A NIGHT TO REMEMBER is a classic of British cinema: the definitive retelling of the sinking of the Titanic, told as it was and without embellishment. In the more than capable hands of director Roy Ward Baker, this is a taught, tragic and thoroughly compelling disaster movie that beats most of the competition hands down.

One of the reasons that this film works so well is that it's focused throughout on the sinking of the ship. There are no romantic sub-plots to get in the way, no needless conflict between protagonists and antagonists. The iceberg is the only antagonist here. The emphasis is on realism, a careful recreation of the sinking as described in the then-recently released book by Walter Lord.

I especially liked the way that the movie avoids cliché to get the point across. There's little in the way of dramatic music or outright destruction; in fact, everything plays out rather stately, with the minimum of fuss. It may be the British stiff upper lip effect, or the realisation that you don't need to outwardly dramatise such a dramatic story to begin with.

Kenneth More is excellent as the even-handed Lightoller, and he's supported by a familiar cast giving solid turns, even those in minor roles. Particularly good is Michael Goodliffe as the ship's architect, and watch out for a youthful David McCallum too. Altogether this fine movie shows that you don't need CGI spectacle or shoehorned-in love scenes to tell the story; take note, Mr Cameron!

Sixty-four survivors from the actual Titanic were interviewed extensively by author Walter Lord for his meticulously researched 1955 book, "A Night to Remember", the basis of this still-remarkable 1958 dramatic reenactment of the momentous sinking. Obviously this lends great authenticity to this production, which feels very much like a docudrama offering a diverse gallery of characters to track instead of a main protagonist. While there are inarguably impressive elements in James Cameron's über-successful 1997 epic version of the same tragedy, most specifically the technical details and mind-bending CGI images and effects, this much lower-budget British film manages to feel more dramatically resonant simply because the superficial Hollywoodization of the event is not evident here, i.e., the forced melodrama, heightened romance and stereotypical characters.

Director Roy Baker and screenwriter Eric Ambler draw upon a much broader canvas by having the camera roam through the ship and capture the essence of the various people on board from the boiler room workers to the first class passengers. This compelling approach doesn't change as the ship sinks as we continue to recognize a full emotional range between heroism and cowardice through these characters. The other aspects that this version handles well are the specific construction-related reasons for the ultimate sinking and the roles played by two other ships during the tragedy. Not only was there the Carpathia, too far away to get to the Titanic on time yet there to pick up survivors, but also the Californian, a steamship only ten miles away and within sight. As vividly portrayed in the movie, the officers of the Californian misinterpreted the distress signals and did nothing to come to the Titanic's aid. You will likely recognize several scenes here that were repeated almost verbatim in Cameron's film, in particular, the lifeboat-boarding scenes and the aftermath of the sinking. What doesn't sync up is the ship dramatically breaking in two, a fact not depicted in the film since it was not verified until years afterward.

The primitive nature of the special effects may frustrate younger viewers, even though the then-standard use of small models is still pretty impressive on its own. The film also spends a bit too much time with incidental characters such as the drunken baker and the dedicated string musicians. There are a few familiar faces in the large cast, chief among them Kenneth More as the heroic second officer whose forward-moving calm saved many lives, Honor Blackman (later Bond girl Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger") as the young newlywed determined to stay with her husband, and David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakan on TV's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.") as an assistant wire operator. Geoffrey Unsworth is responsible for the striking black-and-white cinematography. The 1998 Criterion Collection DVD has an excellent hour-long making-of feature, as well as an interesting commentary track by Titanic experts Don Lynch and Ken Marshall. Two trailers round out the extras.

For the first time today, a shameful admission in itself, I saw this movie and I was so impressed, it could very well be my favourite film version of the disaster. I do think it is better than James Cameron's Titanic, which I actually liked, but this film is much more compelling and moving. Something I did prefer here than in the Cameron version was the music score, the score here is superb, whereas the music in the 1997 film is a score I am still not sure whether I love or hate.

I also loved how A Night To Remember was filmed. The ship is lovingly rendered, and the cinematography and costumes are lavish. In terms of scenes there are many effective scenes, but the sinking scenes here were brilliantly done, it had a sort of edge-of-your-seat feel to it. The story is very documentary-like in its approach, and this was a great idea I think as it allowed us to see the disaster at more than one character angle. Not once did the film get melodramatic, but there were some very moving parts such as the events leading up the ending. The direction is great, the pacing is brisk and the cast headed by a very impressive Kenneth More acts their roles impeccably.

Overall, a wonderful movie, the conclusion is a little too wordy, but other than that A Night To Remember is a must-watch! 9/10 Bethany Cox