Wasn't expecting to cry.
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stevenjsmiths — 16 years ago(February 20, 2010 01:33 AM)
One thing some of you may not realize, but the man who played Lucas was John (Jack) Merivale. He was Vivien Leigh's companion in the years after her divorce from Laurence Olivier.
I've read that he was a great source of comfort and strength for her in those years (& love too, even though she was still devoted to Olivier). People said she might had died sooner had it not been for him.
This film has many teary scenes. The Lucas's, the Strauss's, the couple who saw Andrews at the last (especially when we see their demise), the woman who leaves her jewels for her lucky pig (which was real), the steward boys asking what they are to do, and the people praying for the victims as it goes down.
More I'm sure, but those come to mind. We each have our own.
May we all enjoy them as we watch them! -
efs2 — 16 years ago(February 24, 2010 09:10 PM)
There is little I can add, except that I too find the little moments described very moving - in no small part because they are real. And it emphasizes for me just how much better a film
A Night To Remember
is than
Titanic
(1997). How shallow and unintelligent must one be to replace the true drama of the sinking of the Titanic with an absurd Hollywood love triangle.
Come back, zinc! Come back! -
bullock_scott73 — 16 years ago(February 26, 2010 06:03 PM)
How shallow and unintelligent must one be to replace the true drama of the sinking of the Titanic with an absurd Hollywood love triangle.
Agree 100%. Cameron's movie is a shameful piece of dung, and little more than a star vehicle to cash in on "Leo-mania." The Titanic's brave, colorful officers like Lightoller and Capt. Smith are relegated to mere cameo roles while Leo-mania rules the day. Cameron should've called his movie "Kate, Leo, and a Really Big Boat"
As to ANTR: Kenneth More was so spot-on as an Edwardian-era ship's officer. Not only in the lifeboat loading scenes, but the way he interacts with the passengers pre-sinking, etc. Tact, class, a bit of humor when he tells the gamblers in the ship's pool "you wouldn't want to bet on a certainty, now would you?" and also when he warns the steward about the professional gamblers in the lounge.
I love this movie. -
LouisRenault — 16 years ago(March 08, 2010 10:13 PM)
I believe one reason it works so well is that the values of 1912 still largely obtained when the picture was made. Since the huge changes of the 60s, trying to reproduce such values has required great effort and might or might not come off, but in 1958 they were still natural.
As to Titanic, I think the criticism has been way, way overdone - it's not at all bad and worth seeing. That said, I've only seen it once. I've watched A Night To Remember many times and always find it powerfully moving. -
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Chubfuddler — 15 years ago(July 30, 2010 10:05 PM)
I tear up at the band scene every time, just when the leader starts playing and the others turn round and come back. It really is a beautiful scene, very well done. Since my children were born, I can never watch the scene where the father puts his sleeping boy into the lifeboat and says something like "Goodbye, my beautiful son" without weeping.
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Clusium — 15 years ago(February 07, 2011 07:54 PM)
"How shallow and unintelligent must one be to replace the true drama of the sinking of the Titanic with an absurd Hollywood love triangle."
Months prior to the release of James Cameron's movie, there was one released on television(a 2-parter in fact), which had a rape scene!!!
It was a completely stupid scene!!!! ;-0 -
tec_4 — 13 years ago(October 10, 2012 07:28 AM)
It's a much better movie than one might have supposed. I didn't cry, but I'm greatly moved by the ending scenes Mr. Lucas, the bandmembers, the waiter with the little boy, the prayers in a 100 languages. I find myself wondering if a modern-day set of passengers and crew could face death with such dignity and grace a lot of values have been lost in the interim
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louisdenaro — 13 years ago(February 15, 2013 04:31 PM)
When the Lightoller character tries to sum up on the collapsible towards the end "I know what the sea can do, but this is different . . . . . because we were so SURE, because even though it's HAPPENED, I still can't BELIEVE IT . . " I tear up like a baby. In just a few lines, climaxing with "I still can't BELIEVE it", Eric Ambler has provided us with the best rationale of how and why the Titanic sucks us in to this very day (Kenneth More is brilliant here as well, the Gracie character is just a tool, and maybe intentionally so). It just hits me in a certain intellectual/emotional way and I tear up by way of release, I can't help it.
And at the very end, with the Rostron character says everything that could be done has been done and Nearer My God to Thee comes wafting up from the strings and the concluding statement regarding the International Ice Patrol crawls across the screen while the barber pole and the hobby horse and the lifering drift by, I'm a complete utter sobbing mess. It's not really closure (they already attempted that with Lightoller's speech!) the point is that there will never be closure, it's just giving the ship and her people a last chance to say good bye before the fade, the impact is amazing. I put this in the same league with the ending of Dr. Zhivago ("can she play it, she is an artist!" "then it is a gift"), it's powerful powerful stuff. This is what great filmaking and storytelling is all about. There will never be another ANTR. Good luck trying to remake it.
BTW: My last viewing was in sync with the 100th Anniversary on TCM in New York, the bit with the barber pole, hobby horse and the lifering occurred exactly 100 years later at 2:13pm Titanic time, 7 minutes before the end, and right at that point a BIBLE fell to the floor off a shelf 3 feet from where I was standing, I kid you not. My head is still spinning on that one. -
Maddyclassicfilms — 10 years ago(August 15, 2015 04:18 AM)
No it's not just you it makes me cry all the time.Especially when the old waiter holds the boy,looks down at the water as the ship sinks and says"oh god"and just before they go under says"we'll find mummy, we'll soon find her". That gets me everytime.
I also always cry at the scene where the ship starts sinking and many passengers of different religions start praying.
Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly
. -
jc1305us — 9 years ago(April 27, 2016 10:08 AM)
An absolute masterclass in filmmaking. The ending had me in tears as well. I didn't remember seeing this movie before, but I watched it yesterday and I was upset the whole movie. When you have children, it really makes an impact seeing the man put his kids into the lifeboat, kissing his son goodbye for the last time, or when the waiter grabs the lost child to look for his mommy. My God, can you imagine the fear and panic of being on a sinking ship in the middle of the night in the freezing North Atlantic, with no hope of rescue? Parallels 9/11 to me in a way. Watching helplessly as people go to their deaths.
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Woodyanders — 9 years ago(June 09, 2016 06:06 PM)
This movie did a great job of astutely capturing the horrible human tragedy of what happened. The scene with the father saying a final goodbye to his wife and children was especially heart-wrenching.
I've been chasing grace/ But grace ain't easy to find