G. J. Cooper

My enduring impression of Captain Edward John Smith of the S.S. Titanic comes from the 1958 film A Night To Remember, with the white-bearded skipper releasing his two wireless operators from their posts, so I decided to read up on the true facts. Gary Cooper's biography, however, while told fairly and plainly, doesn't really add anything to the films, or even Smith's Wikipedia entry. The first half relies heavily on family background, even down to quoting census entries, which might be interesting to genealogists but drags slightly as a lead up to the 'main event', and the facts known about Smith's final hours aboard the ill-fated ship are so sketchy and questionable that the second half of Cooper's history turns into a recap of Walter Lord's book on the disaster. I spent three weeks on and off - mostly off - reading through what seemed like a lot of local history and descriptions of ships.

For all that, I did eventually learn some interesting details about Smith's early career and reputation as the 'storm king', the White Star line (later bought out by Cunard), and the 'accepted truth' about what really happened to the Titanic. The rise and fall of Smith's legacy, and the petty squabbling over his statue in Lichfield, make for a sad conclusion to his dramatic story, however, and it's easy to forget that the now infamous sinking was all but forgotten about until the 1950s film, and the later discovery of the wreck in the 1980s. The best summary of Captain Edward Smith to my mind actually comes from a memorial plaque in a New York Seaman's Church Institute: He sailed the sea for forty years, faithful in duty, friendly in spirit, firm in command, fearless in disaster, he saved women and children, and went down with his ship'. The rest is history. And James Cameron.… (mehr)