MovieChat Forums > A Night to Remember (1958) Discussion > Deleted Scene: Drowned baby buried at se...

Deleted Scene: Drowned baby buried at sea

posted 14 years ago by bullock_scott73
37 replies | jump to latest

All the current DVD releases (and most all the prints shown on cable TV) have deleted a 20-second scene that takes place not long after Lightoller (Kenneth More) swims to and gets aboard the overturned lifeboat.

The 3rd class Irish men swimming up to the overturned boat pass a shawl-wrapped child to Lightoller and say "take care of this child." In the deleted scene, Lightoller takes the baby in his arms, puts his face to the child's, checks for a pulse, then shakes his head as the baby is obviously already dead. He then lowers the dead infant back into the sea from the boat and it's little corpse floats off.

Apparently this scene is intact in some British VHS relases of ANTR from the early/mid 1980s. But it's apparently cut from all the DVD releases. You can clearly see the cut when the Irish man with the baby swims near the overturned boat- the scene cuts abruptly to Lightoller and the others trying to "trim the boat" by leaning into the waves.

Kind of a shame this was cut- perhaps it was simply deemed too gruesome and distrubing by the DVD editors (although Cameron's 1997 movie has tons of frozen bodies shown in the water.)

Here's a neat website with stills of the deleted scene:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s66anight.html

[–] ljspin 14 years ago

Among those frozen bodies in Cameron's film is a young mother with her baby frozen in her arms. Just a little while earlier there was a short scene where this mother asked Captain Smith where they were to go. Smith, knowing that all the lifeboats had been launched, turns away from her without answering. It is a moving moment when we see that mother again, bobbing with her life belt in the freezing water, her baby still in her arms.

Spin

[–] TorontoJediMaster 14 years ago

I believe this cut was done in the original print that the DVD was made from.

The VHS copy that I have of A Night to Remember has that scene in.

[–] BulletHeadedSaxonMothersSon 14 years ago

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s66anight.html

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ragemanchoo 12 years ago

I think this should be mentioned in the trivia section. Anyone else?

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

There are versions of the film that retain this scene, and when the film's been shown on cable in recent years this scene has usually been included. But the original Criterion DVD, which you'd expect to be complete and definitive, used a print with the scene cut.

As I mentioned in my post on the upcoming Criterion re-release, my primary question is whether they'll be using a different print with that scene intact. I assume not, unfortunately; it'll likely just be another "remastered" edition of their same old version. We'll find out in a couple of weeks, but has anyone heard any news yet?

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

I'd like to know too. I've read that the new UK release from ITV Studios Global Entertainment does have the 'dead baby' scene restored: http://digital2disc.com/index.php/news/article/a-night-to-remember-cle aning-up-a-timeless-classic I'd be disappointed if the new Criterion version doesn't, particularly as I'm in the UK and ordered the Criterion from Amazon.com . As usual though, it seems the Criterion has a lot more 'extras' Don't tell me that the 'completist' needs both!

Interesting update: I've just checked the runtimes on the DVDBeaver comparison between the old Criterion DVD and their new Blu-ray (a bit unfair, no?!) here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews8/nighttoremember.htm and these are, respectively 2:02:32 and 2:03:45.835. Now these are just the timings for the main feature, so if they are both accurate (Blu-ray measured to nearest 1/200 of a second?!) that means the Blu-ray runs near 1 minute 14 seconds longer than the old [NTSC] DVD. So something's got to be there that wasn't before!

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] Tom Ricc 12 years ago

Very happy to say Criterion has corrected this omission on the blu-ray release the scene of the dead child is now intact as is the epilogue scroll of "the sinking was not in vain" so it seem this is the most complete version and in high definition.

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

Yes, I haven't seen it yet but I know they used the restoration done in London by ITV Studios Global Entertainment for the UK release. So it's safe to go Criterion (it has many more extras). Thanks for the confirmation - first here to have actually confirmed after viewing.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

Great! Thanks, Tom Ricc. I'm not getting the Blu-ray at this point, so I hope the new standard DVD is similarly repaired. (Although someone wrote that the two discs have slightly different running times, so who knows?)

[–] GaelicLass 12 years ago

I am curious as to the fascination with a scene of a drowned baby...seems a bit morbid to me and could be left out as far as I am concerned.

"Sometimes you have to know when to put a cork in it."
~Frasier

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

Have you seen the cut? A close-up of two passengers who are swimming towards the upturned lifeboat; one is the Irishman who sang at the steerage party, and he is holding onto a shawl (the baby) as he swims. We see them reach the boat, and Lightoller's arm (white pullover) reach out to help them aboar-Sudden cut (including an audible jump) to a long shot of everyone standing on the boat. It's clumsy and obvious.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] GaelicLass 12 years ago

That's just poor editing, that's all.

"Sometimes you have to know when to put a cork in it."
~Frasier

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

There's a difference between 'editing' and a 'cut' in my book. One is an artistic decision, and the other is censorship. Now that the scene has been restored, there's no cut - it's been re-edited back in, and with a lot more care than when it was taken out by some ham-fisted, amateur editor and full-time bureaucrat. Anyway, it's no more harrowing than the kind old man reassuring and comforting the young boy left on the stern of Titanic as she's about to go under, knowing that the poor wee lad doesn't understand that they have but a few minutes of life left.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

To beat the dead horse one more time (and anyway, you contributed plenty of beatings yourself there, Gaeliclass), the reason that it's good to have the cut scene restored is because a film should be complete, in its original form...which ANTR now is. The scene isn't particularly well done (the use of a doll is very obvious), but that, too, is beside the point.

Horse beaten, awaiting burial.

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

Thanks for your defence hobnob53. While you submitted your post I continued to type a lengthy protest. Yours was enough, and had I seen that, I might not have bothered; as it is, I've probably gone too far. The poster made some remark about me not having work to go to. The fact that they're right - and I've been in this situation for longer than it took to build the Titanic - only makes it worse. There are worse things at sea though, as I've acknowledged to my accuser.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

Ah, well, aheathenconceivably, don't worry too much. Many a time I've gone on at much greater length than you did below, and not in as restrained a manner, in response to a thread I didn't like. I often get kind of wordy, or carried away. I thought what you wrote was perfectly reasonable.

In conclusion, here's my IMDb impression of Captain Smith as the Titanic went down:

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] GaelicLass 12 years ago

I am sorry you are so upset. I guess I am tired of people always trying to change another's opinion. I will remove the offending post of mine and you may all go on with your discussion.

I recently am spending too much time on here myself and it got to me. But I stand bt my opinion that it was kindness that made them remove the scene, probably because many survivors were still alive or their ancestors.

"Sometimes you have to know when to put a cork in it."
~Frasier

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

Hello again Gaeliclass. Thanks for that. I was just trying to clarify that this single instance of "poor editing" was obviously done in a hurry later and I suspect not by anyone involved in the making of the movie.

I love it when someone changes my opinion on something, and your point is a good one. I wasn't trying to change that. As it is, I think you may be right. I am glad though that the film -which IMHO is the best on the subject- has now been through an extensive and full restoration process for the centenary of the disaster.

Regards.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] enochsneed 12 years ago

Yes, it is a shame this is cut because I have always linked that child to the little boy the steward was protecting as the ship went down. Another little cut is of a crewman being crushed by dynamo or some other piece of machinery in the engine room. There is also the text at the end about safety improvements that followed the disaster. These must be from the American release, because I never saw them when the film was transmitted on UK television when that was the only way to see the film.

[–] deeveed 12 years ago

You know I'd be intrigued if the German film , Titanic, which was made in '43 included the drowned baby. I did read that the film had some scenes cut because they were deeemed to be too traumatic considering germany was at war. Anybody familiar with it? I haven't seen the film.

[–] a_heathen_conceivably 12 years ago

You know I'd be intrigued if the German film , Titanic, which was made in '43 included the drowned baby. I did read that the film had some scenes cut because they were deeemed to be too traumatic considering germany was at war. Anybody familiar with it? I haven't seen the film.

There was a documentary about it ("Nazi Titanic") on TV in the UK just last week. I didn't know that the director was imprisoned and murdered by the Gestapo (or was it the SS?) apparently because he was heard to criticize the German army (a big no-no) in frustration over the performances of military extras in the film. Rare clips were shown, though no mention of that particular baby.

"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

The 1943 German Titanic has been available on Region 1 DVD (from Kino) here in the States for a decade.

It's a fascinating film for its outrageous propaganda, and its central character of a fictitious German First Officer named Petersen, the only noble and honest member of the crew, who is warned by Captain Smith to mind his tongue "as the only German crewmember aboard" when he asks why the ship is being mishandled. The plot revolves around the criminal officers of the White Star Line, who, facing bankruptcy after building the ship, deliberately risk the lives on board by ordering it to break the speed record. The sinking comes as a financial relief to the perfidious British, and the testimony of the truthful Petersen is ignored.

No dead baby in that film, however. The only thing this and ANTR have in common is that a few effects shots from the 1943 film were incorporated into the 1958 movie.

The director, Herbert Selpin, was indeed arrested by the Gestapo during production for making an anti-regime remark, and shortly afterward died of a "heart attack" in prison. But curiously, for reasons never explained, Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels, who oversaw the German film industry, insisted that Selpin be given sole credit as director of the film! In the end the movie received almost no release in 1943 because its scenes of panic and death were deemed too depressing and close to home for a population undergoing daily air raids. But it's definitely worth having.

[–] deeveed 12 years ago

hobnob..Thanks for the overview of that film. Nothing like a sinking to get the good propaganda going for the masses! I should add it to my film collection alongside Lili R's "Triumph of the Will".

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

You're welcome, deeveed. The 1943 Titanic is pretty well-done, though the sets look nothing like the interior of the real ship. It's also interesting to hear characters who are supposed to be British or American speaking German. We're used to seeing movies where foreign characters, or characters from other eras, speak English, but seeing this "in reverse" is kind of intriguing.

On a non-Titanic subject, when Kino released that film on DVD they also issued another 1943 German film, Munchhausen, an amazingly elaborate and bizarre fantasy film and the movie chosen to celebrate UFA's 25th anniversary. It was Goebbels's answer to the recent American and British fantasies The Wizard of Oz and The Thief of Bagdad. It's in color and features such things as Munchhausen being shot from a cannon, locked in a Turkish harem with topless (!) harem girls, and voyaging to the Moon in a balloon. Surprisingly, it's not propagandistic, just an entertainment, with some wit and sentiment. Equally if not more fascinating than Titanic.

[–] deeveed 12 years ago

And with Munchausen, did the director of that film get to keep his life?........;-)....I'll check that film out too.

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

Ha! For as long as it lasted, I suppose....

Maybe we should retitle this thread "Dead director buried at Gestapo HQ".

[–] jcshetler 12 years ago

just watched on amc in the u.s.
this scene was in.

The Dumbing-Down of America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbing_down

[–] eddie_willers 12 years ago

TCM ran it tonight. It included the scene. (which shocked me because I had never noticed that before and this was probably my 6th viewing. I imagine it was deleted in all my earlier viewings)

Glad there was a thread here that now explains it.

[–] Hushpuppy_20 12 years ago

I saw this included in the AMC version as well the other night. For whatever reason I assumed it was the body of the dead female "young lovers" couple, and the man who pulled her aboard was her boyfriend! I had no idea it was supposed to be a child, and it looked more like a doll in the brief scene.

[–] tristandude14 12 years ago

This scene is included on the Blu-Ray Critereon Collection Edition that was just released.

[–] ablast 12 years ago

It's also on the regular (new) Criterion 2 disc dvd.

I have not failed, I've found 10,000 ways that won't work.

[–] PeterBlues (790) 6 years ago

that scene sounded familiar, i just realised i saw a scene like that happened in hitchcock's "lifeboat" which i saw just within a few days of watching this. speaking of different releases, there is an old documentary featured on the triple dvd set where this movie was included about the making of a night to remember, obviously shown elsewhere decades before ending up on the dvd, to get an idea how old it is, the producer of this is interviewed where he talks about seeing the real titanic head off in 1911, it also says in the documentary that this was the biggest british movie of the 1950's, seems pretty forgotten today, in my country it's not easy accessible like the 1953 version, perhaps i would've gotten a different opinion of this if i had seen this before the 1953 version which i found superior, i find it funny this didn't do well over seas because it didn't have any stars, since the only reason i ever heard of this was because it starred a bond girl, excuse me, but who also must have had the biggest bust on british screen of the 1950's.

🎥 📽 🎞

sent me to cement you more,
used your unexplainable witch trick like feminine charm,
put a spell on stronger than before,
like a dog i went astray,
just for you to yank the chain,
reminded me where inspiration come from,
working like a dog made up for had me beg for more.