7. A Night to Remember vs. The Lady Vanishes

Finally, a film I've never seen before! Not only that, but it's also connected to the film I was going to pit it up against anyway, The Lady Vanishes, as director Roy Ward Baker acted as assistant director on that film. Baker also worked extensively in both film and television, doing genre work like The Avengers and later making several horror films. Coming after the murder's row of auteurs previously encountered in the list, you can't help but root for the guy.

The reason why I'm pitting A Night to Remember up against The Lady Vanishes is because both are pulse-pounding suspense films that don't carry the big Important label that every other film in the list has so far. This film is about the night that the Titanic sunk, and touches on nearly every group of people affected on the ship. Surprisingly, the iceberg collision happens a mere 30 minutes into the film, and the 90 remaining minutes are people being assholes to each other and either putting on a brave face or losing their shit in panic. I was more engrossed in this film than I expected, and nice touches like the dining room tray sliding across the room added to the increasing dread. It's also a solid ensemble piece, with no clear lead but a number of strong characters. The writing is superb in this aspect because the entitlement and asshattery of the upper classes is delicious, especially in a scene where a woman complains about her life vest because it looks ugly, and another man sniffing about it slightly hurting him.

This is a great disaster film, and it's obvious that James Cameron liberally "borrowed" from this film for Titanic. I haven't seen Titanic in years, but I'm tempted to say A Night to Remember is the better film because you don't get such laughably over-the-top shenanigans as Billy Zane getting on a lifeboat by stealing a random baby, Kate telling Billy, "I'd rather be his whore than your wife!", or basically any scene with Billy Zane in it (now that I'm thinking about it, these could be marks in Titanic's favor). Some of the characters here may be a bit cartoonish, but they're believable, and a number of the characters who die actually leave you a bit misty-eyed. A child even drowns, for Christ's sake.

But this isn't A Night to Remember vs. Titanic. How does this film stack up against The Lady Vanishes? Well, Hitch may have been a master, but I'm rarely touched by his films. A Night to Remember is great action, funny, and touching, so it has the edge here. I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, but this is why I'm going through the collection. I love finding gems like this that I may have never watched otherwise, so right now I'm sliding this into the #5 spot. Sorry, Hitch.

1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. Grand Illusion (1937)
4. The 400 Blows (1959)
5. A Night to Remember (1958)
6. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
7. Amarcord (1973)

Next time: Part 1 of a John Woo double feature when I tackle The Killer. Come back to find out where I put it! If you care, that is. If not, carry on.