Night to Remember, A (1958)

This version of the story of the ill-fated Titanic, the world’s largest ship which sank on her maiden voyage in April 1912, is an unforgettable film epitomising the optimistic, overconfident era which perished for the most part with the Titanic.

The hopes and fears of a wide cross-section of passengers – from millionaires to steerage class – are woven into the film amongst contrasting displays of quiet courage and sheer panic when disaster strikes.

The story of the Titanic is an epic with no villains but many heroes. Chief of these is Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller (Kenneth More), who is the personification of efficiency and courage, wearing a cocky smile.

Laurence Naismith is the gallant and intrepid Captain Smith who – in the true traditions of the sea – goes down with his ship. The famous Denver millionairess Molly Brown (who got her own story in The Unsinkable Molly Brown) is played by Tucker McGuire.

The Titanic‘s designer Thomas Andrews (Michael Goodliffe) – now a broken man – waits in the smoking room for the end, determined to go down with his creation. Honor Blackman (later of The Avengers and Goldfinger fame) is a young newlywed determined to stay with her husband, while David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakan on The Man from U.N.C.L.E) appears as an assistant wireless operator.

At the time, A Night to Remember was the biggest picture in the history of Pinewood Studios, with 200 speaking parts. Constrained by budgetary considerations, the film used models, but the cutting and the matte work are so fine you are rarely aware of this.

As a piece of documentary representation, the film is remarkably accurate (it was based on meticulous research, and several actual Titanic survivors – including the Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall – acted as advisers to the film) – although the depiction of the ship’s final plunge is now known to have been erroneous.

While it may not have Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet, it’s an extraordinary film that gives a magnificent account of the Titanic tragedy.

A classic of British cinema.

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller
Kenneth More
Capt. Edward John Smith
Laurence Naismith
Mrs Sylvia Lightoller
Jane Downs
Mr Clarke
Ronald Allen
Maj. Arthur Peuchen
Robert Ayres
Mrs Liz Lucas
Honor Blackman
Capt. Arthur Rostron
Anthony Bushell
Mr Murphy
John Cairney
Mrs Clarke
Jill Dixon
Col. Archibald Gracie
James Dyrenforth
Thomas Andrews
Michael Goodliffe
Wireless Operator John ‘Jack’ Phillips
Kenneth Griffith
Chairman J. Bruce Ismay
Frank Lawton
First Officer William Murdoch
Richard Leech
Assistant Wireless Operator Harold Bride
David McCallum
Wireless Operator Harold Thomas Cottam
Alec McCowen
Mrs Margaret ‘Molly’ Brown
Tucker McGuire
Robbie Lucas
John Merivale
Mr Yates
Ralph Michael
Capt. Stanley Lord
Russell Napier
Mr Hoyle
Redmond Phillips
Chief Baker Charles Joughin
George Rose
Dr William O’Loughlin
Joseph Tomelty
Sir Richard
Patrick Waddington
Lady Richard
Harriette Johns
Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall
Jack Watling
Wireless Operator Cyril Evans
Geoffrey Bayldon
Sixth Officer James Moody
Michael Bryant
Quartermaster George Thomas Rowe
Cyril Chamberlain
Gallagher
Richard Clarke
Mrs Farrell
Bee Duffell
Benjamin Guggenheim
Harold Goldblatt
3rd Officer of the Carpathia
Gerald Harper
Victualling Officer
Richard Hayward
2nd Engineer Officer John Henry Hesketh
Andrew Keir
Apprentice James Gibson
Barry MacGregor
Mr James Farrell
Patrick McAlinney
Mrs Ida Strauss
Helen Misener
Mr Isador Strauss
Meier Tzelniker
Kate
Mary Monahan
Fifth Officer Harold Lowe
Howard Pays
Reverend Anderson
Philip Ray
Second Officer Herbert Stone
Harold Siddons
Mr Bull
Julian Somers
Third Officer Charles Groves
Tim Turner

Director
Roy Ward Baker

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