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Kenneth More
2nd April 2012: A limited supply just in | Special Features | Titanic White Star Liner Cushion Cover.
We are based in South London near Croydon, UK, and if preferred this item can be picked up by appointment. Just e-mail here. I also welcome the old fashioned cheque and po as it is cheaper to process and all orders are sent off same day as cheque received.
8th April 2012: Added details & more scans than anywhere in the universe on the book The Legend of the Unsinkable Ship (Centenary Edition). The 12 removable facimiles of rare Titanic documents which are found in various pockets in the book are a joy to hold. Haven't seen a book with memorabilia like it. See and believe it! A Night to Remember is talked about and the book concedes that the film is 'considered the best film of the tragedy'.
The strength of the film begins with the writing. The author of the book the film was based on, Walter Lord reveals in the documentary that he was obsessed with the disaster from an eary age and had been in contact with many of the survivors. From them he drew the facts of the night as seen from their perspectives and faithfully tells their stories. Thus with so much going on there is never a dull moment as we see the fight to survive from so many people. Eric Ambler's screenplay brilliantly encapsulates the book.
The acting as mentioned is beyond reproach. The film came during the golden period of More's career in the 1950s when in Britain at least he could do no wrong. This is sandwiched in what started with Genevieve and ended in Sink the Bismarck!. He is perfect as Lightoller, sympathetic yet authoritive. We as an audience grow to care as to what happened to him - did he survive, did he not? I won't give it away.
Watching the documentary is a double-edged sword. If like me you like to get into the minutae of a film then you will love it but is it really worth knowing how the film was made? I mean maybe it was just me but when I found out that the lifeboat scenes where More and co stand on top of a capsized lifeboat were actually filmed in Ruislip Lido I was left a little disappointed. I know they can't film it where it happened but actors pratting about at Ruislip Lido?? But I'm just sounding daft.
The documentary is good if not a little basic. As befits an ITV release no money has been paid on extras it would appear. But that is harsh. It is basically a long interview with the now late author Walter Lord and some of the shots of the filming are fascinating. The model is pretty impressive as well.
This film is as near to what happened on 15th April 1912 as anything you care to see. It is gripping stuff from start to finish. I urge anyone interested in Titanic to buy it, if not from me then from amazon
Though there have been 11 films made about Titanic this film has no equal.
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Interestingly enough (well, interesting to me) the star of the movie and the actual managing director of the White Star Line which owned Titanic, and who travelled on and survived the maiden voyage, both ended their lives in the same place: Putney Vale Cemetery in South London. Kenneth More was cremated there; J. Bruce Ismay is buried there.
Land-locked Ruislip reservoir near Pinewood Studios stood in for the cruel Atlantic in the life boat scenes.
In 1955, author Walter Lord published his epic account of the Titanic disaster, A Night to Remember
The story tells how the 'unsinkable' new ship set out for the US on the night of 14 April 1912, how it struck an iceberg and sank in less than three hours with 1,302 people drowned (the majority of which were third class passengers) and only 705 survived. The film takes only 37 minutes less than the time of the actual disaster.
The errors and confusion which played a part in the drama are brought out with no whitewashing. Perhaps the most shocking part of the drama shown here is the way the third class passengers were kept locked away until the last moment when most of the lifeboats had already gone and when they were finally allowed up on deck they saw half emptied lifeboats with first and second class passengers been lowered down to safety. It really is heartbreaking and the film pulls no punches in portraying how unfair the class system was/is.
Although many of the passengers and crew come vividly to life, there is no attempt to hang a fictional story on any of them (the 1990s blockbuster version take note). Technically, director Roy Baker does a superb job in difficult circumstances. His direction of some of the panic scenes during the manning of the lifeboats - of which there were not nearly enough to accomoadate all on board - is masterly. Eric Ambler's screenplay [from Walter Lord's book], without skimping the nautical side of the job, brings out how some people kept their heads and others became cowards.
Others who manage to make impact are Laurence Naismith as the skipper; Anthony Bushell, captain of the rescue ship; Kenneth Griffith and David McCallum, as a couple of radio operators; Tucker McGuire, as a hearty American woman; George Rose, as a bibulous ship's baker, Michael Goodliffe, as the designer of the ship; and Frank Lawton, as the chairman of the White Star Line.
Includes behind-the-scenes-footage of the movie including interviews with A Night to Remember Producer William MacQuitty
(who saw the original ship launched) and the author of the book, Walter Lord. Features historical footage of the
Titanic, the 1958 London film premiere and the original theatrical trailers.
1958, 123 MINS, UK, B&W
CAST:
(Rank)
E-mail to reserve with country ordering from. I will then get back to you with methods of payment and availability. 2014: 1 left in stock.
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came out. It was a typical example of wartime Nazi propaganda, calculated to dscredit British and Jewish businesses. A personal project of propaganda chief 
. Imagine a day when A Night to Remember has a higher amazon sales rank than Titanic Well I can dream. But I can guarantee one thing: you won't be disappointed when you see this film.
. Lord's publisher advised him against calling the book Titanic, lest such a title be jinxed. The book captured the public's imagination, introducing the story of the sinking to a whole new generation, and it was little surprise when it was turned into a film (Waddingtons even produced a 470-piece jigsaw to commemorate the event. Produced by William Macquitty for the British Rank Organisation and directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film A Night to Remember starred Kenneth More as Second Officer Charles Lightoller, David McCallum as wireless operator Harold Bride and Alec McGowan as his counterpart on the Carpathia. Unlike the 
of 2 years earlier, it was more concerned with action than romance. Advertised as 'an incredible, spellbinding story of six hours unlike any other six hours the world has ever known', the film was well received. The New York Times valled it 'a tense, exciting, and supremely awesome drama'. But the film angered Captain Stanley LordWalter Lord) who was upset by the implication that the Californian just stood by while the Titanic sank
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