The door which ultimately saved Rose DeWitt Bukater from a watery grave towards the end of Titanic has fetched the highest price at a recent auction of film memorabilia.
At $718,750 (almost $AU1.1 million), it surpassed other notable memorabilia at Heritage Auctions’ Treasures from Planet Hollywood – including Indiana Jones’ bullwhip from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which secured the second-highest sale at $525,000.
The auction featured other Titanic memorabilia, including the pale purple-and-pink chiffon dress worn by Kate Winslet as Rose during the sinking scenes. However, it sold for a significantly lower price of $125,000, probably due to the item’s long controversy in pop culture.
Debates surrounding whether Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, could have fit on the door alongside Rose, thus possibly changing his character’s fate. Director James Cameron has defended his decision to have Jack sacrifice himself, aligning it with the character’s development.
Other notable items sold at the auction included (all in US dollars):
- The Holy Grail ‘cup of a carpenter’ from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade ($87,500)
- Bill Murray’s red-rose bowling ball from Kingpin ($350,000).
- Jack Nicholson’s axe from The Shining ($125,000).
- Tobey Maguire’s black symbiote suit from Spider-Man 3 ($125,000).
- The surreptitious shaving cream can Wayne Knight uses to smuggle dinosaur embryos in Jurassic Park ($250,000).
