A Night to Remember

Five years after the less than authentic but unarguably heartfelt Barbara Stanwyck/Clifton Webb Titanic film graced movie theater screens, the story of the doomed ocean liner returned to theaters in A Night to Remember -- a straightforward and relatively frank appraisal of the sinking, based on the non-fiction work of the same name by Walter Lord. Now it has been YEARS since I've seen this film, but as I mentioned earlier with the 100th anniversary of the sinking fast approaching I wanted to take the time to revisit some of cinema's classic portrayals of Titanic. I feel as though I was able to approach this film with relatively fresh eyes since it has been years since I've seen it, so the particulars of this film were rather hazy in my memory. But I couldn't have asked for better timing -- having just finished the Walter Lord book for the first time, to watch this film immediately following made for a powerful, immersive Titanic experience.

From the opening frames, the first thing that struck me about this film is its air of authenticity when compared to the 1953 Titanic. Unlike many (most?) films from this era, A Night to Remember has an almost documentary-style feel, with an astonishing attention to detail. This is a film that has stood the test of time and holds up brilliantly today, its understated grace lending it an unparalleled air of authenticity and realism. It is almost a beat-for-beat, word-for-word visual realization of the book. Of course it has the limitations of 1950s special effects at its disposal, but focusing on "just the facts" and foregoing the temptation to embellish the film with fictionalized characters/occurrences, A Night to Remember stands apart as an unmatched visual document of the sinking, an authority lended credence by the knowledge that the reminiscences of so many survivors were available, lending their invaluable perspective to Lord's book and the subsequent film.

A Night to Remember doesn't spend a lot of time establishing its core cast, instead briefly introducing major players such as Chairman of the White Star Line J. Bruce Ismay (Frank Lawton), builder Thomas Andrews (Michael Goodliffe), and Captain Smith (Laurence Naismith). While there is no "star" couple focus with which to romanticize the storyline and "hook" viewers, Second Officer Herbert Lightoller (Kenneth More) stands the closest to the role of a central star. Lightoller was the seniormost officer to survive the sinking, and his actions as documented in Lord's book and this film are nothing short of astounding, and More's performance a revelation. Lightoller's position in the ship is unique in that it is a window into both the crew and passengers' experiences, since as an officer Lightoller could walk in both worlds -- and he was a critical player in the dispatching of the lifeboats after the collision.

Anchored by More's performance as the workmanlike, competent Lightoller, the entire film does an excellent job resisting the temptation to succumb to melodrama. Performances are excellent across the board, extremely honest, never giving in to the temptation to idealize (or, conversely villainize) individuals. This is a film that showcases both the admirable, best and bravest tendencies in mankind as well as those painful moments of "mob mentality" or cowardice. My favorite scenes evoke the genuine pathos of the moment without resorting to hysterics -- the moment when a father sees his wife and children into a lifeboat, and he and his wife exchange a final look knowing this will be their last, but refusing to speak of it. The moment just before the sinking when an elderly steward attempts to comfort a lost child with promises to find his mother, knowing they are about to plunge into icy waters. The moment when the members of the band silently acknowledge the futility of attempting to escape the sinking ship, instead regrouping and playing "Nearer My God to Thee." Taken as a whole the unvarnished honesty of the performances is just one of the factors that make A Night to Remember an unforgettable, classic document of the disaster.

Before closing there are a handful cast appearances I must point out. Honor Blackman, better known today as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, turns in a stellar performance as the wife and mother of the aforementioned gentleman who bids his family a heart-rending farewell at the lifeboats. Kenneth Griffith as wireless operator Jack Phillips gives a moving performance when he allows you to see the slowly dawning, horrific realization that perhaps his frustration with relaying useless personal telegrams blocked or slowed knowledge of the dangerous ice facing the Titanic. He's supported by David McCallum in one of his earlier film appearances as assistant wireless operator Harold McBride (McCallum best known for his roles in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS).

In the last week I've delved rather heavily into Titanic-related material, and the thing that strikes me the most -- and that this film drives home really well -- is the sense of unreality about it all, the disconnect between the impact of the iceberg and the initial complacency of so many of the passengers. Even the (lack of a) response by the nearby Californian -- all underscore the fact that in 1912 a disaster of this magnitude, occurring with THIS ship, was absolutely unheard of, completely unfathomable. Taken together, both the book and film versions of A Night to Remember document not only the disaster of the sinking and the horrifying, needless loss of life, but the beginning of the end of an era, a devastating crack in mankind's general confidence in themselves and their accomplishments. May carefully crafted works like this serve to ever remind us of our past, remind us of the best mankind is capable of when the unthinkable strikes, but perhaps most of all remind us in this very uncertain world remind us where true security lies -- the truth of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee," may  it be ever so.

Review: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

A Night to Remember
By: Walter Lord
Publisher: Owl Books
ISBN: 0-8050-7764-2

About the book:

First published in 1955, A Night to Remember remains the definitive, classic tale of the sinking of the Titanic. Walter Lord interviewed more than sixty survivors before committing their searingly vivid recollections to his minute-by-minute account of the Titanic's fatal collision and the experiences of both passengers and cew under pressure of the unthinkable: the swift plummet into icy waters of the ship promised never to sink.

With a new introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick, bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory, this fiftieth-anniversary edition of Walter Lord's classic brings the drama of that night back to life. As Philbrick concludes in his introduction: "From first to last, A Night to Remember is about the people who briefly inhabited the Titanic, and never again will an author have the opportunity to speak to so many of them. In this most essential way, Lord's book can never be outdone, making A Night to Remember the ultimate survivor's tale."

Review:

I cannot believe it's taken the impending 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic to compel me to finally delve into Walter Lord's 1955 recounting of the great ship's final hours, A Night to Remember. As detailed in the foreward to the fiftieth anniversary reissue, Lord possessed a lifelong, enduring fascination with the doomed Titanic, perhaps born out of a childhood trip on her sistership Olympia. Irregardless of the origin, Lord's passion for the subject shines in this slim volume's tightly-plotted recreation of the ship's final hours and the sinking's aftermath. Lord was in the unique and enviable position of being able to interview over sixty survivors of the sinking for his book, which he then incorporated into a blow-by-blow recreation of every moment -- from the collision with the iceberg to the Carpathia's rescue of less than a third of the Titanic's total passenger list. Lord's brisk, documentary style makes you feel as if you're watching a film of events unfold, lending the gradually dawning realization of the enormity of the danger facing the ship a depth and intensity that makes this an absolute page-turner.

As Lord comments in his acknowledgements, A Night to Remember "is really about the last night of a small town" -- and by extension the beginning of the end for an entire way of life. I confess that while I've always been susceptible to the "Titanic mystique" I never really thought about the socio-economic repercussions of the tragedy. From the massively wealthy movers & shakers (i.e. John Jacob Astor IV) to the poorest immigrants in Third Class, Lord lays out a convincing argument that the Titanic was the "last stand of wealth and society in the center of public affection" -- to wit, the loss of that class's exclusivity on privilege and relative immunity to bad press. A whole way of life, the close-knit culture of the First Class passengers, an air of civility and chivalry, all of that vanished on that icy night in April, rocking the world to its core and paving the way for the unsettled political and socially charged atmosphere of the 20th century.

This is an even-handed, balanced presentation of the events of April 14, 1912 and its aftermath. Lord manages to present what I feel is a relatively unvarnished view of events, but tells them in such a compelling manner that one never loses sight of the horror and human toll of that fateful day. A Night to Remember is not only an extraordinary document of the ship and her time, but of the best and worst that mankind is capable of, and of the dangers of letting the legend eclipse the great human toll of that night, and of what we can perhaps learn today from the ordinary men and women on that voyage who found themselves called to do extraordinary things.