National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2019
“A hilarious, in-your-face, bawdy-yet-provocative look at two sardonic young slackers (Dante and Randal). One toils as a New Jersey convenience store clerk while his alter-ego video store friend works when the mood strikes him.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Kevin Smith
Studio
Miramax · View Askew Productions · 92 min
Box office
$3.2M worldwide on a $28K budget
Honors
Sundance Filmmaker Trophy Dramatic — 1 winAll 1 wins · 0 nominations on record
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Clerks arrived in 1994 as a low-budget black-and-white shot on borrowed money and credit cards, released through Miramax after a Sundance run that turned Kevin Smith into an overnight name. Shot largely in the convenience store where Smith himself worked, it captured a slacker vernacular that felt entirely new against the studio gloss of the era, spawning the View Askewniverse and a devoted following that still quotes it verbatim.
This cell centers on Randal Graves, the video store clerk whose disregard for customer service and rapid-fire opinions made him the film's most quoted and most argued-over voice. Collectors seek him out because he represents the counterpoint to Dante's put-upon patience, the engine of the film's best tirades. A cell reading simply his name, without a specific line or scene attached, likely comes from an identifying strip near his introduction or a credits pass, the kind of frame archivists prize precisely because it anchors the character without spoiling a single exchange.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm black-and-white release print of Clerks (1994).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frames is obscured by the dark rebate and curl of the strip.
Edge print
Edge print reads 'KV 18 24' with an asterisk symbol visible along the top edge; text appears mirrored as read.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a slight cool tint; the black-and-white silver image shows neutral density with no visible colour shift or fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are visible on the frames in this capture.
Picture
Positive black-and-white image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of Clerks (1994).
Era check
The black-and-white silver-based positive image and the KV-series edge code are consistent with Kodak print stock used for 35mm release prints in the early 1990s.
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 000063065
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
