Eric Bergerud wrote:

> >
> >Overall, it is a stunning, beautiful, and educationally significant
> > film … despite some egregious errors of production/directiion
> > judgment.
> >
> I certainly agree that TITANIC is well worth seeing and, in many ways,
> is a
> very impressive film. I must quibble with Lou on a couple of points,
> however.
>
> 1. Director James Cameron, probably wisely, did not want to make a
> “docudrama” and a lot of good history is left out. Kind of funny when
> you
> think about it – what story has more REAL drama than the fate of the
> Titanic. Two things bugged me. First, there was not ONE mention of the
>
> CALIFORNIAN – a ship that probably could have been standing by before
> Titanic went down had luck been kinder. Carpathian is mentioned but
> nobody
> notes that had it not arrived when it did, those lifeboats might well
> have
> sailed off and casualties been 100%. Even in a lifeboat, hypothermia
> will
> kill quickly.

I was also surprised that the _Californian_ wasn’t mentioned. But, I
think I know what happened to her–she ended up on the cutting room
floor! There is a picture in the Jan.
issue of _Sea Classics_ on p. 46 that shows a set used in the movie with
the following caption: “A replicas of the wireless office used for
scenes featuring the SS _Californian_, the ship that did not respond to
_Titanic’s_ pleas for assistance. Catherine Lanzaro and her daughter
occupy the highly accurate rendition of the ship’s radio room.”

If you are interested in the making of the movie, there is a large
picture book, called _James
Cameron’s Titanic_ avaliable at most bookstores.
—

Steve Alvin
Dept. of Social Sciences
Illinois Valley Community College

salvin@ocslink.com

“I have snatched my share of joys from the grudging hand of fate
as I have jogged along, but never has life held for me anything
quite so entrancing as baseball.”–Clarence Darrow