Long before theTitanic” by James Cameron, a first film on the sinking had been made only a few days after the tragedy. But no one will ever be able to see it again. Its name? “Saved from the Titanic” (“Survivor of Titanic”).
Saved from the Titanic : the first film about the sinking
The sinking of Titanic on the night of April 14 to 15, 1912 inspired many audiovisual works, including the most popular remains to this day James Cameron’s film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet released in 1998.
The very first film relating the sinking was released on May 14, 1912, barely a month after the tragedy that claimed the lives of (about) 1,500 people. Her name ? Saved from the Titanic (survivor of Titanic).
This is a silent short film directed by one of the pioneers of French cinema: Étienne Arnaud. Of a period of ten minutesit features a real victim of the shipwreck: actress Dorothy Gibson, then 23 years old.
The latter was on board the liner with her mother, to return to New York. The two women survived the sinking by boarding the canoe no. 7who was the first to leave the ship.
Barely five days after the tragedy, Dorothy Gibson’s lover, Jules Brulatour, president of the company Éclair (then established in the United States), asks him to reproduce the experience of the shipwreck for the filming of the film. At first reluctant, she finally accepts the challenge.
forever lost
She slips into the skin of a young woman, who relates to her parents and her fiancé, the sinking of the Titanic. The drama is represented through flashbacks and is filmed largely in New York Harbor. To provide more authenticity to the character, Dorothy Gibson wears the same dress she wore on the night of the drama.
Released barely a month after the tragedy, the film was a big success and launched the long list of cinematographic works inspired by the sinking. Unfortunately, the film strips disappear in the fire from the laboratories of Éclair Studios in Fort Lee on March 19, 1914.
On his side, Dorothy Gibson never acted in a film again after the release of Saved from the Titanic. She moved to France in 1928, and died there 18 years later, after escaping from a Nazi prison during World War II where she was being held for resistance.
