A Night to Remember is a 1958 historical disaster film, adapted from the 1955 book of the same name by Walter Lord. This was a British production and was directed by Roy Ward Baker.
Although it’s very much of its time, with lots of posh British accents, British decency, and tally bally ho-isms, the film does hold up well. It’s also notable for its production, as many survivors of the real disaster were able to contribute on-set insights for added realism.
Pretending It’s Not Cold in A Night to Remember
You think of Titanic films and James Cameron’s epic pops up first. The 1997 film won loads of Oscars, but actually does pay several homages to this 1958 time of it.
Fact is, there have been loads of Titanic films. The very first was the silent short film Save from the Titanic, which launched in May 1912. Yes, one month after the real life disaster that killed 1,500 people. It’s only 10 minutes long.
Cut forward to 1958 and the Titanic’s very own Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall (1884-1967) helped oversee the production of A Night to Remember. Many other survivor insights were incorporated into the film, as the amazing thing with the Titanic is just how many survivors’ records there are. Around 705 survivors were able to document the event extensively for posterity.
The result is a disaster film with a documentary feel.
Kenneth More (1914-1982) has the lead role as Second Officer Charles Lightoller, with Michael Goodliffe (1914-1976) portraying shipbuilder Thomas Andrews. The latter accompanied Titanic on its maiden voyage as, remember, this was the biggest ship in the world back in 1912 and us Brits were very proud of that.
And sure enough, the maiden voyage kicks off. First class passengers ponce about the place drinking sherry, second class ones wait as temporarily embarrassed millionaires, and the working class scumbags in steerage party.
The ship is supposed to be unsinkable. But on the 14th April 1912 it strikes an iceberg a glancing blow, with enough damage caused to sink the giant boat in just under two hours. In that time, a professional scramble to save as many lives as possible descends into bedlam.
Titanic historians rate the film very highly for its accuracy, even if many of the special effects now look pretty shonky. Such as here with the Titanic spotting the iceberg scene.
For the time, we should imagine the film was pretty remarkable. But it does show its age now, not least with the stiff acting style that was in films back from that era.
A wider issue for us is the film ignoring a significant crisis.
The big problem with the Titanic disaster was the freezing cold seawater. That was the deadly element of the situation—not enough lifeboats, so the inevitability of over 1,000 people being left to a dreadful fate. The water was so cold, most people submerged in it would be dead within 20 minutes.
Yet the only times A Night to Remember highlights that it’s very, very cold are in the lookout nest (when they spot the iceberg they’re covered in snow) and with two onscreen spoken references to the water being a tad cold. The rest of the time, it’s as if it’s a delightful, warm evening out on the open Atlantic ocean.
In the real disaster, there was Charles Lightoller (1874-1952) who was the Second Officer on the RMS Titanic. He was from Yarrow House in Chorley, Lancashire, where we grew up. Lightoller strictly enforced Captain Smith’s women and children only policy and, ultimately, he went down with the ship and into the freezing water. He described the experience as follows:
“Like a thousand knives being driven into one’s body.”
In the film, Lightoller goes into the water as if it’s a dip in a warm swimming pool. He’s swimming about whilst maintaining his stiff upper lip persona, taking charge, and saving the day etc. Once he clambers out of the water onto an upturned lifeboat, he then saves the day again and is all Tally Bally Ho.
The film seems very keen to not highlight the freezing cold as the main problem with the disaster.
We guess it’s the more conservative film industry of the time, not wanting to depict the real horror of what happened that night. But it doesn’t make sense and comes across as absurd. The general implication seems to be no one can swim so 1,500 souls perish, rather than what actually happened—most of them froze to death.
Another issue for us is almost all the women in the film are portrayed as utterly useless human beings, barely capable of making decisions for themselves, and in desperate need of saving by all the Tally Bally Ho man blokes around.
Only one really stands out, which is the famous “Unsinkable” Molly Brown (played by Tucker McGuire in spirited fashion). She was an American socialite who lived from 1867-1932 and was a famously forthright personality.
We’re being a bit nit-picky of a film that’s going on for 70 years old, but there we go. We’re in that sort of mood! Decemt film overall, but unquestionably one showing its age.
The important thing to remember is A Night to Remember was very influential. It broke new ground with special effects and, for the time, will have been amazing for audiences.
It certainly influenced James Cameron, as you can see moments of dialogue, and some scenes, lifted from the 1958 film and used in 1997. And now it’s almost 30 years since Cameron’s film. The passage of time is as relentless as an iceberg.
The Production of A Night to Remember
Back in the 1950s, the British film industry wasn’t anything like it is these days. So the £600,000 budget for the production was unusually high and director Roy Ward Baker took full advantage of it.
The most important thing about the film were the contributions from Titanic survivors. In the late 1950s, there were still plenty around to provide detailed insights of the night. One example being Frank Winnold Prentice (1889-1982) who was the storekeeper onboard the ship.
Here he is back in October 1979 sharing his memories.
Again, the film was adapted from Waltor Lord’s 1955 eponymous book. By the mid-1950s, especially in the aftermath of WWII, there was little public interest in the Titanic. Kind of as you’d expect by then.
Lord was the first writer in 40 years to cover a wide history of the disaster again. He acted as a consultant on the film.
Filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1957 to March 1958. It was a lavish set for the time, with a replica Titanic created and a lot of extras used across the film (it’s a massive cast). Highlighting budget restrictions, the director took several scenes of the boat directly from the film Titanic (1943). This was a Nazi propaganda film by Herbert Selpin.
A Night to Remember was critically acclaimed at its December 1958 US premiere and was considered exciting, tense, and dramatic. It was also a commercial success, although not a massive one, in the UK. In the US it underperformed at the box office.
Since James Cameron’s film in 1997 (what we’d class as the definitive Titanic film), further light has been shone on A Night to Remember. It’s influential. That’s the best thing about it. Too British for its own good, sure, but its flashes of brilliance can still be seen.
