S.O.S. Titanic

Historical and disaster should be a lucrative combination: this succeeds elegantly with its plush settings, but it hams the spectacle dreadfully. 'The Titanic' never seems more than a model, especially when the unsinkable happens in mid-Atlantic, and director Hale seems a little confused about the weather conditions, which change from shot to shot. The film drops all too soon and too snugly into the standard disaster formula, though there are a couple of good observations; the rich ladies adjusting their life jackets in front of the mirror, for instance, and the illuminating depiction of the ship's rigid three-tier class system (first class: first saved).