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A young boy dressed in brown knickers, a white shirt, and suspenders rounded the corner and kicked a rock with his well-worn black leather shoe. He arrived at the newspaper building, grabbed a stack of papers, and headed for his usual corner to work. As he stood on the concrete sidewalk, he yelled to pedestrians, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it! TITANIC sinks in the Atlantic!", his small hand holding high the headline with a photograph of the mighty ocean liner printed below.
The first film about the TITANIC was a short reel made 29 days after its sinking. A silent film, it is known as either Saved from the TITANIC or Survivor of the TITANIC. The film takes place after the actual event, while a young girl is telling her parents about her experience of the sinking. The girl's parents - now realizing the many dangers of the sea - are alarmed, since their daughter's fiance is a sailor. The film starred actress Dorothy Gibson, who was an actual survivor of the TITANIC disaster. Ironically, the year after she survived the TITANIC, Dorothy was involved in a fatal car accident. Alec B. Francis, who played Dorothy's father, went on to play the role of Major Caron in 1931's "Mata Hari" starring Greta Garbo. John G. Adolphi played Dorothy's fiance - he later switched careers to become a director and directed several of actor George Arliss' most successful films. Guy Oliver, who played one of the fiance's friends, became Posey Mead in the 1931 film "Gunsmoke". Although not made in Hollywood,the 1943 film "TITANIC" has an interesting story behind it. The film was planned by a German named Josef Goebbels as a vehicle for Nazi Propaganda. The storyline centers on the pressure that Mr. Ismay (who is British) puts on Captain Smith to speed the TITANIC's arrival in New York. Ismay, after sinking a huge amount of money into the building of the ship, wants its maiden voyage to make headlines. The film denotes a mostly negative portrayal of the British, throwing in an honorable German naval officer. However, when the film was completed, Goebbels thought it best not to show scenes of panic to a German audience who were being subjected to bombings, so he decided to not release it in German movie theaters. "TITANIC" premiered in Paris in 1943 - the film wasn't shown in Germany until 1949. In 1950, it was banned by the Allies because of its anti-British sentiments.
The copyright of the article Hollywood's TITANIC Fascination in Historical Hollywood is owned by . Permission to republish Hollywood's TITANIC Fascination in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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