THE TITANIC IN PICTURES Simon MILLS Wordsmith - 1995

The Titanic, a ship that many believed to be unsinkable, foundering on her maiden voyage, is easily the most documented disaster in maritime history. Within weeks of the liner slipping beneath the icy waters of the North Atlantic in April 1912 a fledgling industry which years later would become dominated by the grandees of Hollywood - eager to exploit the event, was producing newsreels and thinly disguised melodramas giving vivid but widely differing accounts of the catastrophe. And so it has been - from survivor Dorothy Gibson’s tear jerking performance, through Hitler’s Nazi propaganda war, to "A Night To Remember" and Lord Grade’s attempt to "Raise The Titanic". Seldom has a legend tantalised film makers so much for them to wish to re-enact it so often. Simon Mills who is closely associated professionally with the film industry has documented in excellent style with more than ninety illustrations, the major film productions from 1912 to the present day which have used the Titanic disaster as the basis for their own spectacular brand of theatre.