Robert Wagner..." Reisch says he came up with the Titanic idea and pitched Clifton Webb as one of the 25 multi-millionaires who died on it. He said the film would be "60 percent truth, completely documentary" drawing on real-life accounts. A part was written for Thelma Ritter. Reisch says it was Richard Breen's idea to have an alcoholic priest. Brackett, who co-wrote and produced the film, told the press that some of the stories had to be discarded "because they are too fantastic for movie audiences to believe". At one point the film was going to be called Nearer My God to Thee. Casting In a September 1952 news article, it was reported that Terry Moore was set to play the role of Annette Sturges, on condition that she would finish production of Man on a Tightrope on time. Critical reception According to the film aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 91% "Fresh" rating, based on 10 reviews. Variety reviewed the film positively stating, "but by the time the initial 45 or 50 minutes are out of the way, the impending disaster begins to take a firm grip on the imagination and builds a compelling expectancy". Pauline Kael was not impressed with the picture's special effects. She wrote: "the actual sinking looks like a nautical tragedy on the pond in Central Park". It is generally considered by historians that Titanic contains abundant historical inaccuracies. For example, the maiden voyage was not sold out, but actually barely more than half-booked, as shown by White Star Line records of 1912. Linda Koldau writes: "Titanic experts rightly emphasize that the scene at Cherbourg is historical nonsense, since the Titanic was far from being sold out and an additional passenger would easily have been able to purchase a first-class ticket ... Yet if one accepts that historical accuracy is not the point here, since the story is not at all that of the Titanic, it is a perfectly functioning script". Also, Carpathia had arrived at the scene at around 4:10 A.M., and started picking up the survivors before sunrise. The rescue took several hours. In addition, Captain Smith was not awake at the time of the ship's allision with the iceberg, as shown in the film, but was awakened immediately thereafter and summoned to the bridge. Also, the wireless from the Caronia warning Titanic of an iceberg ahead of it on the