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
Shot in black and white on a shoestring budget, Kevin Smith's Clerks premiered at Sundance in 1994 before Miramax picked it up for wider release, turning a $27,000 convenience store comedy into an indie landmark. Its unpolished style and rapid-fire dialogue helped define a generation of American independent film, launching Smith's career and the View Askewniverse that would follow. The film's raw honesty about dead-end jobs and directionless youth struck a chord that studio productions of the era rarely reached, cementing its place as a touchstone of 1990s cinema.
This cell preserves Randal Graves, the video store clerk whose apathy and sharp tongue made him one of the era's most quotable characters. Played by Jeff Anderson, Randal became a fan favorite for his indifference to customer service and his running commentary on everything around him. A cell bearing his name draws collectors who value the character's role as counterpoint to Dante, the friction that drives much of the film's comedy. Isolated on 35mm, this frame stands as a physical fragment of that performance, a tangible piece of the reel that carried Randal's voice into theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Clerks (1994).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or deformation.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area; a narrow Dolby Digital data-block column appears to be present in the inter-perforation zone on the same side.
Edge print
Edge print reads (mirrored as captured): KU 18 2449 5747+32
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly cool; the silver dye image is black-and-white, consistent with a monochrome print, showing no visible colour shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the black-and-white monochrome image is consistent with the known monochrome photography of the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a Dolby Digital optical track alongside a variable-area analogue track, and the KU Kodak key-number prefix, is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1994 release date on record.
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 000063080
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
