The last night of the Titanic
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last night of the Titanic |
| Original title | A night to remember |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 121 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roy Ward Baker |
| script | Eric Ambler |
| production | William MacQuitty |
| music | William Alwyn |
| camera | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| cut | Sidney Hayers |
| occupation | |
| |
The last night of the Titanic (original title A Night to Remember ) is a British film by director Roy Ward Baker from 1958 . He deals with the sinking of the luxury liner RMS Titanic after it collided with an iceberg in 1912 . The non-fiction book The Titanic Catastrophe , written by the American author Walter Lord , served as a template . The dramatic sinking of the luxury liner. (A Night to Remember).
action
On the afternoon of April 14, 1912, the radio operator of the "Titanic" heard the first warning of an iceberg, but was not worried about this news; after all, the ship is considered unsinkable. Shortly before midnight, the lookout reports : “Iceberg immediately ahead!” Then everything goes in rapid succession: bells ring in the engine room, the rudder swings to starboard . The "Titanic" brushes against the iceberg, causing damage to the fuselage plates, which extends over 91 meters. From then on, the ship is doomed. At first, however, hardly anyone on board wants to see the danger, not even the captain. Only when the naval architect Thomas Andrews explained to him that the ship was lost does he begin to doubt its unsinkability. The heaters and greasers, on the other hand, have no doubts about the danger and watch the water rise higher and higher in the boiler room. The ship slowly leans forward into the ice-covered waters of the Atlantic.
According to old seamanship, the captain gives his command in a calm voice. When the crew began to lead the women and children to the lifeboats, protests began to rise. A woman wrapped in an expensive chinchilla refuses to get into the lifeboat because she is afraid of catching a cold. Four men sit playing cards in the smoking room. Only when the whiskey glasses tilt to one side do they ask the steward to find out what's going on. However, the four wait in vain for the man to return. The fired sea rescue missile now also alerts the passengers in the tween deck. They desperately fight their way to the boat deck. Fear for their safety gives them the courage to break through the luxury zones that are forbidden to them. As the stern rises higher and higher, panic spreads.
58 nautical miles away, the " Carpathia " receives the SOS calls that the radio operator of the "Titanic" sends incessantly. She immediately changes course to rush to the aid of the "Titanic". However, the journey will take around four hours.
The freighter " Californian " is only ten miles away . His crew recognizes the lights of the "Titanic" and notices that the ship has stopped. “To be on the safe side,” think the seafarers, because they have stopped themselves because of the pack ice and the darkness. They also see the distress missiles soaring into the sky, but believe it is a spectacle to amuse the passengers.
Meanwhile, around 1,500 people are still waiting to be rescued on board the “Titanic”, although there is no longer a lifeboat available. When the bow dips under the ice-cold water, everyone struggles through to the stern , which is the only part of the ship that still protrudes from the water. A musician begins to play a chorale on his violin . Little by little the other members of the ship's band join in and join in the song. Suddenly one of the four chimneys falls down. The steamer leans more and more to the side, remains in this position for a few seconds and then sinks into the depths.
When the “Carpathia” finally arrives at the scene of the accident, just 705 survivors can be rescued from the water.
background
With reference to eyewitness accounts, the director Roy Ward Baker tried to recount the events as authentically as possible. As a consultant, Baker involved 64 rescued people from the Titanic disaster. The author of the original book, Walter Lord, was - despite the similarity of names - not a relative of Stanley Lord , the captain of the ship Californian involved in the Titanic sinking .
The black and white film shot in England and Scotland was a model for James Cameron's later filming of the shipwreck, Titanic . The actor Bernard Fox , who played the lookout Frederick Fleet in this film , also worked in Cameron's film and played there the 1st class passenger Col. Archibald Gracie .
The former ocean liner Asturias, about to be dismantled, served as the backdrop for the scenes on the boat deck . While the workers on the starboard side were already busy with the dismantling, the settings with the lifeboats were turned on the port side.
Several recordings of the Nazi propaganda film Titanic , made in 1943, were cut into the film , which is due to the exact reconstruction of the ship in this film adaptation.
Reviews
"With reference to eyewitness reports, the three hours between the collision and sinking are described in great detail - whereby the question of guilt is treated with a noticeably reserved approach and little value is placed on the human problem of the situation. Significantly less profile than Negulesco's " sinking of the Titanic ". "
"Not a particularly remarkable, nevertheless properly made, exciting entertainment film."
"The 1958 film received critical acclaim for its historical accuracy and is still considered one of the best" Titanic "films to this day."
Awards
The film received a Golden Globe for Best Drama in 1959 .
literature
- Dieter Krusche, Jürgen Labenski : Reclam's film guide. 7th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-15-010205-7 , p. 564
- Walter Lord : The Titanic Disaster. The dramatic sinking of the luxury liner. (OT: A Night to Remember ). Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-05909-3 .
- Walter Lord: The last night of the Titanic. Tell eyewitnesses. German remake of A Night to Remember . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-596-19269-4 .
media
- The last night of the Titanic . DVD, Euro Video 2005
- William Alwyn : A Night to Remember. Main Title . On: The Film Music of William Alwyn, Vol. 2 . Chandos, Colchester 2001, sound carrier no. CHAN 9959 - digital re-recording of excerpts from the film music by the BBC Philharmonic under the direction of Rumon Gamba
Web links
- A Night to Remember in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Overview at Soundtrack-Collector of sound carriers with the film music
Individual evidence
- ^ Source: Program for the film: Illustrierte Film-Bühne, Vereinigte Verlagsgesellschaft Franke & Co. KG, Munich, without the number
- ↑ kino.de: The last night of the Titanic.
- ↑ Reclams Filmführer, 2nd ed. 1973, ISBN 3-15-010205-7 .
- ↑ The Titanic's Last Night. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 163/1959
- ↑ one day, "Titanic" survivors: Wimbledon winner, movie star, suicide ", March 26, 2012