Lusitania The Movie

[Matt Endacott]

Why is all the attention & conflict of shipping disasters today revolve around the Titanic, when just as many perished aboard the Lusitania?
It seems the biggest boost for the ship's attention came after the release of the 1997 film, Titanic. Now, each time artifacts are recovered from the wreck there are debates it should be left intact and the ship should be saved, yet meanwhile the Lusitania is collapsing into a pile of rubble, it's arftifacts being crushed and possible bodies of the dead entombed.
Why shouldn't the Lusitania recieve more attention?
Is it because the movie studios wont bother to make a film about one of the world's most famous shipwrecks? IF so i think one should be made!
People should come to terms with the fact there ARE untold stories of the Lusitania, several i've read include people scrambling for lifeboats as they tip off the deck, the panic aboard the ship and the stories of those leaping from the stern and later surviving after clutching deck chairs. The fact is, many people have not heard of the Lusitania, maybe it's time for the great ship to hit the big screen & gain some respect!
The fact is, a movie made about such a great ship & a tragic story is not impossible.

 

[Martin Owen Cahill]

Dear Matt,

First off, I notice this is your first to ET so welcome to the Board. It is huge and just in Lusitania section alone there is much written material. happy exploring!

As to your post I recommend you check out the thread Lusitaniamovie? There many of us have throwen the idea about how a good movie would look like.

cheers

Martin

 

[Matt Endacott]

Martin,
I'll open a thread about Possible Movie Ideas and i'll gather the best & we'll go from there.
We should put our thought into action

 

[Mark Baber]

Hello, Matt---

Don't open another thread to discuss "possible movie ideas;" opening multiple threads to discuss the same topic is a waste. Use this thread intead of starting a new one, please.

Thanks.

 

[Matt Smith]

Matt,

To your question why does the Titanic get so much more attention then the Lusitania, I think it because the Titanic happened on its first trip and it was a complete mistake when the Lusitania sank during and because of a war. I think that it's not because of film companys. They just put out films about what people know more about. Which in this case more people know more about the Titanic then the Lusitania. Don't get me wrong, I too wish that the Lusitania would get more attention, I just don't think that its anyones fault.

Matt

P.S. I like your name!

 

[Matt Endacott]

Hey Matt,
Yeah i suppose your right,
Over the years there has been numerous films on the Titanic, A night to Remember, Titanic (1953), SOS Titanic & Titanic (1997), and none on the Lusitania. But still i'd love to see it made into a film, possibly in the future...
Also, the fact the Titanic sunk with so many noted names, John Jacob Astor, Ida & Isador Straus and more.
And above all, the Titanic, i must admit, was more luxurious & modern than the Lusitania.
The cabins much bigger & Titanic's famous Grand Staircase, i suppose it's great at least the Titanic won't fade into history, the interest in her growing stronger as the years go on.
Thanks for your view,

Regards,
Matt

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Mmmmmmmmm...I seem to remember a chap named Vanderbilt who followed the Lusitania to the bottom. All of the really big liners carried the rich and famous in first class and these people would draw a lot of attention to themselves if something really bad happened to them.

I think two factors come into play with the Titanic, one being Walter Lord's seminal work on the subject and the hit movie that was made out of it shortly thereafter. Good book + good movie + Great timing = a legend being born. The whole thing took on a life of it's own after that, and was no doubt boosted by the discovery of the wreck back in 1985. Cameron's successful film didn't hurt either.

Were it not for that, I suspect Titanic would have been little more then a historical footnote. Bad accident, lot's of people killed, but life goes on.

 

[Steve Smith]

I fear any film made would also be constantly compared with and judged against Cameron's Titanic.
From Joe Public's point of view it's just another big ship which sank, drowning lots of people in old fashioned clothes. Been there, seen that...

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Exactly Steve - and I for one couldn't cope with another plethora of Jack and Rose rubbish.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

Geoff- I second that- once was bad enough. On a structural level a Lusitania move would hit the same wall The Hindenburg (film) did, which was that it is hard to make a satifying movie around a very swift disaster. Unlike A Night To Remember, with its gradual pace and resolved plots, Lusitania would either have to concentrate on only one or two story lines, have the onscreen disaster go on for a ridiculous amount of time to wrap up the loose ends, or take the path that Hindenburg did and not both resolving most of the subplots. Myself, if I were to attempt this, I would probably do something Rashomon style with the 25 best of Mrs. Prichard's letters, or just take one or two of the better long accounts, like those of Robert Kaye and Belle Naish (which intersect) or Percy Richards and his rescuer, or Josephine Brandell, and expand upon those. What I would NOT do is have a character chained to a pipe AFTER the torpedoing, or have a character turn to another character, presumably seconds away from death and remark "this is where we met."

 

[Matt Endacott]

Still, i think Cameron put a pretty good film together. The Titanic movie was placed down to the last detail and you have to put a fiction story to it like Rose & Jack, not everyone would sit and watch the screen change from location to location detailing the REAL stories. Like Cameron's film, he does sneak little historical bits in. Not all people go to see movies like that to see the boat, most go for the storyline, and usually, a film about a sinking boat, loss of life and the drama would not be complete without a love story. Titanic wouldn't have got far without a main plot & charecters you must admit, even if it is all fictional.

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Yes, I agree with you entirely Matt. "Bums on seats" is what it is all about after all. I'm still intrigued to discover that Titanic was actually carrying second class passengers - not according to the Cameron film!
My point about the Lusitania film - and I'll be amazed if it comes to fruition, is that much of it must centre around the political intrigue at the time which would turn the film into more of a "whodunnit". Whether I could watch around three hours of that is debatable - especially if it is based on a "Hollywood" interpretation of the truth - and I mean no disrespect to film producers here - simply that "facts" have to be massaged to fit in with what makes for a ripping yarn.
We have a number of regular experts both on this site and elsewhere who have contributed much to our knowledge of the ship, her complement and story, I, for one, would hate to see the Lusitania go the way Titanic has gone.

Geoff

 

[Ren-Horng James Wang]

Being a student in TV/cinema production, a Lusitania movie sounds like a really, really tantalizing project (that and something about Ferdinand and Isabella). I agree that if Lusitania bursts into mainstream culture and media, it runs the risk of being riffed like Titanic was. There were fewer things that got me madder than the "it sank, get over it" backlash from the Cameron flick. Argh.

Granted, a film centered on the political intrigue would be more cohesive and would set the film apart from other "sinking ship movies." I personally favor this approach, it's just that doing so threatens to marginalize the stories of those onboard.

I still have no idea who would be the main players on board, there are too many stories to pick from. Even the real love stories: Jack Welsh and Gerda Nielson (although the thought of having another sinking ship movie with a character named Jack makes me shudder), Stewart and Leslie Mason, the Naishes, the 2 Hammond couples . . . too hard to choose. And then, no Lusitania story would be complete without Margaret Mackworth or Marie de Page . . .

I'm getting carried away with this. Realizable or not, a Lusitania movie would be a fantastic endeavor, provided that it were done right. That's the hard part. Oh well, back to reality.

Ren-Horng (James)

 

[David Allen Koppang]

I'd heard that there WAS a Lusitania movie made, back in the 30's, 40's or thereabouts, but ended up being one of those obscure Hollywood films people forget about.

 

[Matt Endacott]

What was the movie called?
Is there any copies around?
It would be interesting to see, as most 30's & 40's movies were made pretty good. Dracula, King Kong...
Do you know anything else about it, story maybe??
Regards,
Matt