Two years after 20th 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 (like Fox's film, starring Barbara Stanwyck), which relied on fictional characters to "enhance" the world's worst maritime disaster. Lord's book proved that the truth was far more compelling than fiction, outlining the many "if onlys" (if only the iceberg had been spotted a few minutes earlier, etc.) that lent somber irony to the loss of 1,500 Titanic passengers. Three years after Lord's book appeared, it was brought to the screen with the kind of riveting authenticity that Lord 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 the 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 thriller 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 you-are-there realism that pays tribute to Walter Lord's tenacious quest for truth. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary movie, but be careful with your disc...
Comment: There's not much more to be said about this, the *definitive* Titanic movie.

But be careful about the DVD. Mine "rotted", and is now unplayable. Search the Web - it seems to be a common problem. Criterion replaces any unplayable copies free of charge. Just be sure to check this disc every now and then - it's a gem.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Accurate and entertaining
Comment: Except for occasional profanity, this version of the Titanic story is far better than the current special-effect-filled version. Intense, tender in places, captivating, and suspenseful, it tells an accurate story of the drama of the Titanic as told from records of survivors with no erotic "love story" to impede the story line. If you enjoyed the recent movie, you should like this older version more. But then, I personally enjoy the older movies, especially English ones with superior acting.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Titanic Movie Ever
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Still THE definitive Film About Titanic
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Titanic story interpreted through a 1950s lens...
Comment: 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.

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