A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

GB
1958
2hrs 03mins
Dir: Roy Ward Baker
Starring: Kenneth More and Honor Blackman

The RMS Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage with huge loss of life

A Night to Remember is a drama film adaptation of Walter Lord’s eponymous 1955 book, which recounts the final night of the RMS Titanic. Among the many films about the Titanic, A Night to Remember has long been regarded as the high point by Titanic historians and survivors alike for its accuracy, despite its modest production values. The production team used blueprints of the ship to create the sets accurately, while Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and ex-Cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge both worked as technical advisors on the film. At the very beginning, a train journey from Liverpool to Southampton is quite accurately depicted by a superb vintage tracking shot of an LNWR express hauled by a ‘Precursor’ Class 4-4-0, on the line between Berkhamsted and Tring. A tracking shot is one that is filmed from the rear of an adjacent train and this shot, entitled ‘Racing the L & N. W. Scotch Express’, also appears in Video 125’s Trains from the Arc’ DVD.

The tracking shot starts with the loco passing the camera but unfortunately its identity is just not identifiable due to the nature and age of the film
‘Precursors’ were capable locomotives and though this one has a heavy load she is steaming well. The coaching stock would have been in the LNWR’s colour scheme of dark purple and cream, delightfully known as ‘plum and spilt milk’!