MovieChat Forums > Titanic (1950) Discussion > Found something strange, please read

Found something strange, please read

posted 10 years ago by wreckage3001
8 replies | jump to latest

Watch the film on YT, search for "Titanic 1943 Part 4". At 0:21 the subtitle reads

"What I mean is that, as the only German officer on board..."

What makes perfect sense since this is a propaganda movie, the good German, a cited quote from the film etc etc. But what the actor really says is

"Ich will damit sagen, dass sie als einziger Offizier hier an Bord..."

translated

"What I mean is that, as the only officer on board..."

As you can see, in the actual movie the word "German" is missing. And this is very interesting. Because if you look closely, when Ismay says "Ich will damit sagen", right after the last word the picture shifts a little bit. This could be evidence for a manual edit. A native speaker, watching frame by frame, will also notice it's not perfectly lip-sync. Means some audio could be missing...

I googled a lot but didn't find an answer when or why this was done. It's like somebody, maybe postwar, wanted to tone down that aspect and just stupidly erased the word "Deutscher" (German), to ruin the 'great' propaganda moment.

I wonder if the subtitles were made from another (uncut?) version.

[–] Fallen_Descamisado 10 years ago

The film was cut to ribbons by Goebbels and then by the Allies. Kino Video did their best to restore the missing bits and pieces, but many are still missing. There are also production still of Petersen cornering with a gun a panicking First Class passenger in the radio room while trying to steal Phillips' and Bride's lifebelts.

"...When they found her, she was still smiling."

[–] wreckage3001 10 years ago

>>The film was cut to ribbons by Goebbels and then by the Allies.<<

Yeah I was aware of that. Is there a website or other source where this things are documented?

[–] saltnurwound 10 years ago

Fascinating. I'm watching the documentary on this film now and it doesn't surprise me a bit that things were done like that after the war. I'm only surprised so few things were edited out or cut. What a nightmarish era WW2 was.

[–] rtchrock 10 years ago

Even new movies are cut to ribbons,usually to protect the eyes and ears of younger viewers,or in the name of political correctness.

[–] stanleyhetz 10 years ago

Fascinating. I'm watching the documentary on this film now and it doesn't surprise me a bit that things were done like that after the war. I'm only surprised so few things were edited out or cut. What a nightmarish era WW2 was.

Which documentary about this film did you watch?

[–] saltnurwound 10 years ago

I can't remember for sure (it was almost a year ago) but I think it was called "The Nazi Titanic"

If that's correct, the doc has a page here on imdb.

But it's possible that it was one of the countless shows about NAZIs on American heroes channel aka The Military Channel.

[–] saltnurwound 10 years ago

Also, I just checked and it's available on 'On Demand' if you have Comcast.

At least in my area.

Hope that helps!

[–] ronaldt49 7 years ago

"Nazi Titanic" listed in IMDB but only two entries from 2014 listed as of this entry