When the ship capsized on it side after the explosion, was destroyed, or could the upright with cranes and make minor repairs?
Sincerley Directorgene
I read somewhere that the ship we saw that was on its side was NOT the ship that was supposed to have been blown up in the film. It just happened to be the perfect shot for the film and what happened when Fry hit the button. It worked out very well.
shareThe footage in the movie is of the SS Normandie. Check Wiki. "Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946."
What I had in mind was boxing the compass.share
The question to me is... was the toppled ship supposed to be the same ship inside this movie?
In the film, the explosion came AFTER the ship had gotten off the launch almost successfully, I get the camera down making people blow UP thing, but the plan was to explode WHILE the ship was starting to launch.
THEN, later they cut to A ship fully over, seemingly no where near where the launch just happened.
To me, it was just a shot of a similar ship and the real mission failed.
But I'm over anaylzing like a modern audience member does. I realize older films didn't have all teh resources they needed to achieve certain things and I respect that.
So, if that was supposed to THE SHIP toppled, mission successful, I'm okay with that. Just that I can't figure out from what is presented.
Like the previous poster wrote: Its the Normandie...NOT the Navy ship that they tried to blow up. Hitchcock stuck it in (with Fry's grin after he sees it)to make us think that the saboteurs in this film might have had something to do with the Normadies demise. It was suspected at the time that sabotage had caused the fire that destroyed the ship. BTW, they took that scene out in some prints as to not alarm people about possible sabotage attempts in New York.
It's true that the capsized ship shown in the movie was actually newsreel footage of the USS Lafayette (formerly Normandie). But based upon Fry's reaction upon seeing it, I believe Hitch wanted viewers to think the sabotage of the USS Alaska was successful.
shareRobert Osborn gave his take (which I would take as close to gospel as anything) that by inserting the newsreel footage of the Normandy, and then showing Fry smiling, Hitchcock wanted the viewers to think that Fry had something to do with the mysterious fire that struck the Normandy, not for viewers to think it was the Alaska.
shareI agree and what I was thinking when I saw the film today.
shareTwo different ships - and intended to be seen that way! One is seen sliding down the launch ways into the East River at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the other capsized at the piers in the Hudson River. One's a warship, the other a passenger ship converted to troop transport (the Normandie converted to the Lafayette).
The battleship was launched successfully down the ways. It's obvious that the explosion came too late to damage it since since the ship passed that point on the ways, already, and it's seen to enter the East River without a problem.
The ship on its side is the Normandie, refitted to be a troop transport and re-named Lafayette. It is seen capsized in the Hudson River (actual footage), with the piers nearby.
The setting in which the two ships are seen are completely different - the battleship being launched down the ways at what is obviously a ship building facility (actual footage at The Brooklyn Navy Yard); the passenger ship capsized at the pier.
I don't understand why viewers would think this is the same ship if they view each carefully, although Hitchcock's editing obviously causes the confusion.