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A poor, uneducated mountain girl leaves her cabin in search of respect, a wealthy husband, and a better life in this fictionalized biopic of Margaret "Molly" Brown, who survived the 1912 sin... Read allA poor, uneducated mountain girl leaves her cabin in search of respect, a wealthy husband, and a better life in this fictionalized biopic of Margaret "Molly" Brown, who survived the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.A poor, uneducated mountain girl leaves her cabin in search of respect, a wealthy husband, and a better life in this fictionalized biopic of Margaret "Molly" Brown, who survived the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.
- Nominated for 6 Oscars
- 5 wins & 13 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAs with most Hollywood biopics, there are liberties taken with the real story, most notably in that Margaret (Molly) and J.J. never reconciled. They separated in 1909, although they remained good friends who cared deeply for each other until his passing. She was also not quite the social outcast depicted in the film. Other aspects of her life that were missing from the movie: they had two children, a son and daughter. Margaret Brown was a passionate social crusader and philanthropist; she was a champion of women's rights, including education and the vote. She championed workers' rights, historic preservation, education and literacy, and child welfare, including helping to found the modern juvenile court system. After the sinking of the Titanic, she was noted for her efforts to commemorate the heroism of the men aboard the ship. After WWI, she helped to rebuild France and to aid wounded soldiers, and received the French Legion of Honor. She also ran twice for the U.S. Senate. She died in 1932.
- GoofsThe Molly Brown House in Denver is actually quite small. Only one room had a smidgen of red wallpaper (she also thought too much red to be gauche). Her parties were well-attended (although the orchestra played from the balcony outdoors and serenaded the whole neighborhood), and she was accepted by her peers even before the Titanic. The larger house, which she named Avoca, was at the time outside of Denver. Both houses are restored and open to the public.
- Quotes
Molly Brown: Nobody wants to see me down like I wants to see me up.
- Crazy creditsintroducing Harve Presnell
- Alternate versionsIn the past, TCM has shown a version with Overture and Exit Music that ran 135 minutes. It also had a slightly different aspect ratio.
- ConnectionsEdited from Titanic (1953)
- SoundtracksOverture (Belly Up to the Bar, Boys/I Ain't Down Yet/I'll Never Say No/Colorado, My Home)
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Performed by Robert Armbruster and The MGM Symphony Orchestra (as the MGM Studio Orchestra)
Featured review
I had the pleasure of accompanying my great aunt and one of her contemporaries to the opening of this movie in Denver in 1964. Because they had known the old girl herself (the real Mrs. Margaret Brown, that is) back in the early years of the century, both in Leadville and Denver, they were keen on seeing what Hollywood and Debbie had done with the story.
I remember vividly watching their reactions turn from initial pleasure with the opening number to puzzlement when Debbie started to chew the scenery and behave like, well, Debbie Reynolds. This was followed by Ed Begley and the boys in the saloon hooting it up, and the two old ladies next to me started to frown a bit and whisper something to the effect that "it was not like that at all." They were becoming quite restless until the Denver bits began, but they seemed to accept the remainder of the story with a good deal of resignation that it was all just good fun and nonsense, and wasn't that what going to the movies was all about?
Afterward, as we strolled over to the Brown Palace for dinner, they regaled me with a complete history of the real Mrs. Brown and the many mutual friends they had enjoyed meeting at that same venue from roughly 1895 to 1915 when they were themselves just being presented into Denver society. I learned, among other things, that Mrs. Brown was considered an eccentric but generally well-liked and articulate woman who, despite never really being accepted at the toniest levels, became a legend in her own time after the Titanic episode. That part of the story was not only true, but actually a larger-than-life experience, the details of which they agreed should have been featured more profoundly in the film version.
The next time I drove down Wadsworth Blvd. and saw Mrs. Brown's "Summer House," a rather grand Victorian edifice like the better known one in the center of Denver, I tried to picture Debbie Reynolds in that setting and could not quite fit the two together. That in spite of the fact that Debbie herself grew up in El Paso at the southern end of the same Rocky Mountains that rise northward through Colorado.
I remember vividly watching their reactions turn from initial pleasure with the opening number to puzzlement when Debbie started to chew the scenery and behave like, well, Debbie Reynolds. This was followed by Ed Begley and the boys in the saloon hooting it up, and the two old ladies next to me started to frown a bit and whisper something to the effect that "it was not like that at all." They were becoming quite restless until the Denver bits began, but they seemed to accept the remainder of the story with a good deal of resignation that it was all just good fun and nonsense, and wasn't that what going to the movies was all about?
Afterward, as we strolled over to the Brown Palace for dinner, they regaled me with a complete history of the real Mrs. Brown and the many mutual friends they had enjoyed meeting at that same venue from roughly 1895 to 1915 when they were themselves just being presented into Denver society. I learned, among other things, that Mrs. Brown was considered an eccentric but generally well-liked and articulate woman who, despite never really being accepted at the toniest levels, became a legend in her own time after the Titanic episode. That part of the story was not only true, but actually a larger-than-life experience, the details of which they agreed should have been featured more profoundly in the film version.
The next time I drove down Wadsworth Blvd. and saw Mrs. Brown's "Summer House," a rather grand Victorian edifice like the better known one in the center of Denver, I tried to picture Debbie Reynolds in that setting and could not quite fit the two together. That in spite of the fact that Debbie herself grew up in El Paso at the southern end of the same Rocky Mountains that rise northward through Colorado.
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,167,200
- Runtime2 hours 8 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) officially released in India in English?
Answer