A Night To Remember -- 1958

Titanic is one of those subjects that people tend to get swept up in, no matter who they are. Most people these days know well the 1997 version of the disaster by James Cameron, but who consider themselves true fans of the disaster (can you be a fan of a disaster?) prefer this film over its modern counterpart. Why? Well, I can give you the reason they'll give, and then what is likely the more accurate reason they'd never admit to.

They will tell you that they prefer this 1958 version of Titanic because it is a pure factual retelling free of the distractions of fictional subplots. It allows you to focus on what really happened without the attachment to several characters who were never there. And indeed, this movie was soon enough after it happened that they were able to get several first hand accounts of that night, so from that perspective, the film worked very well.

The primary, unspoken reason is that this film is considered the "original" version of the story, and it is considered very fashionable to like something that few other people know about. They tend to not only claim preference over this version, but voice hatred over the 1997 version. Really, hatred? It makes them feels smarter and of a higher status to have viewed this version of the events since it gives them a social edge in certain circles.

Here's what I can tell you about this film based on what I've learned over the years about Titanic and what really happened. Both films actually have something worthwhile to offer in telling the story. This film clearly had White Star execs hanging over it the whole time to make sure the story that was told was the one THEY wanted told. It was based on a book that likely was also overseen by the White Star Line to dispell whatever they wanted dispelled about what was done and what wasn't. The major factual differences between the films have to do with stuff that the company did not want the general public to know about, but that survivors claimed had happened.

For instance...the biggest difference: the state of Titanic when she went down. White Star maintained that Titanic went down in one piece. This is what was portrayed in A Night to Remember. However, when the site was finally viewed, they found that Titanic broke in half before she sank. This was consistent with survivors' stories that were stifled by White Star. Also, in this movie, the life boats were nearly full. Not completely, but nearly. In the 97 version, a point was made that they weren't filling the boats anywhere close to capacity.

So how does this work actually work in the opinion of this avid movie watcher? Very, very well. They do stick to the basic facts and make tableaus out of the various people. Some of the stories when Titanic goes down are extremely emotional and heartbreaking, which is the point. It is a disturbing feature to watch and more so when you know that it really happened very much as you see it. If you don't feel like marching over to the California and hitting someone, you weren't paying attention.

There's honestly not much to say about it. It was well done, and clearly had a lot of backing and voices into making a good film out of it. If you enjoy the stories of Titanic, this one is a must see. When the facts are taken into consideration between this film and the 1997 version, you honestly get a very complete picture of what went on that night on 1912.