Sinking of the RMS Titanic believed that ice posed little risk; close calls were not uncommon, and even head-on collisions had not been disastrous. In 1907, , a German liner, had rammed an iceberg and suffered a crushed bow, but was still able to complete her voyage. That same year, "Titanic"s future captain, Edward Smith, declared in an interview that he could not "imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." As "Titanic" approached her fatal collision, most passengers had gone to bed and command of the bridge had passed from Second Officer Charles Lightoller to First
RMS Titanic in popular culture May 1912 and subsequently shown internationally, it was a major success. However, it is now considered a lost film, as the only known prints were destroyed in a fire in March 1914. Gibson's film competed against the German film "In Nacht und Eis" ("In Night and Ice"), directed by the Romanian Mime Misu, who played the "Titanic"s Captain Smith. It was largely shot aboard the liner SS "Kaiserin Auguste Victoria". The fatal collision was depicted by ramming a model of "Titanic" into a block of floating ice. The impact knocks the passengers off their feet and causes pandemonium on board.