![]() ![]() Immediately, Knight ordered axes to cut a hole in the deck – and four cold, grateful, half-starved men came out of their watery grave. As they walked upon the wooden hull of the capsized ship, they heard voices and saw a stick running up and down through a crack. The waves had subsided and the crew of the John & Adam made a stunning discovery. Knight, was able to get to the wreck of the Sea Fox. Three days later, the John & Adam, commanded by Capt. Large sums of reward money were offered for any passengers, dead or alive. They were all lost in the fierce storm.Īt the end of article, the American-Beacon reports: "This subject is too painful to dwell on."īut that's when the true plot thickens to Poseidon-like dimensions.Ī few days later, two pilot boats were discharged to look for the Sea Fox wreck, but returned to port without finding a trace. Miss Dawson, a well-educated woman, was embracing her parents during the storm and actually sank from her parents' arms into her brother's arms while he was struggling to save her life. ![]() Levi Dawson, William Bev, a black man, were lost. Walker, Miss Matilda Dawson, her servant and four crewmen were all lost. McNeill of Jamaica, and their two children were all lost. Easterbrook of the British navy, his lovely wife Lady Easterbrook, who was the daughter of Dr. Smith had scooped them up and transferred them to the schooner Delaware.Īboard the Sea Fox that frightful night, things went badly for many who were later identified: Lt. But rough seas still made conditions difficult for the Iris to make a rescue. Wyer, his mate and two other sailors managed to get a few people in a lifeboat, and they stayed on the leeward side of the capsized boat – somewhat protected from the heavy wind and rain – until daybreak.Īs light approached, one of the passengers spotted a ship. Only three passengers made it to safety from their cabins. Creber and set decorator Raphael Bretton would have deserved their Oscar nomination for the central sequence alone, a nightmare New Year’s Eve party with just enough flying tinsel to overwhelm the audience.Like all ship disasters, panic ensued. As a feat of engineering, the ballroom set is astonishing. Everything was to be as precise as possible, presumably to make the horror seem all the more real.Īnd, frankly, it works. So meticulous, in fact, that the interior sets back at the Fox Studio were built from archival photographs and the Queen Mary’s original blueprints. But for the moment they’re just another detail in Neame and Creber’s meticulous construction. Later, these two will become crucial to The Poseidon Adventure ’s attempt at allegory, like a spiritual sequel to Ship of Fools. ![]() There’s Shelley Winters and Jack Albertson as Belle and Manny Rosen, a couple of Jewish grandparents on their way to Israel to meet their brand-new grandchild. Much of the film was shot on the real ship, including this pleasant glimpse at the deck. By the time The Poseidon Adventure went into production, the Queen Mary had begun a long retirement docked in Los Angeles. And he did plenty of research to make sure it was possible for an ocean liner to be flipped entirely upside down by a rogue wave.ĭirector Ronald Neame and production designer William Creber were equally concerned. Paul Gallico, who wrote the original novel, was inspired by an actual trip on the Queen Mary he took in 1937, during which the ship turned on its side. I ask this because I was surprised to learn how much the team behind The Poseidon Adventure cared about accuracy. ![]() How solid is your suspension of disbelief when it comes to airplane explosions and burning buildings, tsunamis and earthquakes? Do you sit on the couch fact-checking on your laptop while expensive catastrophes unfold on your TV? Click on the images to see them in magnified detail.ĭoes it matter to you if a disaster movie is realistic? This is an honest question. Daniel Walber's series on Production Design offers a digestif for our Shelley Winters festival. ![]()
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