In 1898 (14 years prior to the Titanic tragedy), Morgan Robertson wrote a novel called "Futility." This fictitious novel was about the largest ship ever built hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic ocean on a cold April night. The fictional ship (named Titan) and the real ship Titanic were similar in design and their circumstances were remarkably alike. Both ships were labeled "unsinkable." This uncanny foresight by Morgan Robertson was mentioned at the beginning of Walter Lord's book "A Night to Remember" on which the 1958 British film was based. The comparisons and similarities are stunning, right down to the findings of an investigation after the sinking which blamed "excessive speed" for the tragedy.
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Titanic (1997) - 29 trivia entries
Directed by James Cameron, starring Bernard Hill, Bill Paxton, Billy Zane, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Victor Garber (add more)
In 1898 (14 years prior to the Titanic tragedy), Morgan Robertson wrote a novel called "Futility." This fictitious novel was about the largest ship ever built hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic ocean on a cold April night. The fictional ship (named Titan) and the real ship Titanic were similar in design and their circumstances were remarkably alike. Both ships were labeled "unsinkable." This uncanny foresight by Morgan Robertson was mentioned at the beginning of Walter Lord's book "A Night to Remember" on which the 1958 British film was based. The comparisons and similarities are stunning, right down to the findings of an investigation after the sinking which blamed "excessive speed" for the tragedy.
When the Titanic splits and the rest of the ship begins to sink, next to Jack and Rose there is a man in white drinking whisky. This man actually existed. He was the chef who put on loads of layers of clothes and stole a bottle of whisky from the kitchen. He drank the whisky to keep warm, and he survived the ice.
Using DVD frame-by-frame, one can see the one-legged prostitute's picture; the full body picture, not the ones of her hands. Watching normally, the page is turned just as the camera view switches to it, too fast to actually see it.
The grand staircase in the movie was actually larger than the real one. Many things were either made bigger or smaller to make Titanic seem more 'Titanic.'
Highest-grossing film (in North American and worldwide) of all time. It is also the first to gross over a then unheard-of $500 million (its total gross is $600 million) in North America alone, and the first to gross an amazing $1 billion worldwide.
Gloria Stuart was the oldest person ever to receive an Oscar nomination for her role in "Titanic". At 87, she was also the only person on the set who was alive at the time of the real "Titanic" disaster.
When Jack Dawson says, "Sit on the bed....I mean the couch," it says in the script "Sit on the couch." Leonardo DiCaprio (who played Jack) really made that mistake.
While the set designers duplicated the woodwork detailing of the Titanic, they used "flat-sawn" oak which has a completely different appearance from the more expensive "quarter-sawn" oak used in the Titanic (and virtually all Victorian and Edwardian cabinet work). Check it against archival photos.
At the end when Rose is lying on the wooden door she is looking at the sky singing "come Josephine..." When you look hard you see that the stars in the sky are symmetrical. You can actually draw a line in it. [That is not exactly the case. If you look VERY carefully (this is much more effective on a big screen), you can see that the stars form the outline of the famous necklace, The Heart of the Ocean. I guess Cameron was a little bored that day.]
Mrs Astor, who was in a 'delicate condition'- did actually survive and made it to New York on the Carpathia, along with a maid.
It seems director James Cameron had some inspiration from an earlier Titanic movie. When Jack enters the grand staircase for the first time, "On The Beautiful Blue Danube" is playing courtesy of the band. And in "A Night to Remember" (1958) when a married couple walk down the grand stairs, the same song is playing.
The last shot in which we see Molly Brown asking Jack if he knows what he is doing for dinner on the promenade deck, you see a couple on the right hand side walking towards them. The man is Edward S. Kamuda, the President of the American Titanic Historical Society. The woman is his wife.
Not so much a mistake but rather a unique cameo is in the scene where Jack is sketching the picture of Rose. The hands you see in the close up scenes are actually those of James Cameron himself drawing with the charcoal.
In one scene you can see Colonel Archibald Grace escorting two ladies to a lifeboat. Rose then asks if there are any lifeboats left and he replies, "This way, I'll show you." He did actually survive, a lot of people presumed he died. He wrote an autobiography stating that he climbed aboard the turned over lifeboat. You can actually see him in the film hanging onto the lifeboat wearing the top hat trying to cut the ropes.
While "Nearer My God to Thee" is the last song played by the band in the movie, it is still being disputed whether or not this is correct. It seems that some people heard the song from the lifeboats, but there are three versions of "Nearer..." Also some claim it was a song called "L'Automne" a ragtime tune popular at the time.
The emotional scene where Jack and Cal watch Rose getting lowered in the lifeboat is very reminiscent to an emotional scene in "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991), where Sarah and John watch The Terminator being lowered into the molten pool. A James Cameron trademark.
Rose asks Mr. Andrews if he is going to make a run for the boats. The real Mr. Andrews was actually asked this question; it is rather clear what his answer was. Also, he is seen carrying a small notebook which he uses to note down reminders, tips, and pointers as to how to repair, replace, and improve certain areas of the ship. That notebook has survived.
Director James Cameron initially wanted Gwyneth Paltrow to play Rose, but she passed on the role telling the media is wasn't "her cup of tea". Coincidentally, Kate Winslet rejected the role of Viola in Shakespeare in Love, which eventually went to Gwyneth.
Gloria Stuart (old Rose) and Kate Winslet (young Rose) were the first two actresses to be nominated for an Oscar for playing the same character in the same movie.
In the movie, the seaman steering Molly Brown's boat says "There'll be one less in this boat if you don't shut that 'ole in your face." As in many items with the movie, the line is authentic. Except 1) it was not said to Molly Brown, 2) it was not said by that seaman, and 3) it was not said in that lifeboat. Check A Night to Remember for the actual circumstances. (In fact, Molly Brown not only wasn't subdued by the loud-mouthed seaman, she faced him down later.)
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