A Night to Remember

1958
PG
2h 3m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

18K

YOUR RATING

Three Reasons Criterion Trailer for A Night To Remember

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Period Drama Tragedy Drama History

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

18K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total

User reviews213

Featured review

9/10

It May Still Be the Best

As I looked in awe at the special effects used to create the more recent telling of the story of the Titanic, my mind wandered back to being ten years old and seeing "A Night to Remember" on our black and white TV. Watching the portrayal of the tragic deaths of all those people and realizing that the tragedy was real kept me from sleeping well for several days. While it doesn't have the flash of the contemporary film, it has the heart the newer version never has. No star-crossed lovers, no angry fiances wielding pistols, just the people who trusted the big companies and the engineers to produce an "unsinkable" ship.

This film, which starts slowly, draws us into the lives of the several characters--put together with delicacy from the text of Walter Lord's wonderful book. The tragedy is in the hopelessness of a group of people who are at the mercy of an overall antagonist--arrogance--which will destroy them. It is all dramatic irony, like so many disaster films are and we are the viewers. The movie tries to even inject an element of humor and show the totality of the human spirit, not just the incredible despair. It's what we are.

I'm sure modern viewers will criticize the pacing (although once the action starts, it is remarkably done), but this movie has more emotional clout than Mr. Cameron's also incredible film. The acting is subtle and controlled and if one is looking for heroism, there was plenty to go around on board that ship.

Hitchcoc
Nov 6, 2001
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Trailer 1:28

A Night To Remember: The Criterion Collection

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
It wasn't until 1985, when the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered, that they found out the ship had broke in two while sinking. In this film, the Titanic does not break in two, but goes down in one piece with most of her decks intact.

Goofs
As with most pictures about the Titanic, filmed before the discovery of the wreck in 1985, this film portrays the Titanic 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 diverges in opinion about this fact, meaning that the movie's portrayal of the ship sinking intact, while above the water line, may not be incorrect.

Quotes
Mrs. Margaret 'Molly' Brown: Leadville Johnny, they call him. And he was the best golderned gold miner in Colorado! Fifteen I was when I married him.
First Class Passenger: Really?
[in deep upper-class British accent]
Mrs. Margaret 'Molly' Brown: Uh-hmm. And he didn't have a cent. Well, three months later later he struck it rich and we was millionaires. Do you know what he did?
First Class Passenger: No?
Mrs. Margaret 'Molly' Brown: He built me a house and he had silver dollars cemented all over the floors of every room!
First Class Passenger: I say, how very tiresome for you!

Crazy credits
Just before "The End", the following is scrolled over a background of the water with flotsam and a life ring buoy with the words "Titanic" and "Liverpool" on it:

But this is not the end of the story ~ for their sacrifice was not in vain. Today there are lifeboats for all. Unceasing radio vigil and, in the North Atlantic, the International Ice Patrol guards the sea lanes making them safe for the peoples of the world.