Truly Disturbing Film

I had seen "A Night to Remember" a few times over the years, the first time being around 1978 or so. I was impressed by the fact that the strking of the iceberg occurs rather early on in the film and how the film dealt with the sinking as the central point. Most films would have done it the way Cameron did by having the sinking occur later on and having some kind of character development dominate the first parts of the film. "A Night to Remember" handled the subject matter very differently.
There was one viewing that for some reason or another struck me very hard. I saw it late at night, it must have been around 12:30 AM or so when it began. I watched the whole thing and I found the film truly disturbing and unsettling. The sinking was almost traumatic. The key to this film's success is precisely the reason I point out at the start: it puts the INCIDENT itself front and center. There's no romance to consider, no side characters or plot to deal with just the plain, horrifying facts that thousands of people were stranded in the middle of the freezing cold ocean on a ship sinking fast. By presenting the film the way they did, it felt like it was occurring in "real time" and that you were a passenger on the ship. The terror builds so slowly and there aren't many scenes of panic until near the end. I could not sleep that night I watched it late. This is a film that uses the film form to a remarkable use to examine people's reactions under an awful situation.
I don't find fault with Cameron's version. I think he borrowed some elements from this film but he captured the terror of the sinking quite well too. It would have been very interesting if Cameron remade "A Night to Remember". I think it would be interesting if this film could be remade exactly as it was in 1958 BUT with today's special effects and all. My God...that would make quite a film.
If you want to experience the Titanic's sinking in a more realistic form, "A Night to Remember" is the film to watch.