When the luxury liner Titanic sank on April 14, 1912, on her maiden voyage, a German film company, Continental-Kunstfilm, immediately planned to produce a film dramatization of the event. The results were "In Night and Ice (In Nacht und Eis)". Filming was done in July, and by August 1912, the movie was released to the public. It is the oldest existing movie made on the sinking of the Titanic, where at least 24 films have been on the event.
Since there was little existing film on the actual Titanic, the producers of "In Night and Ice" took liberties to substitute what appears to be actual footage of the Titanic. They spliced in some cruiser embarkation film of (possibly) the German ocean liner SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, which was docked in Hamburg, Germany. The dramatization of the sinking was shot inside a glasshouse studio inside the movie's headquarters. Scenes of the ship's bridge, the telegraph office, staterooms, boiler rooms and dining rooms were built on movable skids to reflect the wave action of the liner.
Headed by first-time Romanian director Mime Misu, "In Night And Ice" was considered lost for several decades until 1998 when a German film archivist read a newspaper account on the missing movie. He came forward with the film he owned, which subsequently has been restored.
The first movie ever made on the Titanic sinking was "Saved From The Titanic," produced just 29 days after the event. Film actress Dorothy Gibson, rescued from the Titanic, co-wrote and acted in the now lost movie. She climbed on the first lifeboat to leave the floundering boat and was picked up by the RMS Carpathia five hours later.
Gibson starred in movies for a couple of years before embarking on the Titanic. She was employed by U. S. branch of Paris' Eclair Studios. Her rise to success was so fast Gibson became the second highest paid silent movie star behind Mary Pickford during that time.
She took a six-week vacation in Italy with her mother before returning to Ft. Lee, N. J. to make more movies. Once arriving in New York, Gibson was convinced by her agent to write and star in Titanic's first movie. During filming, Gibson was so traumatized by reliving her experiences soon after the sinking she ended up having a nervous breakdown. She would never act in film again.
All the existing prints of "Saved From The Titanic" were burned in a 1914 fire at the Eclair Studios. Film historians consider this as one of the greatest losses in movie--and Titanic lore--history.
Since there was little existing film on the actual Titanic, the producers of "In Night and Ice" took liberties to substitute what appears to be actual footage of the Titanic. They spliced in some cruiser embarkation film of (possibly) the German ocean liner SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, which was docked in Hamburg, Germany. The dramatization of the sinking was shot inside a glasshouse studio inside the movie's headquarters. Scenes of the ship's bridge, the telegraph office, staterooms, boiler rooms and dining rooms were built on movable skids to reflect the wave action of the liner.
Headed by first-time Romanian director Mime Misu, "In Night And Ice" was considered lost for several decades until 1998 when a German film archivist read a newspaper account on the missing movie. He came forward with the film he owned, which subsequently has been restored.
The first movie ever made on the Titanic sinking was "Saved From The Titanic," produced just 29 days after the event. Film actress Dorothy Gibson, rescued from the Titanic, co-wrote and acted in the now lost movie. She climbed on the first lifeboat to leave the floundering boat and was picked up by the RMS Carpathia five hours later.
Gibson starred in movies for a couple of years before embarking on the Titanic. She was employed by U. S. branch of Paris' Eclair Studios. Her rise to success was so fast Gibson became the second highest paid silent movie star behind Mary Pickford during that time.
She took a six-week vacation in Italy with her mother before returning to Ft. Lee, N. J. to make more movies. Once arriving in New York, Gibson was convinced by her agent to write and star in Titanic's first movie. During filming, Gibson was so traumatized by reliving her experiences soon after the sinking she ended up having a nervous breakdown. She would never act in film again.
All the existing prints of "Saved From The Titanic" were burned in a 1914 fire at the Eclair Studios. Film historians consider this as one of the greatest losses in movie--and Titanic lore--history.