A Night to Remember (1958)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Eric Ambler (screenplay)
Walter Lord (book)

Release Date:

16 December 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History

Tagline:

TITANIC... The greatest sea drama in living memory told as it really happened!

Plot:

The Titanic disaster is depicted in straightforward fashion without the addition of fictional subplots.

Plot Keywords:

Titanic | Lifeboat | Iceberg | Disaster | Steerage

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

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 (Carpathia)
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

Also Known As:

Titanic (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

123 min | Spain:114 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Great Fosters Hotel, Egham, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Rank Organisation, The

Trivia:

Lawrence Beesley, a survivor from second class, was on the set during filming. At one point when the sinking was being filmed, he attempted to enter the scene and - perhaps symbolically - "go down" with the ship. Director Roy Ward Baker didn't allow this, as it would have been a union violation, which could have closed down production.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: As with most pictures about the Titanic, filmed before the discovery of the wreck in 1985, A Night to Remember portrays the Titanic as sinking in one piece. The discovery of the wreck revealed that the ship had broken in two and most films about the ship, Titanic 1996, and Titanic 1997, have reflected this point. Although scholars debate to this day whether the break up happened while the ship was above the water line or while it was under the water, and out of the view of survivors, plunging towards the ocean floor. Eyewitness testimony to the sinking diverge in opinion about this fact meaning that A Night to Remember's portrayal of the ship sinking intact, while above the water line, may still be accurate.

Quotes:

Captain Edward J. Smith: [addressing the ship's officers and Ismay on the bridge] Gentlemen, we are in a precarious position. We must be prepared to abandon ship.
[Officers look at each other in sheer surprise]
Captain Edward J. Smith: Mister Murdoch, you will muster the passengers. Mister Lightoller, you will have the boats uncovered and swung out. Mister Boxhall, call all hands and get them to boat stations. Mister Moody, you will help Mister Lightoller. Mister Wilde and Mister Pitman will remain on the bridge. Everything will be done quietly and calmly. There must be no alarm and no panic. I will give the word when the boats are to loaded with the women and children. Carry on, please.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Futurama: A Flight to Remember (#2.1)" (1999)

still the best!

I've seen several film versions of the Titanic tragedy (I'm something of a buff--I'm distantly related to Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Kimball, who were 1st class passengers!) "A Night to Remember" is still the best, no contest. The effects are 1958 state-of-the-art, the script was meticulously researched, and the people are actually written and played as 1912 people (James Cameron's cast were a bit too much 1990's to be convincing). Even those characters who are slightly fictionalized (the "lady" who represents--without mentioning--Lady Cosmo Duff-Gordon, and "my dear son" and his family, for examples) behave as their real life counterparts would have in 1912, giving the film a documentary feel without failing to give the viewer people to identify with and care about. This is classic film-making at its finest!