In the movie, right as Jack is "borrowing" the coat, there is a scene where a boy spins a top on deck and two men look on. I'm practically certain that I've seen a black-and-white photo taken on the Titanic of that same scene. Am I right?

And thinking of this, how come we have pictures taken on board the Titanic? Did the photographers take their cameras on the lifeboats? Or were all the pictures taken while the ship was in port?

-- Nonie Maus (n/a), January 24, 1998

Answers

The pictures taken of Titanic's interiors were shot before it left port, most likely shortly after it had been fitted out. It's interesting to note that there are no (surviving) photographs of the first-class dining room; the movie production crew had to guess at some details, such as whether the table lamps had been installed. They had been ordered, but no one knows for sure if they were ever installed. -e-

-- Thomas M. Terashima (tom@nucleus.com), January 25, 1998.

I'm not sure about the picture about the boy with the top on deck. We really have very few pictures that were taken of the actual Titanic. Most of the pictures we see are on her sister ship, Olympic. They were practically identical.

-- Annie (titanic16@hotmail.com), January 24, 1998.

I'm not sure about that picture but that scene was familiar to me as well. No I don't think that anyone took their camera on the lifeboats but I do know that one man was taking photos while on board the Titanic and so he had those pictures when he got off the ship at Cherbourg.

-- Mirnada Swearingen (Kylen1@hotmail.com), January 25, 1998.

I believe the photograph your are refering to was taken by Francis Browne, a teacher and Jesuit priest candidate who travelled on the Titanic from Southhampton to Queenstown where he got off. He took several on-ship photographs and also took the last known photgraph of Titanic as it headed out into the Atlantic.

-- Dave Cook (dcook@idirect.com), January 25, 1998.

Nonie, I recognized that scene, too, and Dave, you're absolutely correct. The photograph was made by Francis M. Browne, a Jesuit priest who travelled on the Titanic with the O'Dell family from Southampton to Queenstown, where they disembarked to take a motor tour of Ireland. Francis Browne's photographs are just about the only ones taken on board the Titanic that have survived, for obvious reasons. He also got photographs of the near-collision with the steamer New York as the Titanic was leaving Southampton, as well as the LAST photograph of Captain Smith, looking down from the starboard bridge wing.

Incidentally, the young boy spinning the top in the photograph was Douglas Spedden, a first class passenger who survived.

BTW, I thought that was a nice touch to recreate that historic photograph and incorporate it into the film.

Cheers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), January 26, 1998.

The picture you are referring to is a picture of first class child, Douglas Spedden and his father Frederic Spedden spinning a whip top on deck. This is the only picture of the Speddens on Titanic. Daisy Spedden, Douglas's mother was also traveling with them. The whole family survived the sinking. 3 years later Douglas was killed in a car accident, at age nine.

-- Ashley (beaner05@ix.netcom.com), January 26, 1998.

I think that that scene really did happen because i have a book on the finding of the titanic and they have that exact scene. It says that that happened on the Titanic. It was pretty cool to see that scene because i already saw that picture before going to the movie.

-- Diane Segawa (d.segawa@mailexcite.com), January 29, 1998.

There is a book called the "Titanic Bear" I saw it in the library of an elementary school. The story is about the boy in the picture.

-- S. Nator (spam@psnw.com), February 04, 1998.

Robert Douglas Spedden

Master Robert Douglas Spedden was born in New York City on November 19, 1905. He shared the same birthday as his mother, Margaretta (Daisy) Corning (Stone) Spedden. His father was Frederic Oakley Spedden. The family lived in Tuxedo Park, NY.

In late 1911, Douglas accompanied his parents when they sailed for Algiers on the Caronia. He was attended by his private nurse, Elizabeth Burns, whom he called "Muddie Boons," because he had trouble pronouncing her name. From Algiers the family moved on, first to Monte Carlo and later to Paris. In April 1912, at the end of their European holiday, the family and their servants boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg for the return home.

Following the collision with the iceberg, Douglas was woken by Muddie who told him that they were taking a "trip to see the stars." The Spedden party made their way to the starboard side of the boat deck, where they boarded Lifeboat 3. After all the available women and children had been loaded the men were then allowed to join their families. Douglas slept through the night. When he woke at dawn he saw the icebergs all around and exclaimed "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it." All survivors in Lifeboat 3 were rescued by the Carpathia.

In 1913, Daisy wrote and illustrated a storybook that she gave to Douglas for Christmas. "My Story" was told through the eyes of a toy bear, and describes the European travels, the sinking of the Titanic, and the subsequent rescue.

On August 9th, 1915, nine year old Douglas was killed in an car accident on Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, near the family's summer camp in Maine. It was one of the first recorded automobile accidents in the state.

-- Jim Watt-Smith (wpaa@magna.com.au), February 18, 1998.

Well, I was all ready to answer your question because Cameron had pointed out that exact scene in an interview. But, everyone has already answered with much more info than I had! I love reading through everyone's answers, I'm learning so much!!!

-- Becky Gordon (becky.gordon@pfs.sprint.com), February 18, 1998.

Yes, the picture was taken by a man who got off at Queenstown. He took severla other, and are some of the more famous Titanic pictures

-- Kasai (kasaikiree@yahoo.com), July 07, 2003.

Wow! How very interesting! xxx

-- Holly Gifkins (hollygifkins@hotmail.com), June 11, 2004.