A Night to Remember
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — A Night to Remember
hobnob53 — 14 years ago(December 17, 2011 12:58 PM)
A Night to Remember
, one of Criterion's earliest DVD releases, is being reissued on March 27, 2012, on both standard DVD ($29.95 retail) and Blu-ray ($39.95 retail). Details:
*New high-definition restoration
*Audio commentary by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, authors of
Titanic: An Illustrated History
*
The Making of 'A Night to Remember'
, a 1993 documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage shot by producer William MacQuitty
*Archival interview with Eva Hart, the last Titanic survivor
*
En natt att nimas
, a 45-minute 1962 Swedish documentary featuring interviews with survivors
This re-release is clearly timed to presage the 100th anniversary of the sinking in April, 2012.
The question is whether this restored version will include the so-called "dead baby" sequence: the roughly 30 seconds of footage cut from some versions including Criterion's original DVD in which survivors holding an infant swim up to Lightoller's lifeboat, only to discover that the child is dead, and subsequently set it back into the water. This scene was apparently cut (very clumsily and obviously) from some prints because it was deemed too graphic, but still exists on complete prints. Even Criterion occasionally makes mistakes in its releases, so it's to be hoped that this new issue will be of the original, unedited film.
Update:
As noted on other threads, the "dead baby" sequence has indeed been restored in the new Criterion release. Yay! -
Illinoisguy1 — 14 years ago(December 17, 2011 01:50 PM)
Hey hobnob,
I have the Criterion DVD and this is one of my favorite films about the Titanic disaster. I think it's much better than the 1953 Hollywood film Titanic.
Didn't know about the dead baby sequence, but I can understand why it was cut from some versions. Some may think it's graphic, but it's also realistic.
Criterion is expensive, that's why I don't own many of their DVD's. But I got this one a long time ago since it was right around when the James Cameron film came out. I never saw it before that, but it was one of the best blind buys I ever made. -
hobnob53 — 14 years ago(December 18, 2011 04:39 PM)
Hey I/g,
Yes,
ANTR
is very definitely much better than either
Titanic
1953, 1997, or the 1943 Nazi propaganda film of the same name, which if nothing else is unique.
A Night to Remember
actually copped a couple of shots of the ship from the German film.
It has a few factual errors and dramatic liberties, but essentially tells the real story fairly faithfully.
If you watch the older Criterion release, you can see the cut I mentioned in the film very readily. It comes soon after the ship sinks. (Does that last line constitute a spoiler?)
Luckily, since Criterion began issuing its films in Blu-ray as well as DVD, the price of their DVDs has dropped from its previous usual $39.99 to $29.95, which is pretty good. (Blu is now $39.95.) Of course, most sites sell them for less, and if you can take advantage of Barnes & Noble's twice-yearly 50%-off Criterion sale, the price is even less. They just held such a sale last month, but assuming they do it again, the next one should be around June or so. That aside, some sites have the DVD available for just under $20. -
TorontoJediMaster — 14 years ago(December 27, 2011 01:26 PM)
I agree, ANTR is the best film on the subject ever done.
One thing to keep in mind about the factual errors:
Some of what we now regard as factual errors were thought to be truths -or at the very least, uncertain, at the time of the film's production.
For example, the ship sinking intact in the film versus it splitting in two in real life.
Survivors close enough to see it happen were split in their opinions. Jack Thayer swore to his dying day that it split in half. Archibald Gracie swore to is dying day that it sank intact.
Gracie wasn't lying, nor did he believe Thayer was lying. (And Thayer never thought Gracie was lying either). It was just how they perceived the events through their own eyes.
So, the question was unresolved until the wreck was discovered. In 1957-58, the producers could be well justified in showing it sinking intact. -
hobnob53 — 14 years ago(December 27, 2011 05:35 PM)
What you say is correct, but it should be remembered that the film did make some changes even from Walter Lord's book, mainly for dramatic purposes.
For instance, in the film the junior officer on the
Californian
is shown hearing but not understanding the
Titanic
's distress signals, which is not correct; in fact, he forgot to wind the detector (which the film shows the radio operator reminding him about), and so heard nothing. That was too difficult to accurately portray in the movie, so a simpler scenario was depicted.
Similarly, dialogue and some other actions were attributed in the film to its "hero", Lightoller, which the book accurately attributes to others. There are some other liberties taken as well.
But overall, this film is a faithful recounting of the disaster. Its strengths lie not in its somewhat inaccurate depiction of the sinking itself, but in its exploration of the human side of the disaster. It doesn't need one-dimensional fictitious characters and a teenage romance to show, in moving and tragic detail, the enormity of the human toll wrought by the sinking; the hope and folly, cowardice and courage, and the preciousness and precariousness of life. Whatever the facts or information shown that were later proven to be in error,
A Night to Remember
captures the reality of the tragedy far better than any other film on the subject.
Let's hope that missing scene is restored in this new release.