FILM
The fact that Murdoch had been Titanic's officer of the watch when the collision occurred made him appear in all Titanic films so far. His character also offers support for the central message of the respective film thus the "Movie Murdoch" is not necessarily taken from the real-life character.
The so far last Titanic film stirred a rush in British media. A press campaign accompanied the film directed by James Cameron which portrayed Murdoch as the officer who was bribed, who shot a passenger and committed suicide. James Cameron stated that it had not been intended to portray Murdoch as a coward, however, it seems that exactly this impression was left - and the British press was not willing to accept this. It was 15 April 1998 when a representative of 20th Century Fox presented a cheque to the Murdoch Memorial Prize, a competition at Dalbeattie High School where Murdoch had been educated. The sum - ₤ 5,000 - was by some believed to be rather small compared to the gross earnings of the film. And as far as I know there was nothing added to the video or DVD release of the film in which a clear statement was made that Murdoch's portrayal in this film was fictious. It was only in 2004, when James Cameron was honoured by Southampton University for his deep sea expeditions, when Cameron stated in public that his Murdoch portrayal might have been a mistake as it was probably not justified to pin the use of the weapon on Murdoch.
In my opinion, the press campaign of 1998
might have started some new legends - oral history which cannot or can hardly
backed by historical sources was cited in Murdoch defence, however, I think this
kind of evidence is more than doubtful. Nevertheless, in the beginning of 1998
even this kind of information was presented as fact, and I am not aware that
anybody took the trouble to verify this information before publishing it. Since
1998, these stories spread widely, especially via the internet, and I am still
not convinced that a story becomes more true when it is repeated often.
Worse than that: The campaign did not succeed in proving that Murdoch did not
commit suicide. On the other hand, several Titanic researchers started
their own investigations which in some cases contained much evidence against
Murdoch (=> they came to the conclusion that he indeed shot himself).
It seems to be irony of fate that it had not been Cameron who was the first to show in a film Murdoch committing suicide. The American TV film of 1996 had Murdoch also shooting himself (less stylish though!), but nobody took offence so far.
© Susanne Störmer, August 2006