A Night to Remember (1958)

Boring

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"A Night to Remember" is a meticulously produced (by William MacQuitty) and directed (by Roy Ward Baker) picture detailing the unexpected and disastrous 1912 sinking of the passenger liner Titanic. We do get little character details and stories here and there, but for the most part, the script (by Eric Ambler, based on the non-fiction book by Walter Lord) often switches focus to a new individual.More to the point, this is definitely a more lean and trim picture than the mega-popular James Cameron film of 1997, even at two hours and four minutes. The ship encounters that infernal iceberg just a little over half an hour into the running time, with the balance of the tale showing us all the plans that went into trying to ensure as many survivors as possible. Naturally, some people take offence to certain passengers supposedly carrying more importance, and panic will inevitably overwhelm that those are left as the ship nears its doom.Although not quite as opulent and expensive as Camerons' film, it is definitely more even-keeled, and realistic. We may not have two young lover characters to carry the story, but we are still treated to a rich gallery of commanding, sympathetic, and occasionally colourful characters. Overall, this is not as bloated, melodramatic, or as excessively sentimental as the 1997 rendition. And, as someone pointed out, the historical characters are treated with a great deal more respect.The cast is full of the cream of the crop of distinguished British acting talent, among them Kenneth More, Laurence Naismith, Frank Lawton, Kenneth Griffith, Michael Goodliffe, Anthony Bushell, and Honor Blackman. More is solid as a rock as the efficient, brave, and compassionate Second Officer Lightoller. Tucker McGuire steals her scenes as flamboyant American Margaret 'Molly' Brown.The cinematography (by Geoffrey Unsworth), art direction (by Alex Vetchinsky), and editing (by Sidney Hayers) are all first-rate, and the score (by William Alwyn) is affecting without calling too much attention to itself, unlike a certain Oscar-winning song that this viewer could mention.All in all, a remarkable film that earns its emotional reactions honestly, and a memorable depiction of hubris: the makers of the ship were just too convinced that they'd built the perfect vessel, and too many people paid the price for this.One of the lookouts is played by Bernard Fox, who played Col. Gracie in the 1997 version.10 out of 10.

I first saw the movie as an adolescent. It made a deep impression on me. I've seen it four or five times since, and it continues to move and dazzle me.This is a very efficient movie : it sets out to tell the story of the sinking of the Titanic and it does so, with all the purposeful surety of an arrow shot by a master archer. The linear clarity of the script, combined with the tautness of the plot, allows many other other smaller stories to blossom and grow. These stories are brought to vivid life by a multitude of deeply felt and deeply moving performances.The movie does not shy away from showing panic, suffering and death. None of this feels cheap or exploitative - on the contrary. The viewer meets a large number of people (both passengers and crew) : all of them, from the first to the last, are treated as full-blown individuals, worthy of interest, respect and pity. Indeed, even the thieves who snatch handfuls of pearls are worthy of our pity : for surely it must be a living hell, to be so devoid of self-respect and compassion that a disaster is seen as nothing more than a welcome opportunity for larceny ? The makers of "A night" hold up a mirror to the viewer and ask him two hugely relevant questions : "How would you act if you knew that you were in grave danger ?" and "How would you act if you knew that you were about to die ?" Most importantly, the movie refuses facile answers along the lines of "I would sacrifice myself for my little daughter and then die a smiling hero, no question about it !" Instead, the viewer is invited, nay forced, to look into his innermost heart, in order to explore the many secrets and uncertainties which lie there.Any movie capable of such prowess is a masterpiece for the ages.

This film is incredible it makes you feel as if you are truly on the Titanic as she goes down. Aside from obvious stuff like the ship not snapping in two (this wasn't found out until 1986 I believe) this is possibly the most historically accurate Titanic film. Kenneth More, while I've not seen him in any film before, steals the role as Second Officer Lighttoller. He is fantastic. This film also hits hard, it's implied (spoiler alert but the film has been out for 58 years) that a child, possibly an orphan, is helped by, who I believe is a steward, do correct me on that though if I'm wrong, dies when the ship goes down along with the kindly old man who saved him. As someone who doesn't feel too emotional about movies, that actually made me kinda sad. The couple who Mr Thomas Andrews (who also goes down with the ship) speaks to, I wanted them to survive, more than could be said for Rose in the other film, or Jack for that matter. I'm not sure if they did survive but I hope they did I'll have to rewatch it. Again, it's not often I want characters to live. But the character Development here is incredible and makes you hope these characters will make it, alas, as we all know, 1500 odd people died on Titanic, and this film does nothing to sugar coat that. This is one of the best films I have ever seen. Definitely recommend if you're interested in Titanic or something like that.

The recreation of the famous world event seems to have been meticulously accurate and tragically predictable. Roy Ward Allen places you on the ship full of social class, exquisite tastes and proper procedure but, unfortunately, not enough life boats for everyone. While the much heralded James Cameron film 40 years later would out-do the special effects, its' interior of the ship in 1958 production is incredibly the same as its' remake, a tribute to the detail of those in charge. What is missing for the first third of the film, however, is character identity. The first rule of the disaster film genre is to get the audience to care about those in peril. I felt for a father and those locked below in steerage, but hardly anyone else. Cold? Not as cold as the water, the force behind the drama and I needed a bit more to know who to invest my heart with. Without specific rooting interests, I was left to watch inevitable history without the ruse of entertainment.