Titanic’s most infamous prop just sold for an eye-watering price
20th Century StudiosOne of the most infamous, debated props from Titanic has just sold at auction for an extraordinary price — imagine how much it would have cost if it fit both of them on it.
If you could have any piece of memorabilia from James Cameron’s Titanic, what would it be? Perhaps it’d be Rose’s glimmering Heart of the Ocean, the drawing of her on the couch, or one of the lifeboats.
Well, somebody has fetched themselves something particularly notorious from the film: the ‘door’ that saved Kate Winslet’s character’s life… and doomed Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack to a frosty death in the water.
The wood panel sold for $718,750 during Heritage Auctions’ Treasures from Planet Hollywood event, beating the likes of Indiana Jones’ whip and the axe from The Shining.
As per the listing, it’s actually not a door at all. “The ornate structure was in reality part of the door frame just above the first-class lounge entrance. Both the salvaged piece of debris and the film prop reflect the opulent design scheme of original shipbuilder Harland and Wolff,” it explains.
“The iconic prop has caused much debate from fans, many of whom have argued that the floating wood panel could have supported both Jack and Rose — making his fateful decision to stay in the frigid water an empty gesture.”
By Cameron’s own admission, he’d make the raft smaller if the movie came out today. “Final verdict: Jack might’ve lived, but there’s a lot of variables. How much swell is there, how long does it take the lifeboat to get there,” he explained in National Geographic’s 25th-anniversary special.
“In an experiment in a test pool, we can’t possibly simulate the terror, the adrenaline, all the things that worked against them… [but] based on what I know today, I would have made the raft smaller, so there’s no doubt.”
The same auction also saw the best Tobey Maguire Spider-Man suit sold for $125,000 — but there’s a catch.
