Perhaps the best disaster film ever made, "A Night to Remember" generally discards soap-opera subplots in favor of authenticity. Although there have been many film attempts at depicting the sinking of the 'Titanic', and most made with bigger budgets, this British production benefits from its source: The book "A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord, who spent many years exhaustively researching the disaster and interviewing its survivors. The result gives the viewer the you-are-there feel of a documentary, with ever-building tension as the ship's sinking becomes imminent and the passengers begin to panic.
The 'unsinkable' Titanic was a British luxury ship, carrying 2224 passengers on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. As with the Hindenburg Zeppelin, it was the biggest and best of its kind, making its foundering all the more dramatic. A series of human errors led to an encounter with an iceberg, resulting in a 300 foot gash below the water line. The lifeboats hold only 1200, but only about 700 will enter them, due to disbelief and disorganization.
The enormous cast features over 200 speaking parts. There are more heroes than villians. Kenneth More is the second officer, hastily organizing the lifeboat launching and the post-sinking flotilla. Captain Smith (Laurence Naismith) is quick to recognize the severity of the situation. David McCallum tirelessly telegraphs for help. 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown (Tucker McGuire) leads the rescue of drowning passengers. Anthony Bushell of the Carpathia rushes to the scene to pick up survivors.
And there are a few villians, mostly the clueless crew of a nearby ship watching and misinterpreting the Titanic's sinking. There are also selfish passengers who save their own lives at the expense of others.
Perhaps the Titanic's crew, while undeniably heroic, is overly praised. In particular, More is both fearless and impervious to the freezing cold. Much is made of a newlywed couple blissfully refusing to separate instead of saving her life. Some of the backdrops showing the Titanic's sinking belie the budget ($1.7M). But criticism seems unimportant given the quality of the Eric Ambler script, and Roy Ward Baker's tight, unsentimental direction. (95/100)
On April 14, 1912, Just Before Midnight, The Unsinkable Titanic, Struck An Iceberg. In Less Than Three Hours, It Had Plunged To, The Bottom Of The Sea...More at HotMovieSale.com
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