Atlantic (film)

Atlantic

Company type	Film
Industry	Motion picture
Founded	1929
Founder	Ewald André Dupont
Products	Drama film

Atlantic—also released for home viewing as Titanic: Disaster in the Atlantic—is a 1929 British drama featuring full sound, directed and produced by Ewald André Dupont, with lead performances by Franklin Dyall and Madeleine Carroll. Two language versions were created simultaneously: an English one and a German-language version titled Atlantik. A separate French adaptation, Atlantis, appeared in 1930, incorporating different footage and partial alterations to the storyline under a different director. Additionally, a silent film variant was issued. The plot is derived from the West End stage play The Berg by Ernest Raymond. With a production cost of $250,000, it ranked among the most costly films of 1929 and earned approximately $500,000 at the box office.

Plot

The film Atlantic portrays the sinking of a fictional ocean liner named Atlantic, mirroring the real-life tragedy of the RMS Titanic. The storyline revolves around a man’s extramarital affair uncovered during the voyage. An elderly couple, the Rools, celebrate their wedding anniversary aboard the ship. After colliding with an iceberg in the mid-Atlantic, the vessel begins to sink. Due to insufficient lifeboats, priority is given to women and children, though some men manage to board the final boats. Mrs. Rool chooses to stay with her husband rather than evacuate. As water rises, passengers assemble in the lounge to sing "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and recite the Lord's Prayer, moments before the ship’s lights extinguish.

Production

A persistent rumor suggested that filming took place aboard the White Star Line vessel RMS Majestic, but this is improbable since White Star would unlikely permit their flagship to be used in a depiction of their most infamous disaster. The grand staircase sequence bears resemblance to the first-class entrance of Majestic or her sister ship SS Leviathan, implying that some scenes may have been shot on one of these liners given the elaborate set design and associated expenses.

Certain sequences were filmed on board the P&O liner Mooltan. Initially titled Titanic, legal action from White Star Line—still operating RMS Titanic at that time—prompted renaming it to Atlantic. White Star also owned an earlier vessel named SS Atlantic, which sank in 1873; however, this name was considered less controversial by then. The film’s concluding sinking scene was removed to avoid upsetting survivors and is currently lost. A reconstruction using unused footage from the 1953 Titanic movie is accessible online.

Sound

Atlantic stands as one of Britain’s pioneering films featuring an optical soundtrack (sound-on-film) and was Germany’s first feature-length sound film. In England, it was distributed in both sound and silent formats; its French release marked one of France’s earliest sound cinema presentations.

As the inaugural sound film depicting the Titanic disaster, it introduced the hymn "Nearer, My God to Thee," performed by both the ship’s band and its passengers.

Reception

The Observer commended the film’s sound quality but critiqued its dialogue as being "too close...to literary tradition" and remarked on "flabby acting." Reflecting retrospectively, David Cairns noted that the film "became something of a laughing-stock in Britain" due to sluggish line delivery by actors, which diminished dramatic tension despite director Dupont’s focus on creating gravitas.

See also

• Foreign Language Version
• Compilation of films centered on the RMS Titanic
• List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

External links

• IMDb entry for the German-language version Atlantik
• IMDb entry for the French-language version Atlantis