In Nacht und Eis - A 1912 Silent Drama about Titanic (Part 4)

Famous for being the first Titanic movie in history, "In Nacht und Eis" (translated: "In Night and Ice") was released in August 1912 in Germany. The film used revolutionary special effects for the time, utilizing a toy boat for the sinking sequence and also featuring sparks shooting from the funnels (as well as an explosion for the boilers exploding). Some footage was shot on board the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, then a very popular ocean liner. After 1914, the film was thought to be lost forever. It was not until 1998 that it was found by a film collector in his private archives. I saw it on Turner Classic Movies in 1999, but it has not been shown on TV since then. I'm posting this on YouTube because it's an important film, and it could risk being lost again if anything happen's to the film collector's version. Thankfully, the risk has been reduced with the introduction of the Internet.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• The
• Night
• and
• the
• Sinking
• of
• Titanic

[panzermadame]

I saw the movie twice. It must have been very scary for the peole, it took a long time to sink.

[Friendo1231]

Well, there wasn't much panic at first. People thought the ship was going to be fine. However, when the forecastle deck towards the bow began to go under, people began to realize that she just wasn't going to stay afloat. Then the promenade started to fill with water, and they knew it was only a matter of minutes before the ship was going to sink.

Once you have that much water flooding into the lower parts of the ship (like the reception room and Grand Staircase), that's it. You're sunk.

[panzermadame]

Good video very strange . I wish I could read German. Thanks

[Friendo1231]

Yeah, it was a pretty strange film. What we must remember, however, is that these people were pioneering cinema, and they really didn't have an idea in hell about what they were doing. They just kind of improvised and did what they thought they should do.

[Friendo1231]

The film revolves around Jack Phillips and Harold Bride (wireless operators). In this particular segment, Captain Smith and Bride are trying to convince Phillips to leave his post as Titanic sinks.

The end was very abrupt. That was Captain Smith floating in the water, BTW, handing over a young boy to a lifeboat. This part was based on a story about Smith's fate as told by a cook. He said Smith swam back into Titanic's promenade and was pulled into the Grand Staircase when the ship sank.

[Patrickinho88]

fantastic this is an historical movie

[rgur90x]

wow they really didnt know too much about the titanic and its sinking back then. i mean, at 4:35 it says that the captain jumped in water and picked up someone and took that person to a lifeboat. yeah right. he just swam around several metres in the 30 degrees water carrying people around, why not?

[Werther2000]

Thanks for posting it, man. It's one of the first (the first?) disaster movie in cinema's story.