A bit of a mixed bag there - Purdom was probably the best looking of the bunch! Otherwise, I found it difficult to get beyond the absurdity of some of the positions he was placed in to form much of an impression of his depiction of the Second Officer.
Johnathan Phillips - through no fault of his own (I'm sure the scripting of his part owed a good deal to Wyn Wade's influential interpretation of Lightoller) - I found very unsatisfactory. He gave me the impression of being high-strung - even brittle - before the collision. And his teetering-on-the-edge, ready-to-lose-it persona post-collision is at great odds with the figure remembered by witnesses such as Gracie. Lightoller needed a bit of humanising after More's depiction, but making him a nervy haracter holding on to control by his fingertips wasn't really what was called for.
When I say he needed humanising, I mean that I think we needed to get away from "Super Lights" - More's Lightoller was 'human' in the sense that we saw some warmth, humour and empathy in him, but beyond human in his extraordinary efforts during the evacuation. His loading of the boats was almost a solo effort...although we can contrast his mastery with Murdoch, who is seen in a very lackadasical loading of Boat 1. Might be satisfying for the dramatic requirements of the script, but not as a specific character portrayal.
Still, aside from queries over the accent (and he wasn't alone on that point - I quite enjoyed the delivery of Lowe's imperious "Rubbish! You've room for about twenty more! Now hold your tongue and do as you're told"), I still feel he was the best to date. Certainly Sylvia Lightoller thought he was tremendous - but when your husband is being depicted as the hero of the movie, I imagine it may be difficult to quibble with his portrayal.
What he does possess is the personal charm that the original Lightoller commanded in no small degree - also the charisma, and (even though exagerated) the leadership qualities evident throughout Lightoller's remarkable career.
James, if you were after a *worst* Lightoller to appear on screen, it would have to be Sigmar Solbach in the 1984 German telemovie Titanic. He is a villain out of melodrama(again, seeing Wade's work influencing the writers, although Wade never vilified Lightoller like this!) and is depicted as the evil genius of the American inquiry. One of the final scenes, as he quaffs champagne with Ismay and gloats over their escape from Senator Smith, would be offensive if it weren't so gloriously over-the-top and amusing!
