A Night To Remember Author and Producer

Click HERE to see an interview with Walter Lord the author of the celebrated book, "A Night to Remember".

Click HERE to see Part 1 of the interview with producer and witness of Titanic's Construction and Sea Trials, William McQuitty.

Click HERE to see Part 2 of the interview with William McQuitty.

Click HERE to see Part 1 of A Night to Remember

Click HERE to see Part 2

Click HERE to see Part 3

Click HERE to see Part 4

Click HERE to see Part 5

Click HERE to see Part 6

Click HERE to see Part 7

Click HERE to see Part 8

Click HERE to see Part 9

Click HERE to see Part 10

Click HERE to see Part 11

Click HERE to see Part 12

Click HERE to see Part 13

Alice Cleaver

Alice Catherine Cleaver was born on July 5, 1889 in St. Pancras, London to Joseph Cleaver and Lavina Alice Cleaver. When she became a teenager, she went to work as a made for several English families before becoming the maid/nurse for the wealthy Montreal family, Hudson and Bess Allison and their children, Lorraine and Trevor. In 1912, the Allison family were going back home on the Titanic taking Alice along with them. On April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck ice. Hudson went out to see what was going on. While Mr. Allison was gone, Mrs. Allison broke into hysterics. SHe either left with Trevor and got the servant and cook for the Allison family in 2nd class, or Hudson returned with the rest of the party and they got separated. She then went into Boat No. 11, assuming that the rest of the Allison family would do the same. Unfortunately, they didn't. No one knows what happened next. Either they went looking for Alice and Trevor, or they waited too long to get into a boat. Lorraine was the only child in 1st Class to die on the Titanic. The servant and cook from the Allison family along with Alice didn't realize that the Allison family except for the precious child that she was holding didn't survive, until the next day on the rescue ship Carpathia. Trevor was returned to the Allison family after they arrived in New York. All of them went up to Montreal where they recovered from the disaster, and then the servant, cook, and Alice was returned to England. To avoid the reporters, she went under the name of Jean. She was disgraced later by false reports. There were stories that she murdered her own baby before she met the Allisons, but that was mistaken identity with another woman named Alice Mary Cleaver. It was also said, that she ran away from the Allisons on the sinking ship in hysterics although that can not be proved. Alice returned to England, and married Edward James Williams and had two daughters. She died on November 1, 1984 in Hampshire, England.


In a letter, Alice Cleaver Williams wrote this letter to Titanic author, Walter Lord:

"I was acting as a nurse to the two children of Mr and Mrs Allison. Having taken the position two weeks before we sailed as their own nurse decided not to go at the last moment -Lorraine was 3 years old at the time and Trevor 10 months.There is not much I can tell you in a letter. I had some difficulty in persuading Mr.Allison to get up and go to see what had happened after the crash, which they did not hear at all and thought it was my imagination. Some long time after the engines had stopped he decided to go and find out the trouble.

While he was away I was warned we would have to leave the ship, so prepared the children and Mrs.Allison - but she became hysterical and I had to calm her. About that time an officer came round to close the cabins and advised us to go on deck - here met Mr.Allison outside the cabin but he seemed too dazed to speak. I handed him some brandy and asked him to look after Mrs.Allison and Lorraine and I would keep Baby, the child I managed to get off the ship, some confusion occurred outside as to which deck we should go and that is how he came separated, afterwards I learned from one of the staff that Mrs.Allison was hysterical again and that Mr.Allison had difficulty with her and I can only surmise that is how they lost their lives - as there was plenty of room in the lifeboats because people refused to leave thinking it was safer on the ship."

Know Your Stuff! 5

Q. Who survived the Titanic and 4 other predicaments before dying of Renal Failure?

A. R. Norris Williams

B. Joseph Bruce Ismay

C. Gus Cohen

D. Helen Bishop


Q. What school teacher wrote a famous account of his experiences on the Titanic?

A. Annie Funk

B. William T. Stead

C. Charles Lightoller

D. Lawrence Beesely


Q. What was the first recognizable thing seen that identified the last resting place of the Titanic?

A. Boiler

B. China

C. Bell

D. Railing


Q. What man that died on the Titanic was supposed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery?

A. John Jacob Astor

B. Archibald Butt

C. Benjamin Guggenheim

D. Isador Strauss


Q. What type of car was on the Titanic?

A. Ford Model T

B. French Renault

C. Hupp-Yeats

D. Mercer

(The answer is in the post, "Titanic Automobile")


Q. Who was the only man that was colored (black) on board the Titanic?

A. Shine

B. Fredrick Douglas

C. Joseph Laroche

D. Martin King


Q. Who wrote the electrifying account of the Titanic in a book called "A Night To Remember"?

A. Archibald Gracie

B. Lawrence Beesely

C. Walter Lord

D. Stanley Lord

(Answer these questions by clicking on the links provided)

A Night To Remember: The Movie

The movie called A Night to Remember was made in 1958. It was directed by William McQuitty, and co directed by Walter Lord, the book that it's based off of. It is in my mind, the most accurate Titanic drama movie of all time. It begins with the launch, which has one of the few innacurate parts of the movie. it has a woman christening the Titanic, although the ship never was christened. The footage of the Titanic going down the gantry way into the sea, is actually the Queen Elizabeth. Next, they show the people from all lives leaving their homes along with their homes and friends, to go to America. After that, comes the main character of the movie, Charles Lightoller played by Kenneth More. We next go down to the docks where they introduce the other main characters of the ship, Thomas Andrews played by Micheal Goodliffe, J. Bruce Ismay played by Frank Lawton, and Captain Edward Smith played by Laurence Naismith. They show the Titanic leaving, using footage of the Titanic's sister ship, Olympic. The next scenes are of a ship that was about to be scrapped, that they bought and made into the hull of the ship. The scenes of the full Titanic, are actually an 11 foot model, and could be made to look like the actual thing, with it being in black and white. The sets were built with the greatest detail that the designers could use, that would be closest to the original, and they used the plans and photographs to create the sets. The people were dressed in period clothes, and they even brought survivors in, to see the sets and watch the production. Joseph Boxhall the 4th officer of the Titanic served as technical advisor. The passengers on the sets were Edith Russell, Lawrence Beasely, and several others. Mrs. Lightoller the wife of Charles Lightoller, came too. The survivors would walk around the boat decks, corridors, cabins, bridge, and engine room, lost in memories of their experiences. When they had Thomas Andrews in the Smoking Room, awaiting his fate, the place would creak and groan as the tilt grew. It was very dramatic, and you can hear it in the movie. They actually had the end of the movie where everyone is in the lifeboats of the water, in a lake during the winter. They did use precautions, and no one got hypothermia. The movie became the most popular movie of the decade. When the young survivors saw it, they were reminded a lot of their fathers, lost in the disaster. It's because of this that when Ms. Millvina Dean was invited to have a private viewing of the 1997 version with Prince Charles of Wales, she refused because she couldn't bear another movie like that. The movie had made Captain Stanley Lord, the captain of the Californian, a lazy man that didn't care about the ship that was firing white rockets. It has been unproven, and Captain Lord's family was quite upset. This movie was liked by most survivors however, and the audiences have loved it. If you are wanting to see the 1997 version but you don't want to watch it because of a few bad parts in it, try this movie. It's far better, and more accurate.b

The Author of a Legend

Walter Lord was born on October 8, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1939, he graduated from Princeton University and tried to get into Yale, but he joined the army after Pearl Harbor. He was made a code clerk in London, and graduated from Yale with a degree in law after WWII ended. Lord wrote 13 bestselling books. They were Day of Infamy, Incredible Victory, A Time to Stand, Peary to the Pole, Good years from 1900 to the First World War, The Past that would not Die, his greatest work A Night to Remember, and The Night Lives On. From what I know, Walter Lord after writing A Time to Stand about The Alamo, he actually discovered the long lost flag from the battle in the Mexican archives. While writing about A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On about the Titanic, he tracked down 63 living survivors in order to get their stories of the sinking and afterward. In 1958, William McQuitty decided to do a movie using A Night to Remember's name and facts. It tells the story minute-by-minute through the eyes of Kenneth More playing 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller, and going through the bravery of Thomas Andrews, Captain Smith, the true story of Ismay, the Strausses, and many others. The sets were built using the original blueprints and designs, and they had survivors including Lawrence Beasely, and Edith Russell. It remains to this day as the most accurate movie today. Walter Lord acted as technical adviser along side with survivor 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall. Walter Lord became known also for is vast collection in things that survivors from the Titanic had given him, and original pictures. Among those things was a musical toy pig from Edith Russell that she played in the lifeboat in order to comfort the children. In 1997, after years of speaking and signing autographs, he helped James Cameron in his movie, Titanic. Walter Lord died on May 19, 2002 at the age of 84 after battling Parkinsons for years. He was buried in a family plot in Green Mountain Cemetery.

The TITANIC Artist

Ken Marschall inspires me to draw and draw again the TITANIC and his paintings are so good, that many think his paintings of the wreck are photographs! He was quiet as a child, and always drew. He was in oil paints which is for the advanced painters at the age of 4. He would draw plains, trains, and yes boats. He drew his first picture of the TITANIC when he was sixteen after seeing "Titanic" starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stynwick, and hasn't stopped. His first real commission was by Walter Lord the author of A Night To Remember and the top Titanic expert at that time. Walter Lord and Ken had been in touch, since Ken was able to find out his address and ask him what he needed to know about the ship in detail. Ken painted for Walter Lord, a picture of the Titanic entering New York. Over the years, he has collected information, designs, and photographs of the Titanic. He has also collected things from Titanic's identical sister, Olympic which was scrapped and it's pieces now distributed throughout all the world. During that time, he and fellow Titanic Historian Don Lynch had gotten the information about survivors, and had visited them asking for their accounts of the disaster. Two of those survivors were Edwina Troutt, and Ruth Becker. When the Titanic was found, he got all the information he could about the wreck and the pictures from magazines. Then, he did his first painting of the wreck. It was accepted by Time Magazine for their cover on the story. By now, Ken Marschall is one of the most respected and influential Titanic Historian and Artist in the world of Titanic Mania. He has undergone commissions for him to paint shipwrecks and ships. He was actually a part of the team with Robert Ballard that found the TITANIC and the Bismark. He did the paintings for "Inside the TITANIC", "TITANIC an Illustrated History," and tons of other books of which you can find anywhere. His work is very detailed for instance if you look through the book "Ghost Liners," you'll see a painting by Ken Marschall of the Lusitania Wreck. That painting is so detailed and painstakingly painted, that I don't think anyone would be able to paint that well. Ken Marschall is one of the most famous maritime painters in the world today.