Library Chronicle of the University of Texas at Austin 36 (1986): 66Google Scholar.

78 Cleminson to Foley, 25 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 15, TNA: PRO.

79 Foley to Cleminson, 28 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 14, TNA: PRO.

80 Schaefer, “Sinking,” 62–68; Mills, Pictures, 38–40.

81 Schaefer, “Sinking,” 58; Cleminson to Foley, 21 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 17, and Foley to Cleminson, 28 July 1938, MT9/2922, f. 14, TNA: PRO.

82 Today's Cinema, 15 July 1938; Times, 8 July 1938.

83 A point also made by Peck, Robert in his “The Banning of Titanic: A Study of British Postwar Film Censorship in Germany,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television (hereafter HJFRT) 20, no. 3 (August 2000): 441–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

84 See, in particular, Strobl, Gerwin, The Germanic Isle: Nazi Perceptions of Britain (Cambridge, 2000)Google Scholar.

85 Biel, Down with the Old Canoe, chap. 3; Howells, Myth, chap. 4.

86 “Der Tod von 1500 Menschen blieb ungesühnt, eine ewige Anklage gegen Englands Gewinnsucht.”Titanic (Tobis Filmkunst, 1943)Google Scholar, dir. Herbert Selpin and Werner Klinger.

87 See Peck, Robert E., “Misinformation, Missing Information, and Conjecture: Titanic and the Historiography of Third Reich cinema,” Media History 6, no. 1 (June 2000): 59–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

88 This account of the censorship and press reaction to Titanic (1943) is indebted to Peck, “Banning,” 427–44.

89 See esp. A. J. Cummings, “Spotlight,” News Chronicle, 21 March 1950.

90 Parliamentary Debates, Commons, 5th ser., vol. 473 (1950): cols. 39, 97. See also Peck, “Banning,” 438–40.

91 Daily Telegraph, 5 April 1950.

92 Peck, “Banning,” 440.

93 Richards, Night to Remember, 90–96.

94 Times, 17 June 1953, 2.

95 On the 1953 film, see Manchester Guardian, 20 June 1953; Observer, 21 June 1953. Cf. American reviews in Variety, 15 April 1953, and New York Times, 28 May 1953. On Titanic (1997), see Massey and Hammond, “It Was True!” 243–48. On A Night to Remember, see MacQuitty, William, Titanic Memories: The Making of A Night to Remember (London, 2000), 10Google Scholar; Times, 2 July 1958, 6; Daily Sketch, 3 July 1958; Manchester Guardian, 5 July 1958; Sunday Times, 6 July 1958; Financial Times, 7 July 1958; Richards, Night to Remember, 31–33.

96 MacQuitty, Titanic Memories, 13–14, and his A Life to Remember (London, 1994), 323, 325Google Scholar.

97 See, in particular, Scannell and Cardiff, Serving the Nation, 3–19, and Pegg, Mark, Broadcasting and Society, 1918–1939 (London, 1983)Google Scholar.

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99 Young, Filson, Titanic (London, 1912)Google Scholar; synopsis of proposed play on Titanic, 3 February 1932, R19/1315, BBC Written Archives Centre (hereafter BBC WAC).

100 Daily Herald, 23 February 1932, 1.

101 Ibid., 1; Evening Standard, 23 February 1932, 5. See also Daily Mail, 24 February 1932, 7.

102 Evening Standard, 23 February 1932, 5.

103 G. Warden (White Star) to G. Murray, 23 February 1932, and Sir G. McLaren Brown (Canadian Pacific Railway Co.) to Sir J. Leith, 24 February 1932, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

104 Manchester Guardian, 25 February 1932, 10; Radio Times 34 (4 March 1932): 577.

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107 Tim Crook, Radio Drama: Theory and Practice (London, 1999), 115.

108 Manchester Guardian, 24 February 1932, 8.

109 Daily Herald, 23 February 1932, 1.

110 See Duff Gordon, Discretions, 155–56; Lightoller, Titanic, 250; Hyslop, Donald, Forsyth, Alastair, and Jemima, Sheila, Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage (Stroud, Gloucs., 1999), 122, 136–37, 143, 146, 161Google Scholar; Barratt, Nick, Lost Voices from the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History (London, 2009), 147–99Google Scholar.

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112 Young, Filson, Shall I Listen? Studies in the Adventure and Technique of Broadcasting (London, 1933), 137–38Google Scholar. See also Scannell and Cardiff, Serving the Nation, 371; LeMahieu, Culture, 190–97.

113 Cantril, Hadley and Allport, Gordon W., The Psychology of Radio (New York, 1935), 15Google Scholar.

114 Ibid., 232.

115 Although not to all: see references in note 104. On changing habits in radio usage see Pegg, Broadcasting, chaps. 2, 7.

116 Memoranda, Acting Programme Director to Malcolm Brereton, 27 and 29 July 1936, R51/248, BBC WAC.

117 Memorandum, M. G. Farquharson (Director, Secretariat) to Director of Features, 3 December 1946, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

118 This is notwithstanding the possibly apocryphal objections from Marconi mentioned in n. 30 above: the substance of the supposedly offending passages was repeated in Lightoller's talk. See the transcript of this in the Listener 16 (4 November 1936): 864–66Google Scholar.

119 Robert Crail to Haley, 20 November 1946, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

120 Memorandum, Gilliam to A/C (Ent.), 6 December 1946, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

121 Memorandum, Gilliam to Norman Collins, 4 January 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

122 Gilliam, L., “Aspects of the Feature Programme,” BBC Quarterly 2, no. 2 (Summer 1947)Google Scholar, quoted in Briggs, Asa, Sound and Vision (Oxford, 1979), 702Google Scholar.

123 F.A. Bates to Haley, 3 March 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

124 Record of meeting, B. E. Nicolls, 9 January 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

125 Cunard to BBC, 14 February 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

126 For a summary of these changes, see Briggs, Sound and Vision, 27–32.

127 “The Sinking of the ‘Titanic,’” I Was There, BBC Regional Programme, 1 November 1936.

128 Briggs, Golden Age, 279–80.

129 Telegram, Brooke to Lord Inman, 22 February 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

130 Telephone note, 24 February 1947, R19/1315, BBC WAC.

131 Letters of 6 September 1955 from Laurence Cotterell (Publicity Manager, Longmans) to Mary Adams and Val Gielgud, 304/3, URSC: LGA.

132 Donald Wilson to Cotterell, 23 November 1955, 304/3, URSC: LGA. NBC aired a dramatization on 28 March 1956. See Mayerle, Judine, “Kraft Television Theatre and ‘A Night to Remember’ (NBC, 1956),” HJFRT 7, no. 2 (1987): 115–28Google Scholar.

133 Memorandum, A. D. Lobley (Publicity Department) to F. H. Dawson, 16 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, ULSCA: CA.

134 Telegram, Head of Northern Ireland Programming to Nancy Thomas (Production Assistant, Talks), 9 October 1956, T32/620/1, BBC WAC.

135 Dawson to A. S. Balding, 7 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, ULSCA: CA.

136 Memoranda, Lobley to Dawson, 12 and 16 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, ULSCA: CA; Cotterell to Walter Lord, 11 October 1956, 304/3, URSC: LGA.

137 Addendum to memorandum, Lobley to Dawson, 16 November 1956, D42/PR3/23/19, ULSCA: CA. See n. 35 above.

138 Audience Research Report: “First Hand 2: ‘The Sinking of the “Titanic,”’” 27 December 1956, T32/620/1, BBC WAC.

139 MacQuitty, Life to Remember, 323–24; MacQuitty, Titanic Memories, 11.

140 See esp. Biel, Down with the Old Canoe, 3–132; Barczewski, Titanic, 71–81; Howells, Myth, and his “Atlantic Crossings: Nation, Class and Identity in Titanic (1953) and A Night to Remember (1958),” HJFRT 19, no. 4 (October 1999): 421–38Google Scholar; Foster, Titanic Complex; Girouard, Mark, The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman (London, 1981), 5–14Google Scholar; Larabee, Ann E., “The American Hero and His Mechanical Bride: Gender Myths of the Titanic Disaster,” American Studies 31, no. 1 (Spring 1990): 5–23Google Scholar; Delap, Lucy, “‘Thus Does Man Prove His Fitness to Be the Master of Things’: Shipwrecks, Chivalry and Masculinities in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Britain,” Social and Cultural History 6, no. 1 (January 2006): 45–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

141 Such, indeed, appears to be the case with the latest British Titanic portrayal (a TV miniseries of the same name, broadcast in April 2012), the writer of which has stated that the officers of the ship “were a pretty admirable bunch on the whole.” See the Observer, 24 April 2011, 7.

142 Massey and Hammond, “It Was True!” 247–48.