A Night to Remember (1958)

Michael Goodliffe: Thomas Andrews

Photos 

Quotes 

• Thomas Andrews : [as the ship starts sinking faster, Andrews sees Guggenheim and his valet dressed in their most formal clothing]  Mister Guggenheim... Your lifebelt...

  Benjamin Guggenheim : It was uncomfortable. We have dressed now in our best, and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.

• Thomas Andrews : They're clearing away two of the collapsible boats, if they succeed, I'm sure they'll be a place for you in one of them.

  Mr. Clarke : See, you can still go. Please, darling.

  Mrs. Clarke : No. We've started out together and we'll finish together. Are you married, Mister Andrews?

  Thomas Andrews : Yes, and if my wife were here I'd think she would go.

  Mrs. Clarke : Do you have a family?

  Thomas Andrews : Yes.

  Mrs. Clarke : Then it would make a difference then, wouldn't it?

  Thomas Andrews : Perhaps. Let me give you some advice, put your lifebelts on and lower yourself down using the ropes hanging over the side. Don't jump if you can avoid it. When you're in the water swim away from the ship at once, and be well clear of her when she sinks.

  Mr. Clarke : Thank you, we'll remember.

  Thomas Andrews : I wonder if he will save himself?

  Mrs. Clarke : We'll save ourselves.

• Thomas Andrews : [looking at the ship's blueprints as he describes the damage to the Captain]  Here's the position: we have water in the forepeak; numbers 1 and 2 holds; the mailroom; and boiler rooms 6 and 5. That means a gash 300 feet long, from there to there...

  [indicates gash with a pencil on the blueprint] 

  Thomas Andrews : Below the waterline. Do you agree?

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Yes. Well?

  Thomas Andrews : The pumps are keeping the water down in this boiler room, Number 5, but the first five compartments are flooding.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Well, what's the answer?

  Thomas Andrews : She's going to sink, Captain.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : But... She can't sink. She's unsinkable.

  Thomas Andrews : She can't float. Look... she can float with any three of her first five compartments flooded. She could even float with four of them gone. But she can't float with ALL of the first five full up.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Yes, but...

  Thomas Andrews : [cuts him off]  These watertight bulkheads here only go as high as E Deck. The weight of the water in the bow is going to pull her down by the head. So, you're going to get the fifth compartment overflowing into the sixth... the sixth into the seventh... and so on, as she gets lower. It's a mathematical certainty. With that amount of underwater damage she can't stay afloat.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : How long will she last?

  Thomas Andrews : [starts doing figures on a scratch pad]  Just trying to work that out, now. As far as I can see, she made 14 feet of water in the first ten minutes after the collision. That's not very fast. She should live... another... hour and a half. Yes. About that, I should think.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : There must be no panic.

  Thomas Andrews : No.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : You'll be careful of what you say to the passengers.

  Thomas Andrews : Of course... How many people are there on board?

  Captain Edward J. Smith : 2,200, or more. And room in the boats for...? How many?

  Thomas Andrews : 1,200.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : I don't think the Board of Trade regulations ever visualized this situation. Do you?

• Robbie Lucas : Oh, Mister Andrews?

  Thomas Andrews : Yes?

  Robbie Lucas : I'd like you to tell me something. I... I have a wife and three children on board. Just how serious is it?

  [Andrews hesitates] 

  Robbie Lucas : I'm not the panicking kind.

  Thomas Andrews : The ship has about an hour to live. A little more, if some of the upper bulkheads hold, but not much more. Get your wife and children into the boats.

  Robbie Lucas : Thank you.

  [Andrews walks off] 

  Robbie Lucas : Oh, Mister Andrews?

  [Andrews stops and turns around] 

  Robbie Lucas : I take it you and I might both be in the same boat later?

  Thomas Andrews : [smiles sadly]  Yes... We may.

• Thomas Andrews : Why have we stopped?

  Sixth Officer James Moody : Bit of trouble, sir. With the Captain's compliments, will you please join him on the bridge?

  Thomas Andrews : Now?

  Sixth Officer James Moody : If you please, sir.

• John Wesley Woodward : What's the use no one's listening?

  Wallace Hartley - Orchestra Leader : People don't listen when they're eating, but we play just the same. Isn't that so, sir?

  Thomas Andrews : They say it helps the digestion.

  Wallace Hartley - Orchestra Leader : Exactly that's because it soothes the nerves. Right, Number 24.

  [Number 24 is Chopin's Funeral March, a dirge] 

• Engineer : She's making water fast, sir. The mail hold's practically full already.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Aren't the pumps working?

  First Officer William Murdoch : Yes sir.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : [indicates engineer can return to his job]  Thank you.

  Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall : The engine room says they'll need more. They're rigging them now.

  Chairman J. Bruce Ismay : This is most unfortunate, Captain.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Yes sir.

  Chairman J. Bruce Ismay : Do you think the ship is seriously damaged?

  Captain Edward J. Smith : I'm afraid she is.

  [sees Andrews arrive on the bridge] 

  Captain Edward J. Smith : Excuse me.

  Chairman J. Bruce Ismay : [to Murdoch]  How long is this likely to delay us?

  First Officer William Murdoch : Not long, I expect, sir.

  Captain Edward J. Smith : [to Andrews, quietly]  We've struck a berg. I think she's badly damaged. I would like to know *how* badly.

  Thomas Andrews : Right. I'll go down and have a look.