A Night to Remember - Criterion Collection

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Starring: Kenneth More
Rated: Unrated
Type: DVD
Directed By: Roy Ward Baker
Studio: Criterion
Release Date: 1998-05-13
Running Time: 123 minutes
Two years after Twentieth Century Fox released its melodramatic disaster film Titanic in 1953, Walter Lord's meticulously researched book A Night to Remember surprised its publishers by becoming a phenomenal bestseller. Lord had an intuition that readers craved the reality of the Titanic disaster, and not the romantically mythologized translations that relied on fictional characters to enhance the world's worst maritime disaster. Lord's book proved that truth is far more compelling than fiction. Three years after it appeared, the book was brought to the screen with the kind of riveting authenticity he had insisted upon in his own research. The 1958 British production of A Night to Remember remains a definitive dramatization of the disaster, adhering to the known facts of the time and achieving a documentary-like immediacy that matches (and in some ways surpasses) the James Cameron epic released 39 years later. The film erroneously perpetuates the once-common belief that Titanic sunk in one piece (instead of breaking in half as its bow began to plunge), but many other misconceptions are accurately corrected, and the intelligent screenplay by thrill-master Eric Ambler is a model of factual suspense. By making Titanic the star of the film, director Roy Baker emphasizes the excessive confidence of the booming industrial age and creates an intense realism that pays tribute to Walter Lord's tenacious quest for truth. --Jeff Shannon

Best Titanic Movie Ever
After my dissapointment in the documentary of the Titanic I watched this version of the disaster. This was by far the best Titanic story I have seen and I've seen them all. The black and white doesn't even bother me. Spends more time on the actual disaster. Most of the Titanic stories turn into a soap opera. This one does not. Then there is an added bonus of the movie played again but narrated by 2 men that are experts in the disaster that explain everything. So you get 2 stories for the price of one. Worth the purchase.

Still THE definitive Film About Titanic
No, there's no CGI in this film, no box office stars or the over blown melodrama that comprised James Cameron's version, but the drama and the tragedy of the Titanic is beautifully brought to life in this 1958 master piece. Though some will argue that it was not all together fair to the captain of the doomed liner, it is VERY faithful to Walter Lord's book. Heartbreaking and brilliant. Well worth owning.

Titanic story interpreted through a 1950s lens...
This is an excellent movie that I vaguely remembered seeing on TV years and years ago. I just saw it the other night on TMC. It's actually pretty good and it's obvious that the much of the modern-day "Titanic" (1997?) was based on this earlier movie. Some of the scenes are recreated almost word-for-word. There is no "Jack and Rose", however, there is a young couple who insist on going down in the ship together. It's also very interesting to see the Titanic story interpreted through a 1950s lens as opposed to a 1990s lens. The 50s version places more emphasis on religiousity; the 90s version places more emphasis on hedonism.

Best Titanic Movie
A Night to Remember is the best Titanic movie. The Titanic movie that won so many awards took a lot from this film and added on much more melodrama, but A Night to Remember ends up being much more touching and heartfelt.

Criterion's crystal clear image makes this superb
This is the same old movie you have seen over and over on tv (it used to be a late-night tv staple)...but this ISN'T the print you have seen --

The Criterion print is painstakingly recreated and is crystal clear and sharp, especially on large screen tv's. The black and white photography has been adjusted and is rich and deep. Blacks are black, whites are white, and grays are beautifully rendered in digital grayscale. Stars are apparent in the black sky overhead - long washed out and gray on older worn-out tv prints. The boiler room sequences look crisp and recognizable, unlike the long blurry reels on older worn-out prints.

Sure, it costs triple what the bargain-bin version costs, but you will be richly rewarded with this amazing print.

There is an interesting "Making of" video attached as an extra -- it shows interesting home footage of the making of the sets, and the magic of the movies that put drowning sequences filmed in a 4 foot deep millpond into the stunning images you see in the final movie. A fun look at the world of special effects in 1958.