CRUISE SHIPS IN THE MOVIES – THE GREAT FILM DODSWORTH AND THE FABULOUS LINER REX
By Michael L. Grace | September 2, 2010
CRUISE SHIPS IN THE MOVIES – THE GREAT FILM DODSWORTH AND THE FABULOUS LINER REX…
Dodsworth features much social history and includes scenes aboard the wonderful Italian liner the REX. Dodsworth is one of the great classic American films. Our first story on ocean liners in the movies features the Italian Line’s fabulous liner – THE REX. Dodsworth also used Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary.
Mr. and Mrs. Dodsworth (John Huston and Ruth Chatterton) are over dressed the first night out aboard the RMS Queen Mary from New York to Southampton.
Ruth Chatterton and David Niven dance the night away aboard the RMS Queen Mary.
The Italian Line’s SS Rex, launched in 1931, held the westbound Blue Riband between 1933 and 1935. The ship was elegant and had beautiful public rooms. It was considered one of the most beautiful liners in the world. The video chronicles the life and death of this great liner. The Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, the Conte di Savoia.
THE REX
(Left: Grand stairway on the REX)
On 8 September 1944, off Koper, Rex was hit by 123 rockets launched by RAF aircraft, caught fire from stem to stern, rolled onto the port side, and sank in shallow water. The ship was broken up at the site beginning in 1947.
The Italian passenger liner Rex was a product of Navigazione Generale Italiana. It was ordered from the Ansaldo Shipyards in Genoa.
The Italian King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena attended the naming and launch of the Rex, on August 1, 1931.
On September 27, 1932, the Rex departed on her maiden voyage from Genoa. However, while approaching Gibraltar, she had some serious engine problems. The Rex eventually continued on her maiden voyage, but not without further engine problems. In New York, her maiden eastbound sailing was canceled, and she was forced to wait for parts brought in on subsequent inbound Italian liners.
In August 1933, the Rex captured the Blue Riband with an average speed of 28.92 knots. Her record crossing would hold until the Normandie won the Riband in May 1935.
After September 9, 1939, when World War II began, Rex, along one of the last foreign-flag ships still in service. Service ended in the spring of 1940.
The Rex was laid up at Bari, on the Adriatic coast.
Later, following a change of plan, she was towed to Trieste, never to sail again.
Reports hinted that the Rex would be converted to an aircraft carrier, a troop ship, or as a blockade at the harbor of Venice. But nothing came to pass.
On September 8, 1944, the Rex, anchored off Trieste (between Izola and Koper, now Slovenia), was sighted by Royal Air Force bombers, and was hit by 123 rockets. She burst into flames her entire length, and on the following day, capsized and sank in the shallow waters that she was anchored in.
After the war, studies were made in hopes of salvaging the Rex, but she was beyond economic repair, and declared a total loss. She was scrapped, beginning in 1947, and the work was completed by June 1958.
The Rex has also been remembered in film, making two notable cameo appearances, the first during the climax of Dodsworth, the 1936 drama directed by William Wyler, the second in Amarcord (1973), directed by Federico Fellini, in which the citizens of Rimini celebrate as the liner sails past on her maiden voyage.
Dodsworth is featured on Turner Classic Movies – watch for it.
SAMUEL GOLDWYN’S PRODUCTION OF DODSWORTH BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SINCLAIR LEWIS
Dodsworth is a 1936 American film classic directed by William Wyler. Sidney Howard based the screenplay on his 1934 stage adaptation of the 1929 novel by Sinclair Lewis. Through the title character, it examines the differences between US and European intellect, manners, and morals.
Middle-aged Sam Dodsworth is the head of Revelation Motor Company, an automobile manufacturing firm. His wife Fran, a shallow and vain woman obsessed with the notion of growing old, convinces her spouse Sam to sell his interest in the company and take her to Europe. Before long, Fran begins to view herself as a sophisticated world traveler and Sam as boring and unimaginative. Searching for excitement in her life, she begins spending time with other men and eventually informs Sam that she’s leaving him for a member of the nobility. While in Italy, Sam reunites with Edith Cortright, a divorcee he first met aboard a liner en route to Europe, and the two fall in love. When Fran’s plans to marry the nobleman fall through and she calls off the divorce, Sam rejoins her on a ship to sail back to America but in the climactic scene, Sam realizes his marriage to Fran is over and gets off the ship at the last moment to rejoin Edith after he realizes just how much he cares for her.
Some notes on the film state that the ship used en-route to Europe was the Queen Mary – but the decor matches the grandeur of the Normandie. But the Rex is definitely the liner used at the end of the film. This is where Dodsworth leaves his wife.
Coming – Matson Line’s SS LURLINE – as seen in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
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HISTORY OF THE CUNARD LINE – GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN!
By Michael L. Grace | September 1, 2010
Social History: History of The Cunard Line – Getting there is half the fun!
Cunard Line was the only company to continue regular transatlantic ocean crossings by liners after the 1970s. The French Line, Italian Line, the United States Line had gone out of business. Swedish America Line, Holland America Line along with Home Lines continued but only operating cruise ships. Liner service between New York and Europe was only offered by Cunard. The QE 2 made numerous crossings into the 21st Century – making Cunard Line the only way to cross the pond and continuing the tradition of “getting there is half the fun.”
Sailing away on the RMS Queen Mary – Robert Montgomery, Loretta Young, Bob Hope and Alexis Smith…
Left: Walt Disney and Winston Churchill aboard the Cunard Line.
Of all the cruise lines in the market of today, perhaps the most venerable would be the Cunard line. A name that is synonymous with transatlantic crossing, the Cunard Cruise Ship Line is known in some capacity to just about everybody who knows anything about ships.
The famous old brand is of course most famous for its White Star Line ships of the early part of the last century, and in particular the tragic and ill-fated liner Titanic, which even those who care nothing for travel of any sort know at least something about. Even if it is only in connection with Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet, surely there is no-one reading this who does not know what happened, ultimately, to this most ambitious of passenger liners.
Gary Cooper on the RMS QUEEN MARY…
Today, the Cunard line still sails the sea, though today it is owned by the Carnival Corporation and has just two active ships – the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria. There are also plans afoot to build a third ship, which will be named for Britain’s current monarch Queen Elizabeth, after the old Queen Elizabeth II (or QE2) was retired from active service pending its conversion to a hotel ship, which will be moored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The current fleet is used principally for world cruises, and mixes the stately grandeur of its forebears with the inescapable touch of modernity – no cruise liner of the present day can afford to be without a spa complex, after all.
Topics: STEAMSHIP LINES | 1 Comment »
HISTORY OF THE HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
By Michael L. Grace | August 30, 2010
History of the Holland America Line – Holland America Line Cruises…
The HAL liner NIEUW AMSTERDAM in the 1950s with the SS UNITED STATES
Liner History would not be complete, without studying the venerable Holland America Line. One of the last lines to offer Trans-Atlantic crossings on a regular basis before the Jet took the fun out of crossing the pond.
The Holland America Line was founded in 1873 as the Dutch-America Steamship Company (Dutch: Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij), a shipping and passenger line. Because it was headquartered in Rotterdam and provided service to the Americas, it became known as Holland America Line (HAL). Its headquarters are now in Seattle, Washington.
(Left: the latest HAL cruise ship: NIEUW AMSTERDAM) The first ships sailed between Rotterdam and New York in 1872. Until scheduled transatlantic passenger transport ended New York (Hoboken) remained the main American terminal. Other services were started later that century to South America and Baltimore. A pure cargo service to New York was added in 1899. In the early years of the 20th century other North American ports were added to the service. In the first 25 years of its existence the line carried 400,000 people from the old to the new world.
(Left: HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam – 1960s…)Though transportation and shipping were the primary sources of revenue, in 1895 the company offered its first vacation cruise. Its second leisure cruise, from New York to the Holy Land, was first offered in 1910. In 1971, HAL suspended its transatlantic passenger trade and, in 1973, the company sold its cargo shipping division.
In 1989, HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the largest cruise line in the world. Today, the company operates 14 ships to seven continents and carries nearly 700,000 cruise passengers a year.
HISTORY
Holland America Line produced some noted ships from the 36,000 gross ton SS Nieuw Amsterdam of 1937, probably the only large passenger liner at the time that was not completed with any expectation of serving for the military, and the SS Rotterdam of 1959, one of the first ships on the North Atlantic to be equipped for two class transatlantic crossing and one class luxury cruising. By the late sixties, the golden era of profitable trans-Atlantic ships was over, and the remaining routes were siphoned off by the airlines. The early seventies saw the end of the trans-Atlantic service, leaving the North Atlantic for Cunard’s RMS Queen Elizabeth 2.
In 1971, Holland America abandoned its passenger transportation service and switched to running cruise ships full time. Since then, the company has become known for wide variety of destinations it sails to. After obtaining government approval to visit Antarctica in the 1980s, the line now visits all seven continents. Its MS Prinsendam makes annual “Grand Voyages” that usually last more than 60 days. These explore and circle more exotic destinations such as South America and Africa. Due to the increasing popularity of the exotic and rarely-visited ports of call featured on Grand World Voyages, the MS Amsterdam will offer the Grand World Voyage in addition to the Prinsendam’s Grand Voyages in 2007 and 2008. 2008 is also the 50th anniversary of Holland America Line’s Grand World Voyage and will feature a true circumnavigation of the globe. In 2009, the sister-ship to the ms Amsterdam, MS Rotterdam will complete the Grand World Voyage.
CURRENT
(Left: Horse racing crossing the Atlantic)The line operates fourteen ships, ranging from the smaller and older S Class vessels; the mid range R Class; the Vista class; the newest and largest Signature class and the small 793-passenger Prinsendam (originally the Royal Viking Sun, then Seabourn Sun until HAL’s purchase of the vessel in 2002). All HAL ships have a dark blue hull with white superstructure, with the line’s logo featured prominently on the functional smoke stacks.
In addition to its fleet of cruise ships, Holland America also owns the Westmark hotel chain which operates in Alaska and the Yukon, and Worldwide Shore Services, which provides warehouse and logistical support for the company. HAL shares its headquarters in Seattle’s Uptown Queen Anne, Seattle, Washington district with the above mentioned subsidiaries. Finally, HAL owns “Half Moon Cay” (its own private island in the Caribbean, officially known as Little San Salvador Island); nearly all of the line’s cruises through the region spend at least a day there.
On April 3, 2008 Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corporation, stated that due to the low value of the US dollar, inflation and high shipbuilding costs, the company would not be ordering any new ships for their US based brands (Holland America, Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises) until the economic situation improves.
Topics: STEAMSHIP LINES | 1 Comment »
Mapping of the RMS Titanic wreck begins…
By Michael L. Grace | August 28, 2010
LINER HISTORY – CRUISE SHIP HISTORY – Mapping of the RMS Titanic wreck begins…
The bow of the RMS Titanic lies on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada…
THE RMS TIANTIC…
A high-tech expedition that aims to create a detailed map of the wreckage of the Titanic has begun exploring the ocean floor where the ship sank nearly one hundred years ago, the crew said Thursday.
Sonar onboard an automated submersible vehicle combined with high-resolution video will be used to create three dimensional images of the fabled ocean-liner.
Topics: Air Ship, CREW MEMBERS, CRUISE SHIP REVIEWS, CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS, CUNARD LINE, Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, cruise reviews | No Comments »
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE HISTORY – BOAT DAYS FROM NEW YORK IN THE 1950s and 1960s
By Michael L. Grace | August 26, 2010
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE HISTORY – BOAT DAY: Sailings from New York aboard the Holland-America Line’s SS Nieuw Amsterdam & US Line’s SS United States during the glamor period of trans-Atlantic crossings from the 1950s.
ANOTHER BOAT DAY: The gorgeous mid-century ship TSS ROTTERDAM sailing from New York on May 23, 1966.
The end of a full schedule of trans-Atlantic crossings would be heading into its last decade.
The videos are from www.shipgeek.com – visit this great site.
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Social History: What they read in 1926!
By Michael L. Grace | August 23, 2010
Social History: What they read in 1926!
Great youTube video – all about 1926. Take a look – just great. Just press the arrow!
Radio Magazine – 1926
Topics: SOCIAL HISTORY, STEAMSHIP LINES | No Comments »
History of Princess Cruises
By Michael L. Grace | August 23, 2010
Cruise Line History
Princess Cruises History: Exploring the origin of Princess Cruises and their naming the “Princess” ships. Where did the name of each of their “Love Boat” cruise ships originate?
A painting Cruising The Past commissioned of the first “Love Boat” and original cruise ship of Princess Cruises – the PRINCESS PATRICIA. Ready to sail from Los Angeles, seen docked at the foot of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, for her first (Princess) cruise to Mexico.
The Princess Patricia under steam. How she would have appeared when making her first Princess Line Cruises.
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Egypt’s passenger steamship company: The Khedivial Mail Line
By Michael L. Grace | August 23, 2010
Khedivial Mail Line once operated service between Egypt and New York.
SS Mohamed Ali el-Kebir
The original name of the company is unknown but it is thought that it was founded in 1858. The Khedivial Mail Steamship & Graving Dock Co. was formed in 1898 to operate ships and docks owned by various departments of the Egyptian Government, but little is known of the early years of the company or it’s ships.
The new fleet was registered under the British flag and operated passenger and cargo services between Alexandria, Constantinople and Syrian ports and between Suez and Red Sea ports. Later services were extended to Piraeus, Malta, Marseilles and Cyprus. P & O Line took control of the company between 1919 and 1924.
In 1936 the company was re-formed in Alexandria as Pharaonic Mail Line and in 1941 was changed to Khedivial Mail Line. Services from the Mediterranean to Boston and New York started in 1948 and from 1951 calls were often made at Charleston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. A Port Said – Bombay – Karachi service started in 1953.
Topics: STEAMSHIP LINES | 1 Comment »
Greetings from the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Steam Ship Company – 1913
By Michael L. Grace | August 23, 2010
The Aorangi (17,491 grt, 600 ft. long) was delivered in 1924 to the Union Line of New Zealand. She was transferred in 1931 to the Canadian Australasian Line, a company formed jointly by the Union Line and Canadian Pacific to operate the transpacific service between Australia/New Zealand and Canada. She was sold for scrap in 1953.
Pacific Liner History: Canadian-Australian Steam Ship Company / Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Steam Ship Company
Established in 1893, the Canadian-Australian Steam Ship Company operated a service between Sydney, Brisbane, Honolulu, Victoria, British Columbia (BC) and Vancouver, BC.
The Brisbane call was eventually abandoned and replaced by Suva, Fiji.
The route became Sydney, Wellington, Suva, Honolulu, Victoria BC, Vancouver.
The company was reconstituted as the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Steam Ship Company under the joint control of James Huddart and the New Zealand Shipping Company who took complete control of the line in 1898.
Post card posted in Honolulu. Destination Minnesota. 1913
In 1900 the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand acquired a controlling interest in the company and assumed responsibility for outstanding contracts and agreements.
In 1910 the purchase was completed and the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Steam Ship Company became an integral part of the fleet of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand.
Topics: CANADIAN STEAMSHIP AND CRUISE LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES | 1 Comment »
NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY FEATURES THE TRAIN OF THE STARS – THE SUPER CHIEF
By Michael L. Grace | August 19, 2010
Social History: Cruising the Past editor – Michael L. Grace – celebrates the Santa Fe Railroad’s Super Chief – the train of the stars – and an “exclusive club” that ran daily between Chicago and Los Angeles with a feature story on New York Social Diary.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SUPER CHIEF FEATURE
in the NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY.
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