Titanic (1943)

Titanic (1943)

Directors: Herbert Selpin and Werner Klingler (uncredited)

Summary[]

The story of the sinking of the British luxury liner Titanic in 1912.

Director Herbert Selpin was arrested by the Gestapo during this film's production for insulting German soldiers who were working as extras for the film. He was found hanged in his cell the following day.
- For the remainder for the films production, Werner Klingler was hired to finish the film.

After seeing this film, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels thought the scenes of mass panic were not appropriate viewing for Germans, who were then being subjected to British bombing. So he allowed only foreign release, with the film premiering in Paris in 1943. Beginning in late 1949 Germans could see the film, but Allied occupation authorities forbade its showing in West Germany in 1950 because of its anti-British propaganda.
- The film became popular for the Soviet government for the anti-British and American depictions.

The ship used for the RMS Titanic was the former luxury liner Cap Arcona. This boat was used in 1945 to evacuate thousands of prisoners of the concentration camp Neuengamme (near Hamburg) to Denmark. The Cap Arcona was accidentally bombed by Allied forces in the bay of Luebeck. Only a few prisoners survived the sinking of the ship. Most were killed on board or shot by SS guards and Hitler Youth, who took position on the beach not far from the sinking ship. But the evacuation turned out to be a ruse. The Nazis secretly ordered all prisoners to be killed and the ship was laden with explosives so everyone would perish when the ship was hit by an Allied bomb.