Documentary with Eva Hart

[Sarah Miller]

I'm looking for a documentary which I think was on TV sometime in the 1990's. (My grandfather recorded it for me years ago, and it got TAPED OVER by accident!)

Anyhow, the thing I remember most is the footage of Eva Hart. I know Ms. Hart has appeared in quite a few film interviews, but this one was especially spirited. She was sitting in a wingback chair, and talked about:
*how naughty she was when her parents tried to wake & dress her after the collison
*seeing the Californian on the horizon, and recognizing it as a ship -- not just a light
*her irritation that a ship firing rockets in the middle of the north Atlantic was ignored
*the sound of the people drowning, and the silence that followed
*her fear at being rescued by the Carpathia, particularly because she was afraid of falling through the large mesh nets they used to haul the children up to the deck
*running out of a church service long after the sinking, because they played "Nearer My God to Thee" (she's adamant that the band played that hymn, not just ragtime music).

The program was probably an hour or two long at most, and narrated by a British man. I don’t recall seeing Don Lynch or Ken Marschall in it, but Walter Lord might have been. I know it wasn't the A&E documentary, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the History Channel's, either.

Any help is much appreciated! I would love to replace this video.
Thanks,
Sarah

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Is this the one that shows her smelling roses in the garden and has a segment of Miss Hart alone in a church? I think there may be a cocker spaniel in one of the scenes too. I recall being surprised to learn later this was not her house, garden or church!

 

[Brandon Whited]

I think I might have this documentary in a four-video box set I bought a long time ago. I haven't watched them in ages. I'll dig 'em out later and get back to you.

 

[Sarah Miller]

Shelley -- I don't remember any outdoor shots in this particular interview. She just sat in a chair (it was covered with flower-patterned farbic, I think), and though you occasionally heard the interviewer's voice, the camera always focused on Ms. Hart.

Another little detail I remember from her story:
She described the collision with the iceberg as feeling like a "slight bump", as when a train pulls into a station.

Does this narrow things down at all?
Thanks for your help.
Sarah

 

[John Clifford]

I think everyone is referring to the IMAX film TITANICA, which intersperses images of coming up and around Titanic with interviews with Eva Hart.

TITANICA came out around late 1994/early 1995, I believe, as Ms. Hart died on February 14, 1996.

 

[Brandon Whited]

I was also thinking of Titanica, but couldn't remember if it was Eva Hart or Ruth Becker they interviewed for that one.

 

[John Clifford]

In Titanica, it was Eva Hart. Ruth Becker Blanchard died in July 1990, 4-5 years before Titanica was made.

 

[Ernie Luck]

Sarah

A couple of years ago I was sent a video by relatives of Capt. Smith which featured Eva Hart. I think it was narrated by Don Smith, who claims to be related to E. J. Smith. He was certainly also featured.

I have long since returned the video so cannot check it out. I do believe I saw it on sale at the Titanic exhibition in Stoke-on-Trent last year,(or the year before) so it is probably still available. I am sure other members will recollect this video?

 

[Matthew Newman]

I seem to remember another documetary that I think is a 2-tape box set called 'Titanic: A Question Of Murder' and it features Eva Hart.

 

[Sarah Miller]

Would an IMAX film have been shown on TV? I don't remember anything snazzy about the film I saw that would lend itself particularly well to big-screen presentation. No special effects or even recreations, as far as I can recall.

I've been scouring my county library system for any and all Titanic videos, but haven't found my mystery-film yet. All I know for certain so far is that it *wasn't* the A&E four-tape set. I will look particularly for Titanica, and Question of Murder this week.

Please keep looking -- I appreciate all your help so far!

 

[Brandon Whited]

>>In Titanica, it was Eva Hart. Ruth Becker Blanchard died in July 1990, 4-5 years before Titanica was made.<<

Right. I was thinking Titanica was made in 1990, so that explains the confusion. I'm a bit rusty on my documentaries, since I no longer have a VCR and nearly all of mine are on VHS.

And the four-video box set I was referring to wasn't the A & E one. The set is called The Mystery & the Legacy. There's actually five videos. I believe Mrs. Hart features in at least one.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Brandon,

I believe Mrs. Hart features in at least one.

You're correct, as I own the same box set. Eva Hart is interviewed in the third video titled "Captain Edward J. Smith - The Captain of the Titanic". IIRC, Eva is sitting in the chair with the fabric that Sarah has described.

The interview is the most extensive one I've seen with Eva Hart.

 

[Ernie Luck]

Hi Jason,

The one I mentioned is similar. It was called 'The Story of Captain Smith and the Titanic' Produced by Ray Johnson. Original research by Richard Howells.

I have discovered I have a copy of the video. I will view it later and see what Eva Hart M.B.E. had to say.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Ernie,

I did not realize it was along the same lines, but thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Sarah Miller]

Thanks, Ernie & Jason. It looks like a library near me has one of the Captain Smith videos, so I will get it and have a look!

I'm really more concerned with replacing that interview than having the exact film I first saw it in.