"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.

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.

I am admittedly fickle when it comes to old movies. Generally I struggle to appreciate them with their old style acting, poor effect, poor audio and video quality. This film overcame that although it obviously doesn't have the effects and sound/audio quality of the more modern Titanic release.The big difference, which I feel makes this movie superior, is that this film cuts out the romance and has a more ensemble cast. The Titanic was a massive tragedy that fascinates people to this day. So why focus on two people who essentially just hooked up? This film is better in that it focuses on a little bit of everything AND it does it's best to keep with what were the facts regarding that night at the time.The acting is pretty good and there are relatable characters. One will even make you laugh sometimes. The effects are not brilliant but it's tolerable.I definitely say that despite its age it is the better film. Watch the modern Titanic for the cool digital effects. Watch this film for a better Titanic story.

Coming out in 1958, 46 years after the sinking of the real Titanic, and 39 years before James Cameron's Titanic broke box office records, A Night to Remember depicts the doomed maiden voyage of the famous ship. Titanic (1997) was mistakenly hailed by ignorant moviegoers as the best movie ever (including me, as I was young), but A Night to Remember had already done the same story, better. The director is Roy Ward Baker, who even when later doing lesbian vampire horror proved himself to be a competent filmmaker.Over two hours (no needless padding), the film seems to start slow for me, and kind of like a reverse Titanic, rises as it goes on. We see complacency gradually turn to panic, and feel real sympathy for the characters of the film. Although a fictionalized history, there isn't really a main character, more of an ensemble. Lightoller gets a fair amount of attention at the beginning, and at the end, where he expresses a message of the movie- how can we be so sure of ourselves? Actually, I think this movie kind of exaggerated people's belief that the Titanic was unsinkable (White Star Line didn't really make that claim). But I feel this film captures the tragedy of the accident. The one advantage Cameron's movie has over it- a naked Kate Winslet.