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 as a Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox co-production, directed by James Cameron at a scale few studios had risked before. It went on to dominate the box office worldwide and swept the Academy Awards, becoming a defining cinematic event of the decade. Its blend of period romance, technical ambition, and disaster spectacle made it a touchstone of 1990s filmmaking, and the movie remains one of the most widely seen releases in history, still drawing new audiences on home formats and reissues today.
This 35mm cell preserves a strip tied to Jack Dawson, the penniless artist whose journey aboard the doomed liner anchors the film's emotional core. Collectors seek him out because he represents the everyman spirit of the story, the optimism and daring that carried the narrative forward. A cell like this, drawn straight from the release print, offers a tangible fragment of that performance and character arc, a physical remnant of the frames that carried Jack through the picture. For enthusiasts of the film, holding a piece connected specifically to him is a way of owning a small, direct link to Titanic's most enduring figure.
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 look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone beside it, consistent with a dual-format optical release.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-violet tint typical of modern polyester safety stock; the dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no visible 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 shot, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The polyester base tint, variable-area optical track combined with Dolby Digital data blocks, and colour dye saturation are all consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print.
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 000062618
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
