A Night to Remember (1958)

On its maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker (as Roy Baker)

Writers:

Walter Lord (from the book by), Eric Ambler (screenplay)

Stars:

Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenneth More	...	Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller
Ronald Allen	...	Mr. Clarke
Robert Ayres	...	Maj. Arthur Peuchen
Honor Blackman	...	Mrs. Liz Lucas
Anthony Bushell	...	Capt. Arthur Rostron
John Cairney	...	Mr. Murphy
Jill Dixon	...	Mrs. Clarke
Jane Downs	...	Mrs. Sylvia Lightoller
James Dyrenforth	...	Col. Archibald Gracie
Michael Goodliffe	...	Thomas Andrews
Kenneth Griffith	...	Wireless Operator John 'Jack' Phillips
Harriette Johns	...	Lady Richard
Frank Lawton	...	Chairman J. Bruce Ismay
Richard Leech	...	First Officer William Murdoch
David McCallum	...	Assistant Wireless Operator Harold Bride

Storyline

A successful attempt at an even-handed portrayal of the White Star Line's (later part of Cunard) luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic's sinking from the standpoint of 2nd Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, himself the most senior of the ill-fated ship's Deck Officers to survive the disaster. (Lightoller later went on to distinguish himself as a line British Naval Officer during the First World War and served as a Senior Naval Staff Officer (convoys) during WWII. Between wars he owned and operated a successful family business producing pleasure craft.) His own survival of the sinking, along with several others, is shown atop one of the liner's two "collapsible" lifeboats which was capsized in floating off the liner as it sank. The picture depicts then known facts (c1958) as reported after the sinking; such as the woeful lack of adequate lifeboats, the ship's band playing true to the very end, White Star's co-owner Bruce Ismay's somewhat less than chivalrous departure from the sinking vessel -...

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Plot Keywords:

profanity | titanic | lifeboat | iceberg | steerage | 

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Taglines:

The fantastic story of the sinking of the Titanic based on the book by Walter Lord.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian Polish German Italian

Release Date:

16 December 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Titanic

Filming Locations:

Benington, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,680,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Famous American author Morgan Robertson published a novella titled The Wreck of the Titan in 1898. It is a fictional story about a large passenger liner that struck an iceberg while sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Ironically, the storyline in Robertson's book contains very striking resemblances to the events of the R.M.S. Titanic, despite it being written fourteen years earlier.

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Goofs

In some shots of struggling swimmers after the sinking several extras are wearing rubber bathing caps (they look wrinkled and reflect the lights).

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Quotes

Robbie Lucas: Oh, Mister Andrews?
Andrews: Yes?
Robbie Lucas: I'd like you to tell me something. I... I have a wife and three children on board. Just how serious is it?
[Andrews hesitates]
Robbie Lucas: I'm not the panicking kind.
Andrews: The ship has about an hour to live. A little more, if some of the upper bulkheads hold, but not much more. Get your wife and children into the boats.
Robbie Lucas: Thank you.
[Andrews walks off]
Robbie Lucas: Oh, Mister Andrews?
[Andrews stops and turns around]
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: 1912

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Alternate Versions

The US Criterion Collection DVD is slightly edited. After the Titanic has sunk and Second Officer Lightoller (Kenneth More) is on top of the upturned collapsible lifeboat, a steward swims up to him with a child. Lightoller takes the child, but in the DVD, you don't see him find out that the child is already dead, and then he gently places him in the water.

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Connections

Referenced in Edición Especial Coleccionista: Blu-ray: Super 8 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Barbary Bell
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

This is the way it should be done

Roy Baker made this extraordinarily fine film about the sinking of the Titanic in the style of a documentary. Although it has a large cast it has no real stars, except perhaps Kenneth More who was a star in Britain at the time. He is an officer on the ship and is the central, linking character. Constrained by budgetary considerations the film used models but the cutting and the matte-work are so fine you are seldom aware of this. The tragedy engulfs you and the tragedy is of epic proportions. The stories of individual passengers come to the fore and the naturalistic acting of the cast make these stories very moving. The film is an honest tear-jerker in a way American movies never can be. It shows the florid, flabby and bloated James Cameron movie up for what it is.