Moody's Final Scene in James Cameron's 'Titanic'

[kyliereed]

I know this has been asked a lot, but we don't know the whereabouts of Officer Moody before the ship went down, correct? From Officer Lowe's testimony that seems to be the last anyone saw of him.

I was rewatching James Cameron's film 'Titanic' (mainly the sinking scenes and after, searching out for officers or historical facts that I knew) and, right before Jack's friend Fabrizio gets crushed by the first falling funnel, Offcier Moody is seen clinging to one of the collapsible lifeboats. At least, I'm nearly positive it's him because the only other officer that looked midly similar was Lowe, and he was already sent off on a boat.

Anybody have any other testimonies or interviews of people that may indicate where Officer Moody had been seen last?

Thank you!!

 

[Matteo Eyre]

You are right the last seen showing Officer Moody is when he is clinging to the side of the boat as the water rushes on, i do not know any specific survivors testimony but if you go onto titanic inquiry project which was a site shown to my by Bob Godfrey someone on there may have mentioned him, i only noticed this site a few days ago some haven't noticed anything myself, will let you know if i do
Matteo

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Check out the testimony of Samuel Hemming at the American Inquriy. I think he had the last sighting of Moody, who when all the other boats were gone was on the roof of the Officers' quarters trying to free the starboard collapsible stored there (boat A). Moody told Hemming there wasn't time to launch it but it would hopefully float off as the ship went down. Lightoller was there at the same time working to free collapsible B on the port side of the roof, but oddly he coudn't recollect seeing Moody at any time during the sinking. It was at this time, when it became obvious that neither of these last two boats could be launched and the Bridge was about to go under, that both Hemming and Lightoller decided to abandon ship. It's likely that Moody did the same.

 

[Caroline Mendes Ferreira]

From what I know I saw the movie when they were in an attempt to turn one of the collapsible boats. His death is not well demonstrated.

 

[Matteo Eyre]

Yeah it's not very well shown, i did notice a surprise in seeing Purser McElroy near the end of the Titanic film, i know it's not much to do with Moody but wondered if anyone else had spotted it, I do always wonder if he was sucked down into the ship or spat out to freeze to death
Matteo

 

[Tommy]

You are right the last seen showing Officer Moody is when he is clinging to the side of the boat as the water rushes on, i do not know any specific survivors testimony but if you go onto titanic inquiry project which was a site shown to my by Bob Godfrey someone on there may have mentioned him, i only noticed this site a few days ago some haven't noticed anything myself, will let you know if i do
Matteo

I thought the officer clinging to the upturned lifeboat was Officer Lightoller.

 

[Matteo Eyre]

Yes Tommy the officer clinging to the boat that has already been washed off the deck and is it the water is Lightoller, but if you watch the film, just as the water rushes on, after Nearer My God To Thee has finished playing over the back of a few men there is a collapsible boat, still on the deck and not upside down, that some men are trying to launch, there is an officer clinging to the side of it, this Officer is Moody, i will post here again tomorrow with the timing that he is shown
Matteo

 

[Tommy]

Yes Tommy the officer clinging to the boat that has already been washed off the deck and is it the water is Lightoller, but if you watch the film, just as the water rushes on, after Nearer My God To Thee has finished playing over the back of a few men there is a collapsible boat, still on the deck and not upside down, that some men are trying to launch, there is an officer clinging to the side of it, this Officer is Moody, i will post here again tomorrow with the timing that he is shown
Matteo

But later when Jack and Rose are running past the Verandah cafe on the A deck promenade we see an officer rushing with everyone else towards the stern. It is just before Jack says "We have to stay on the ship as long as possible". I always thought that Officer was Moody.

 

[Tommy]

Is it possible that the other officer on the boat was Officer Wilde?

 

[Matteo Eyre]

Yes Wilde was shown to be at the boat but just after the captain is seen in the bridge as he windows go through, it shows a scene of the boat ( Collapsible A ) being pushed along the side of the ship, if you pause it here then you can see a man climbing onto the collapsible, to the left there is a sailor pushing the boat and slightly further left is an officer, that is Moody, he is then slightly shown clinging to one of the cranes that lowers the boats, that is the last time he is seen
Hope this helps
Matteo

 

[Matteo Eyre]

My main criticism of the end of the film is that when the 2 collapsibles are being pushed off of the officer's quarters there are far more seamen on ship then there would have been, to show there to be some left for dramatic effect would be fine but there seems to be at least triple the amount really left, oh and the fact that J J Astor isn't shown to be crushed by the funnell as it is thought that he was, again would have made good dramatic effect
Matteo

 

[Bob Godfrey]

I remember starting here as a newbie many years ago and stating that Astor was crushed by a falling funnel. I was politely informed that I had been taken in by one of the myths of the Titanic! Astor's body, when recovered, wasn't in 'as new' condition but showed no signs of recent contact with 60 tons of falling funnel.

 

[Matteo Eyre]

Oh right, i wasn't aware of that, what about the " fact " that his body was found covered in soot, what other reason for this could there be, maybe he wasn't crushed by it but sucked in by the suction from the hole in the funnel where the soot would come out, covered in it, and then his dead body was pushed out and to the surface by the backwash, that possible do you think??
Cheers Bob
Matteo

 

[Tommy]

If Astor had drowned in the Grand staircase as was depicted in James Cameron's movie, then wouldn't his body have never been recovered?

 

[TheShaneWorthy]

Astor was thought for years to have been killed by one of the ship's falling funnels because reports persist that his body was recovered in a mangled state, but all who examined his body maintained that it was in perfect condition with no bruising. The only account that seems to state Astor was crushed came from Archibald Gracie: "From the fact that I never saw Colonel Astor on the Boat Deck later, and also because his body, when found, was crushed (according to the statement of one who saw it at Halifax, Mr. Harry K. White, of Boston, Mr. Edward A. Kent's brother-in-law, my schoolmate and friend from boyhood), I am of the opinion that he met his fate on the ship when the boilers tore through it, as described later."

However, other accounts differ:

Gerald Ross (an electrician on the Mackay Bennett) said: "I saw the recovery of Col. Astor's body. Like the others it was floating buoyed by a lifebelt. Both arms extended upwards. The face was swollen, one jaw was injured. His body was clothed in a business suit and tan shoes. His watch, a costly thing, studded with diamonds, was dangling from his pocket. It had stopped at 3:20. Practically all the other watches on bodies we recovered had stopped at 2:10. His watch chain was of platinum and so were the settings of the rings he wore."

John Snow (the undertaker who served on board the Mackay Bennett) made the following observation: "Colonel Astor's body was in an excellent state of preservation. It was clad in full evening dress. Col. Astor's handsome gold watch was dangling from the chain out of one of his pockets as though he had looked at it just before he took the final plunge. There was $2,500 in cash in his pocket."

Captain Richard Roberts (the commander of the Astor yacht) was the first to view the body of his employer when it was brought to Halifax. The features, he said, were unharmed, the face being only slightly discolored by water. When the body was recovered it was in ordinary garments, on which were Col. Astor's initials, and by this means as well as by certain documents in his pockets he was identified. He also carried considerable cash. Col. Astor was also wearing a belt with a gold buckle that had been in the family for years.

With that being said, I believe historians took Gracie's statement and embellished it, using the funnel to connect the dots. But if I'm not mistaken, Gracie also stated the Titanic did not split in two before sinking. So I always take his version of events with a grain of salt.

 

[Tommy]

Astor was thought for years to have been killed by one of the ship's falling funnels because reports persist that his body was recovered in a mangled state, but all who examined his body maintained that it was in perfect condition with no bruising. The only account that seems to state Astor was crushed came from Archibald Gracie: "From the fact that I never saw Colonel Astor on the Boat Deck later, and also because his body, when found, was crushed (according to the statement of one who saw it at Halifax, Mr. Harry K. White, of Boston, Mr. Edward A. Kent's brother-in-law, my schoolmate and friend from boyhood), I am of the opinion that he met his fate on the ship when the boilers tore through it, as described later."

However, other accounts differ:

Gerald Ross (an electrician on the Mackay Bennett) said: "I saw the recovery of Col. Astor's body. Like the others it was floating buoyed by a lifebelt. Both arms extended upwards. The face was swollen, one jaw was injured. His body was clothed in a business suit and tan shoes. His watch, a costly thing, studded with diamonds, was dangling from his pocket. It had stopped at 3:20. Practically all the other watches on bodies we recovered had stopped at 2:10. His watch chain was of platinum and so were the settings of the rings he wore."

John Snow (the undertaker who served on board the Mackay Bennett) made the following observation: "Colonel Astor's body was in an excellent state of preservation. It was clad in full evening dress. Col. Astor's handsome gold watch was dangling from the chain out of one of his pockets as though he had looked at it just before he took the final plunge. There was $2,500 in cash in his pocket."

Captain Richard Roberts (the commander of the Astor yacht) was the first to view the body of his employer when it was brought to Halifax. The features, he said, were unharmed, the face being only slightly discolored by water. When the body was recovered it was in ordinary garments, on which were Col. Astor's initials, and by this means as well as by certain documents in his pockets he was identified. He also carried considerable cash. Col. Astor was also wearing a belt with a gold buckle that had been in the family for years.

With that being said, I believe historians took Gracie's statement and embellished it, using the funnel to connect the dots. But if I'm not mistaken, Gracie also stated the Titanic did not split in two before sinking. So I always take his version of events with a grain of salt.

I've heard nothing to suggest Astor died any other way.

 

[TheShaneWorthy]

I've heard nothing to suggest Astor died any other way.

Well, if you're looking for someone to say they saw him perish before their very eyes, you might be disappointed because none have surfaced and after 100 years and all survivors gone, doesn't look like it ever will. What we do have to go though is what others have said in regards to the body and from what I've described above, it doesn't sound like he was smashed by a 60-ton funnel.

Instead, it looks more likely he was either killed by something smaller or simply succumbed to the elements.

 

[Matteo Eyre]

I can't see Gracie not being honest but then i can't see Snow lying either, they didn't make it easy for us did they, i still think that it is firmly possible that he was killed by the funnel but that's just my opinion, how was the qualityof the body of isidor strauss when it was found??
Thanks
Matteo

 

[TheShaneWorthy]

I can't see Gracie not being honest but then i can't see Snow lying either, they didn't make it easy for us did they, i still think that it is firmly possible that he was killed by the funnel but that's just my opinion, how was the qualityof the body of isidor strauss when it was found??
Thanks
Matteo

I never said I thought Gracie lied. But I do believe he had a tendency to 'embellish' the truth on occasion or in some instances, such as the Titanic's breakup, I simply believe that from his point of view he didn't see the ship split. Keep in mind, it was both dark and he's struggling in the water with his line of sight very low. Add angles into that equation and errors would be very easy to make.

In regards to Astor, if you get hit with something with the same weight as that of 60 cars...you're not going to resemble a human anymore.

Also, Strauss was recovered in a generally well-preserved state. From everything I've found in regards to his body, it seems he succumbed to the elements. The body was most likely bloated, but otherwise unharmed. I personally believe he died from hypothermia but what puzzles me is that fact that he was last seen on deck with his wife, Ida, and yet she was never recovered. Or at least identified. Which puzzles me because if Strauss was wearing a lifebelt, surely his wife would have had one. And if that was the case, perhaps her body was one of the unidentifiable?

 

[Tommy]

Well, if you're looking for someone to say they saw him perish before their very eyes, you might be disappointed because none have surfaced and after 100 years and all survivors gone, doesn't look like it ever will. What we do have to go though is what others have said in regards to the body and from what I've described above, it doesn't sound like he was smashed by a 60-ton funnel.

Instead, it looks more likely he was either killed by something smaller or simply succumbed to the elements.

I never said I was.