National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2017
“James Cameron's epic retold the story of the great maritime disaster and made mega-stars of both its leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Their upstairs-downstairs romance transported the audience to another world and time via spectacular sweeping scenes in the bow of the ship and beyond.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
James Cameron
Studio
Paramount Pictures · British Film Institute · 20th Century Studios · 195 min
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Titanic arrived in December 1997 from Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox, directed by James Cameron at a then-unprecedented budget that made the production itself a subject of press coverage before a frame was screened. It went on to dominate the box office worldwide and swept the Academy Awards, becoming a cultural touchstone that introduced a new generation to the story of the ship's sinking through a romance set against class division and disaster. Its scale and success cemented its place as one of the defining studio releases of the decade.
This cell centers on Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, alongside Fabrizio De Rossi, played by Danny Nucci. Jack is the film's steerage-class romantic lead, the artist whose bond with Rose drives the story, while Fabrizio serves as his loyal companion and comic counterpart in the early scenes. Pairing these two speaks to friendship and camaraderie before the voyage's turn toward catastrophe, a moment collectors seek for its warmth and its place in the narrative's setup. As a 35mm cell, it preserves a physical fragment of the actual release print.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Titanic (1997).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture, appearing as a dual-band white waveform strip; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge.
Edge print
Top edge reads, mirrored: KODAK 389 12 [symbol] 1997
Base & colour
Base shows a blue-tinted clear stock consistent with colour print film; dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of Kodak colour print stock with key numbers referencing 1997, dual variable-area optical track, and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the 1997 production period.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062593
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
