Titanic

The lessons of history are rarely learnt. Like Cameron's 1997 version, this soapy account of the iceberg-struck luxury liner offers a combination of dodgy script (though it won an Oscar), all-star, all-drowning cast and expansively expensive special effects. Stanwyck is a stoical mother, Wagner is a student who falls for her daughter (Dalton), Basehart a defrocked priest with a drink problem. But who cares about the backstory when you can see extras thrashing about in the icy water? A Night to Remember did it with more dignity, and Cameron with more vainglorious pride, but this take of the story is engaging enough.