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Part Two of Six 64 EXT. A DECK PROMENADE, AFT - NIGHT Rose runs along the B deck promenade. She is dishevelled, her hair flying. She is crying, her cheeks streaked with tears. But also angry, furious! Shaking with emotions she doesn't understand... hatred, self-hatred, desperation. A strolling couple watch her pass. Shocked at the emotional display in public. CUT TO: 65 EXT. POOP DECK - NIGHT Jack is kicked back on one of the benches gazing at the stars blazing gloriously overhead. Thinking artist thoughts and smoking a cigarette. Hearing something, he turns as Rose runs up the stairs from the well deck. They are the only two on the stern deck, except for QUARTERMASTER ROWE, twenty feet above them on the docking bridge catwalk. She doesn't see Jack in the shadows, and runs right past him. TRACKING WITH ROSE as she runs across the deserted fantail. Her breath hitches in an occasional sob, which she suppresses. Rose slams against the base of the stern flagpole and clings there, panting. She stares out at the black water.
Then starts to climb over the railing. She has to hitch her long dress way up, and climbing is clumsy. Moving methodically she turns her body and gets her heels on the white-painted gunwale, her back to the railing, facing out toward blackness. 60 feet below her, the massive propellers are churning the Atlantic into white foam, and a ghostly wake trails off toward the horizon. IN A LOW ANGLE, we see Rose standing like a figurehead in reverse. Below her are the huge letters of the name "Titanic". She leans out, her arms straightening... looking down hypnotized, into the vortex below her. Her dress and hair are lifted by the wind of the ship's movement. The only sound, above the rush of water below, is the flutter and snap of the big Union Jack right above her. JACK Don't do it. She whips her head around at the sound of his voice. It takes a second for her eyes to focus. ROSE Stay back! Don't come any closer! Jack sees the tear tracks on her cheeks in the faint glow from the stern running lights. JACK Take my hand. I'll pull you back in. ROSE No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go. JACK No you won't. ROSE What do you mean no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me. JACK You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hand. Rose is confused now. She can't see him very well through the tears, so she wipes them with one hand, almost losing her balance. ROSE You're distracting me. Go away. JACK I can't. I'm involved now. If you let go I have to jump in after you. ROSE Don't be absurd. You'll be killed. He takes off his jacket. JACK I'm a good swimmer. He starts unlacing his left shoe. ROSE The fall alone would kill you. JACK It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest I'm a lot more concerned about the water being so cold. She looks down. The reality factor of what she is doing is sinking in. ROSE How cold? JACK (taking off his left shoe) Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over. He starts unlacing his right shoe. JACK Ever been to Wisconsin? ROSE (perplexed) No. JACK Well they have some of the coldest winters around, and I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. Once when I was a kid me and my father were ice-fishing out on Lake Wissota... ice-fishing's where you chop a hole in the-- ROSE I know what ice fishing is! JACK Sorry. Just... you look like kind of an indoor girl. Anyway, I went through some thin ice and I'm tellin' ya, water that cold... like that right down there... it hits you like a thousand knives all over your body. You can't breath, you can't think... least not about anything but the pain. (takes off his other shoe) Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you. But like I said, I don't see a choice. I guess I'm kinda hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here. ROSE You're crazy. JACK That's what everybody says. But with all due respect, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship. He slides one step closer, like moving up on a spooked horse. JACK Come on. You don't want to do this. Give me your hand. Rose stares at this madman for a long time. She looks at his eyes and they somehow suddenly seem to fill her universe. ROSE Alright. She unfastens one hand from the rail and reaches it around toward him. He reaches out to take it, firmly. JACK I'm Jack Dawson. ROSE (voice quavering) Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dawson. Rose starts to turn. Now that she has decided to live, the height is terrifying. She is overcome by vertigo as she shifts her footing, turning to face the ship. As she starts to climb, her dress gets in the way, and one foot slips off the edge of the deck. She plunges, letting out a piercing SHRIEK. Jack, gripping her hand, is jerked toward the rail. Rose barely grabs a lower rail with her free hand. QUARTERMASTER ROWE, up on the docking bridge hears the scream and heads for the ladder. ROSE HELP! HELP!! JACK I've got you. I won't let go. Jack holds her hand with all his strength, bracing himself on the railing with his other hand. Rose tries to get some kind of foothold on the smooth hull. Jack tries to lift her bodily over the railing. She can't get any footing in her dress and evening shoes, and she slips back. Rose SCREAMS again. Jack, awkwardly clutching Rose by whatever he can get a grip on as she flails, gets her over the railing. They fall together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinning in such a way that Jack winds up slightly on top of her. Rowe slides down the ladder from the docking bridge like it's a fire drill and sprints across the fantail. ROWE Here, what's all this?! Rowe runs up and pulls Jack off of Rose, revealing her dishevelled and sobbing on the deck. Her dress is torn, and the hem is pushing up above her knees, showing one ripped stocking. He looks at Jack, the shaggy steerage man with his jacket off, and the first class lady clearly in distress, and starts drawing conclusions. Two seamen chug across the deck to join them. ROWE (to Jack) Here you, stand back! Don't move an inch! (to the seamen) Fetch the Master at Arms. CUT TO: 66 EXT. POOP DECK - NIGHT A few minutes later. Jack is being detained by the burly MASTER AT ARMS, the closest thing to a cop on board. He is handcuffing Jack. Cal is right in front of Jack, and furious. He has obviously just rushed out here with Lovejoy and another man, and none of them have coats over their black tie evening dress. The other man is COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE, a mustachioed blowhard who still has his brandy snifter. He offers it to Rose, who is hunched over crying on a bench nearby, but she waves it away. Cal is more concerned with Jack. He grabs him by the lapels. CAL What made you think you could put your hands on my fiancee?! Look at me, you filth! What did you think you were doing?! ROSE Cal, stop! It was an accident. CAL An accident?! ROSE It was... stupid really. I was leaning over and I slipped. Rose looks at Jack, getting eye contact. ROSE I was leaning way over, to see the... ah... propellers. And I slipped and I would have gone overboard... and Mr. Dawson here saved me and he almost went over himself. CAL You wanted to see the propellers? GRACIE (shaking his head) Women and machinery do not mix. MASTER AT ARMS (to Jack) Was that the way of it? Rose is begging him with her eyes not to say what really happened. JACK Uh huh. That was pretty much it. He looks at Rose a moment longer. Now they have a secret together. COLONEL GRACIE Well! The boy's a hero then. Good for you son, well done! (to Cal) So it's all's well and back to our brandy, eh? Jack is uncuffed. Cal gets Rose to her feet and moving. CAL (rubbing her arms) Let's get you in. You're freezing. Cal is leaving without a second thought for Jack. GRACIE (low) Ah... perhaps a little something for the boy? CAL Oh, right. Mr. Lovejoy. A twenty should do it. ROSE Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love? CAL Rose is displeased. Mmm... what to do? Cal turns back to Jack. He appraises him condescendingly... a steerage ruffian, unwashed and ill-mannered. CAL I know. (to Jack) Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow, to regale our group with your heroic tale? JACK (looking straight at Rose) Sure. Count me in. CAL Good. Settled then. Cal turns to go, putting a protective arm around Rose. he leans close to Gracie as they walk away. CAL This should be amusing. JACK (as Lovejoy passes) Can I bum a cigarette? Lovejoy smoothly draws a silver cigarette case from his jacket and snaps it open. Jack takes a cigarette, then another, popping it behind his ear for later. Lovejoy lights Jack's cigarette. LOVEJOY You'll want to tie those. (Jack looks at his shoes) Interesting that the young lady slipped so mighty all of a sudden and you still had time to take of your jacket and shoes. Mmmm? Lovejoy's expression is bland, but the eyes are cold. He turns away to join his group. CUT TO: 67 INT. ROSE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT As she undresses for bed Rose sees Cal standing in her doorway, reflected in the cracked mirror of her vanity. He comes toward her. CAL (unexpectedly tender) I know you've been melancholy, and I don't pretend to know why. From behind his back he hands her a large black velvet jewel case. She takes it, numbly. CAL I intended to save this till the engagement gals next week. But I thought tonight, perhaps a reminder of my feeling for you... Rose slowly opens the box. Inside is the necklace... "HEART OF THE OCEAN" in all its glory. It is huge... a malevolent blue stone glittering with an infinity of scalpel-like inner reflections. ROSE My God... Cal. Is it a-- CAL Diamond. Yes it is. 56 carats. He takes the necklace and during the following places it around her throat. He turns her to the mirror, staring behind her. CAL It was once worn by Louis the Sixteenth. They call it Le Coeur de la Mer, the-- ROSE The Heart of the Ocean. Cal, it's... it's overwhelming. He gazes at the image of the two of them in the mirror. CAL It's for royalty. And we are royalty. His fingers caress her neck and throat. He seems himself to be disarmed by Rose's elegance and beauty. His emotion is, for the first time, unguarded. CAL There's nothing I couldn't give you. There's nothing I'd deny you if you would deny me. Open your heart to me, Rose. CAMERA begins to TRACK IN ON ROSE. Closer and closer, during the following:
OLD ROSE (V.O.) Of course his gift was only to reflect light back onto himself, to illuminate the greatness that was Caledon Hockley. It was a cold stone... a heart of ice. Finally, when Rose's eyes FILL FRAME, we MORPH SLOWLY to her eyes as the are now... transforming through 84 years of life... TRANSITION 68 INT. KELDYSH IMAGING SHACK Without a cut the wrinkled, weathered landscape of age has appeared around her eyes. But the eyes themselves are the same. OLD ROSE After all these years, feel it closing around my throat like a dog collar. THE CAMERA PUllS BACK to show her whole face. ROSE I can still feel its weight. If you could have felt it, not just seen it... LOVETT Well, that's the general idea, my dear. BODINE So let me get this right. You were gonna kill yourself by jumping off the Titanic? (he guffaws) That's great! LOVETT (warningly) Lewis... But Rose laughs with Bodine. BODINE (still laughing) All you had to do was wait two days! Lovett, standing out of Rose's sightline, checks his watch. Hours have passed. This process is taking too long. LOVETT Rose, tell us more about the diamond. What did Hockley do with it after that? ROSE I'm afraid I'm feeling a little tired, Mr. Lovett. Lizzy picks up the cue and starts to wheel her out. LOVETT Wait! Can you give us something go on, here. Like who had access to the safe. What about this Lovejoy guy? The valet. Did he have the combination? LIZZY That's enough. Lizzy takes her out. Rose's old hand reappears at the doorway in a frail wave goodbye. CUT TO: 69 EXT. LAUNCH AREA/KELDYSH DECK - DAY As the big hydraulic jib swings one of the Mir subs out over the water. Lovett walks as he talks with Bobby Buell, the partners' rep. They weave among deck cranes, launch crew, sub maintenance guys. BUELL The partners are pissed. BROCK Bobby, buy me time. I need time. BUELL We're running thirty thousand a day, and we're six days over. I'm telling you what they're telling me. The hand is on the plug. It's starting to pull. BROCK Well you tell the hand I need another two days! Bobby, Bobby, Bobby... we're close! I smell it. I smell ice. She had the diamond on... now we just have to find out where it wound up. I just gotta work her a bit more. Okay? Brock turns and sees Lizzy standing behind him. She has overheard the past part of his dialogue with Buell. He goes to her and hustles her away from Buell, toward a quite spot on the deck. BROCK Hey, Lizzy. I need to talk to you for a second.
LIZZY Don't you mean work me? BROCK Look, I'm running out of time. I need your help. LIZZY I'm not going to help you browbeat my hundred and one year old grandmother. I came down here to tell you to back off. BROCK (with undisguised desperation) Lizzy... you gotta understand something. I've bet it all to find the Heart of the Ocean. I've got all my dough tied up in this thing. My wife even divorced me over this hunt. I need what's locked inside your grandma's memory. (he holds out his hand) You see this? Right here? She looks at his hand, palm up. Empty. Cupped, as if around an imaginary shape. LIZZY What? BROCK That's the shape my hand's gonna be when I hold that thing. You understand? I'm not leaving here without it. LIZZY Look, Brock, she's going to do this her way, in her own time. Don't forget, she contacted you. She's out here for her own reasons, God knows what they are. LOVETT Maybe she wants to make peace with the past. LIZZY What past? She has never once, not once, ever said a word about being on the Titanic until two days ago. LOVETT Then we're all meeting your grandmother for the first time. LIZZY (looks at him hard) You think she was really there? LOVETT Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm a believer. She was there. CUT TO: 70 INT. IMAGING SHACK Bodine starts the tape recorder. Rose is gazing at the screen seeing THE LIVE FEED FROM THE WRECK--SNOOP DOG is moving along the starboard side of the hull, heading aft. The rectangular windows of A deck (forward) march past on the right. ROSE The next day, Saturday, I remember thinking how the sunlight felt. DISSOLVE TO: 71 EXT. B DECK TITANIC - DAY MATCH DISSOLVE from the rusting hulk to the gleaming new Titanic in 1912, passing the end of the enclosed promenade just as Rose walks into the sunlight right in front of us. She is stunningly dressed and walking with purpose. OLD ROSE (V.O.) As if I hadn't felt the sun in years. IT IS SATURDAY APRIL 13, 1912. Rose unlatches the gate to go down into third class. The steerage men on the deck stop what they're doing and stare at her. CUT TO: 72 INT. THIRD CLASS GENERAL ROOM The social center of steerage life. It is stark by comparison to the opulence of first class, but is a loud, boisterous place. There are mothers with babies, kids running between the benches yelling in several languages and being scolded in several more. There are old women yelling, men playing chess, girls doing needlepoint and reading dime novels. There is even an upright piano and Tommy Ryan is noodling around it. Three boys, shrieking and shouting, are scrambling around chasing a rat under the benches, trying to whomp it with a shoe and causing general havoc. Jack is playing with 5 year old CORA CARTMeLL, drawing funny faces together in his sketchbook. Fabrizio is struggling to get a conversation going with an attractive Norwegian girl, HELGA DAHL, sitting with her family at a table across the room. FABRIZIO No Italian? Some little English? HELGA No, no. Norwegian. Only. Helga's eye is caught by something. Fabrizio looks, does a take... and Jack, curious, follows their gaze to see... Rose, coming toward them. The activity in the room stops... a hush falls. Rose feels suddenly self-conscious as the steerage passengers stare openly at this princess, some with resentment, others with awe. She spots Jack and gives a little smile, walking straight to him. He rises to meet her, smiling. ROSE Hello Jack. Fabrizio and Tommy are floored. Its like the slipper fitting Cinderella. JACK Hello again. ROSE Could I speak to you in private? JACK Uh, yes. Of course. After you. He motions her ahead and follows. Jack glances over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised, as he walks out with her leaving a stunned silence. CUT TO: 73 EXT. BOAT DECK - DAY Jack and Rose walk side by side. They pass people reading and talking in steamer chairs, some of whom glance curiously at the mismatched couple. He feels out of place in his rough clothes. They are both awkward, for different reasons. JACK So, you got a name by the way? ROSE Rose. Rose DeWitt Bukater. JACK That's quite a moniker. I may hafta get you to write that down. There is an awkward pause. ROSE Mr. Dawson, I-- JACK Jack. ROSE Jack... I feel like such an idiot. It took me all morning to get up the nerve to face you. JACK Well, here you are. ROSE Here I am. I... I want to thank you for what you did. Not just for... for pulling me back. But for your discretion. JACK You're welcome. Rose. ROSE Look, I know what you must be thinking! Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery? JACK That's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was... what could have happened to hurt this girl so much she though she had no way out. ROSE I don't... it wasn't just one thing. It was everything. It was them, it was their whole world. And I was trapped in it, like an insect in amber. (in a rush) I just had to get away... just run and run and run... and then I was at the back rail and there was no more ship... even the Titanic wasn't big enough. Not enough to get away from them. And before I'd really though about it, I was over the rail. I was so furious. I'll show them. They'll be sorry! JACK Uh huh. They'll be sorry. 'Course you'll be dead. ROSE (she lowers her head) Oh God, I am such an utter fool. JACK That penguin last night, is he one of them? ROSE Penguin? Oh, Cal! He is them. JACK Is he your boyfriend? ROSE Worse I'm afraid. She shows him her engagement ring. A sizable diamond. JACK Gawd, look at that thing! You would have gone straight to the bottom. They laugh together. A passing steward scowls at Jack, who is clearly not a first class passenger, but Rose just glares at him away. JACK So you feel like you're stuck on a train you can't get off 'cause you're marryin' this fella. ROSE Yes, exactly! JACK So don't marry him. ROSE If only it were that simple. JACK It is that simple. ROSE Oh, Jack... please don't judge me until you've seen my world. JACK Well, I guess I will tonight. Looking for another topic, any other topic, she indicates his sketchbook. ROSE What's this? JACK Just some sketches. ROSE May I? The question is rhetorical because she has already grabbed the book. She sits on a deck chair and opens the sketchbook. ON JACK'S sketches... each one an expressive little bit of humanity: an old woman's hands, a sleeping man, a father and daughter at the rail. The faces are luminous and alive. His book is a celebration of the human condition.
ROSE Jack, these are quite good! Really, they are. JACK Well, they didn't think too much of 'em in Paree. Some loose sketches fall out and are taken by the wind. Jack scrambles after them... catching two, but the rest are gone, over the rail. ROSE Oh no! Oh, I'm so sorry. Truly! JACK Well, they didn't think too much of 'em in Paree. He snaps his wrist, shaking his drawing hand in a flourish. JACK I just seem to spew 'em out. Besides, they're not worth a damn anyway. For emphasis he throws away the two he caught. They sail off. ROSE (laughing) You're deranged! She goes back to the book, turning a page. ROSE Well, well...
She has come upon a series of nudes. Rose is transfixed by the languid beauty he has created. His nudes are soulful, real, with expressive hands and eyes. They feel more like portraits than studies of the human form... almost uncomfortably intimate. Rose blushes, raising the book as some strollers go by. ROSE (trying to be very adult) And these were drawn from life? JACK Yup. That's one of the great things about Paris. Lots of girls willing take their clothes off. She studies one drawing in particular, the girl posed half in sunlight, half in shadow. Her hands lie at her chin, one furled and one open like a flower, languid and graceful. The drawing is like an Alfred Steiglitz print of Georgia O'Keefe. ROSE You liked this woman. You used her several times. JACK She had beautiful hands. ROSE (smiling) I think you must have had a love affair with her. JACK (laughing) No, no! Just with her hands. ROSE (looking up from the drawings) You have a gift, Jack. You do. You see people. JACK I see you. There it is. That piercing gaze again. ROSE And...? JACK You wouldn'ta jumped. CUT TO: 74 INT. RECEPTION ROOM / D-DECK - DAY Ruth is having tea with NOEL LUCY MARTHA DYER-EDWARDES, the COUNTESS OF ROTHES, a 35ish English blue-blood with patrician features. Ruth sees someone coming across the room and lowers her voice. RUTH Oh no, that vulgar Brown woman is coming this way. Get up, quickly before she sits with us. Molly Brown walks up, greeting them cheerfully as they are rising. MOLLY Hello girls, I was hoping I'd catch you at tea. RUTH We're awfully sorry you missed it. The Countess and I are just off to take the air on the boat deck. MOLLY That sounds great. Let's go. I need to catch up on the gossip.
Ruth grits her teeth as the three of them head for the Grand Staircase to go up. TRACKING WITH THEM, as they cross the room, the SHOT HANDS OFF to Bruce Ismay and Captain Smith at another table. ISMAY So you've not lit the last four boilers then? SMITH No, but we're making excellent time. ISMAY (impatiently) Captain, the press knows the size of Titanic, let them marvel at her speed too. We must give them something new to print. And the maiden voyage of Titanic must make headlines! SMITH I prefer not to push the engines until they've been properly run in. ISMAY Of course I leave it to your good offices to decide what's best. But what a glorious end to your last crossing if we get into New York Tuesday night and surprise them all. (Ismay slaps his hand on the table) Retire with a bang, eh, E.J? A beat. Then Smith nods, stiffly. CUT TO: 75 EXT. A DECK PROMENADE - DAY Rose and Jack stroll aft, past people lounging on deck chairs in the slanting late-afternoon light. Stewards scurry to serve tea or hot cocoa. ROSE (girlish and excited) You know, my dream has always been to just chuck it all and become an artist... living in a garret, poor but free! JACK (laughing) You wouldn't last two days. There's no hot water, and hardly ever any caviar. ROSE (angry in a flash) Listen, buster... I hate caviar! And I'm tired of people dismissing my dreams with a chuckle and a pat on the head. JACK I'm sorry. Really... I am. ROSE Well, alright. There's something in me, Jack. I feel it. I don't know what it is, whether I should be an artist, or, I don't know... a dancer. Like Isadora Duncan.... a wild pagan spirit... She leaps forward, lands deftly and whirls like a dervish. Then she sees something ahead and her face lights up. ROSE ...or a moving picture actress! She takes his hand and runs, pulling him along the deck toward-- DANIEL AND MARY MARVIN. Daniel is cranking the big wooden movie camera as she poses stiffly at the rail. MARVIN You're sad. Sad, sad, sad. You've left your lover on the shore. You may never see him again. Try to be sadder, darling. SUDDENLY Rose shoots into the shot and strikes a theatrical pose at the rail next to Mary. Mary bursts out laughing. Rose pulls Jack into the picture and makes him pose. Marvin grins and starts yelling and gesturing. We see this in CUTS, with music and no dialogue. SERIES OF CUTS: Rose posing tragically at the rail, the back of her hand to her forehead. Jack on a deck chair, pretending to be a Pasha, the two girls pantomiming fanning him like slave girls. Jack, on his knees, pleading with his hands clasped while Rose, standing, turns her head in bored disdain. Rose cranking the camera, while Daniel and Jack have a western shoot-out. Jack wins and leers into the lens, twirling an air mustache like Snidely Whiplash. CUT TO: 76 EXT. A DECK PROMENADE / AFT - SUNSET Painted with orange light, Jack and Rose lean on the A-deck rail aft, shoulder to shoulder. The ship's lights come on. It is a magical moment... perfect. ROSE So then what, Mr. Wandering Jack? JACK Well, then logging got to be too much like work, so I went down to Los Angeles to the pier in Santa Monica. That's a swell place, they even have a roller coaster. I sketched portraits there for ten cents a piece. ROSE A whole ten cents?! JACK (not getting it) Yeah; it was great money... I could make a dollar a day, sometimes. But only in summer. When it got cold, I decided to go to Paris and see what the real artists were doing. ROSE (looks at the dusk sky) Why can't I be like you Jack? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it. (turning to him) Say we'll go there, sometime... to that pier... even if we only ever just talk about it. JACK Alright, we're going. We'll drink cheap beer and go on the roller coaster until we throw up and we'll ride horses on the beach... right in the surf... but you have to ride like a cowboy, none of that side-saddle stuff. ROSE You mean one leg on each side? Scandalous! Can you show me? JACK Sure. If you like. ROSE (smiling at him) I think I would. (she looks at the horizon) And teach me to spit too. Like a man. Why should only men be able to spit. It's unfair. JACK They didn't teach you that in finishing school? Here, it's easy. Watch closely. He spits. It arcs out over the water. JACK Your turn. Rose screws up her mouth and spits. A pathetic little bit of foamy spittle which mostly runs down her chin before falling off into the water. JACK Nope, that was pitiful. Here, like this... you hawk it down... HHHNNNK!... then roll it on your tongue, up to the front, like this, then a big breath and PLOOOW!! You see the range on that thing? She goes through the steps. Hawks it down, etc. He coaches her through it (ad lib) while doing the steps himself. She lets fly. So does he. Two comets of gob fly out over the water. JACK That was great! Rose turns to him, her face alight. Suddenly she blanches. He sees her expression and turns. RUTH, the Countess of Rothes, and Molly Brown have been watching them hawking lugees. Rose becomes instantly composed. ROSE Mother, may I introduce Jack Dawson. RUTH Charmed, I'm sure. Jack has a little spit running down his chin. He doesn't know it. Molly Brown is grinning. As Rose proceeds with the introductions, we hear... OLD ROSE (V.O.) The others were gracious and curious about the man who'd saved my life. But my mother looked at him like an insect. A dangerous insect which must be squashed quickly. MOLLY Well, Jack, it sounds like you're a good man to have around in a sticky spot-- They all jump as a BUGLER sounds the meal call right behind them. MOLLY Why do they insist on always announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge? ROSE Shall we go dress, mother? (over her shoulder) See you at dinner, Jack. RUTH (as they walk away) Rose, look at you... out in the sun with no hat. Honestly! The Countess exits with Ruth and Rose, leaving Jack and Molly alone on deck. MOLLY Son, do you have the slightest comprehension of what you're doing? JACK Not really. MOLLY Well, you're about to go into the snakepit. I hope you're ready. What are you planning to wear? Jack looks down at his clothes. Back up at her. He hadn't thought about that. MOLLY I figured. CUT TO: 77 INT. MOLLY BROWN'S STATEROOM Men's suits and jackets and formal wear are strewn all over the place. Molly is having a fine time. Jack is dressed, except for his jacket, and Molly is tying his bow tie. MOLLY Don't feel bad about it. My husband still can't tie one of these damn things after 20 years. There you go. She picks up a jacket off the bed and hands it to him. Jack goes into the bathroom to put it on. Molly starts picking up the stuff off the bed. MOLLY I gotta buy everything in three sizes 'cause I never know how much he's been eating while I'm away. She turns and sees him, though we don't. MOLLY My, my, my... you shine up like a new penny. CUT TO: 78 EXT. BOAT DECK / FIRST CLAsS ENTRANCE - DUSK A purple sky, shot with orange, in the west. Drifting strains of classic music. We TRACK WITH JACK along the deck. By Edwardian standards he looks badass. Dashing in his borrowed white-tie outfit, right down to his pearl studs. A steward bows and smartly opens the door to the First Class Entrance. STEWARD Good evening, sir. Jack plays the role smoothly. Nods with just the right degree of disdain. CUT TO: 79 INT. UPPER LANDING / GRAND STAIRCASE AND A-DECK Jack steps in and his breath is taken away by the splendor spread out before him. Overhead is the enormous glass dome, with a crystal chandelier at its center. Sweeping down six stories is the First Class Grand Staircase, the epitome of the opulent naval architecture of the time. And the people: the women in their floor length dresses, elaborate hairstyles and abundant jewelry... the gentlemen in evening dress, standing with one hand at the small of the back, talking quietly. Jack descends to A deck. Several men nod a perfunctory greeting. He nods back, keeping it simple. He feels like a spy. Cal comes down the stairs, with Ruth on his arm, covered in jewelry. They both walk right past Jack, neither one recognizes him. Cal nods at him, one gent to another. But Jack barely has time to be amused. Because just behind Cal and Ruth on the stairs is Rose, a vision in red and black, her low-cut dress showing off her neck and shoulders, her arms sheathed in white gloves that come well above above the elbow. Jack is hypnotized by her beauty. CLOSE ON ROSE as she approaches Jack. He imitates the gentlemen's stance, hand behind his back. She extends her gloved hand and he takes it, kissing the back of her fingers. Rose flushes, beaming noticeably. She can't take her eyes off him. JACK I saw that in a nickelodeon once, and I always wanted to do it.
ROSE Cal, surely you remember Mr. Dawson. CAL (caught off guard) Dawson! I didn't recognize you. (studies him) Amazing! You could almost pass for a gentlemen. CUT TO: 80 INT. D-DECK RECEPTION ROOM
CUT TO THE RECEPTION ROOM ON D DECK, as the party descends to dinner. They encounter Molly Brown, looking good in a beaded dress, in her own busty broad-shouldered way. Molly grins when she sees Jack. As they are going into the dining saloon she walks next to him, speaking low:
MOLLY Ain't nothin' to it, is there, Jack? JACK Yeah, you just dress like a pallbearer and keep your nose up. MOLLY Remember, the only thing they respect is money, so just act like you've got a lot of it and you're in the club. As they enter the swirling throng, Rose leans close to him, pointing out several notables. ROSE There's the Countess Rothes. And that's John Jacob Astor... the richest man on the ship. His little wifey there, Madeleine, is my age and in a delicate condition. See how she's trying to hide it. Quite the scandal. (nodding toward a couple) And over there, that's Sir Cosmo and Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon. She designs naughty lingerie, among her many talents. Very popular with the royals. Cal becomes engrossed in a conversations with Cosmo Duff-Gordon and Colonel Gracie, while Ruth, the Countess and Lucille discuss fashion. Rose picots Jack smoothly, to show him another couple, dressed impeccably. ROSE And that's Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress, Madame Aubert. Mrs. Guggenheim is at home with the children, of course. Cal, meanwhile, is accepting the praise of his male counterparts, who are looking at Rose like a prize show horse. SIR COSMO Hockley, she is splendid. CAL Thank you. GRACIE Cal's a lucky man. I know him well, and it can only be luck. Ruth steps over, hearing the last. She takes Cal's arm, somewhat coquettishly. RUTH How can you say that Colonel? Caledon Hockley is a great catch. The entourage strolls toward the dining saloon, where they run into the Astor's going through the ornate double doors. ROSE J.J., Madeleine, I'd like you to meet Jack Dawson. ASTOR (shaking his hand) Good to meet you Jack. Are you of the Boston Dawsons? JACK No, the Chippewa Falls Dawsons, actually. J.J. nods as if he's heard of them, then looks puzzled. Madeleine Astor appraises Jack and whispers girlishly to Rose: MADELEINE It's a pity we're both spoken for, isn't it? CUT TO: 81 INT. DINING SALOON Like a ballroom at the palace, alive and lit by a constellation of chandeliers, full of elegantly dressed people and beautiful music from BANDLEADER WALLACE HARTLEY'S small orchestra. As Rose and Jack enter and move across the room to their table, Cal and Ruth beside them, we hear... OLD ROSE (V.O.) He must have been nervous but he never faltered. They assumed he was one of them... a young captain of industry perhaps... new money, obviously, but still a member of the club. Mother of course, could always be counted upon...
CUT TO: 82 INT. DINING SALOON CLOSE ON RUTH. RUTH Tell us of the accommodations in steerage, Mr. Dawson. I hear they're quite good on this ship. WIDER: THE TABLE. Jack is seated opposite Rose, who is flanked by Cal and Thomas Andrews. Also at the table are Molly Brown, Ismay, Colonel Gracie, the Countess, Guggenheim, Madame Aubert, and the Astors.
JACK The best I've seen, ma'am. Hardly any rats. Rose motions surreptitiously for Jack to take his napkin off his plate. CAL Mr. Dawson is joining us from third class. He was of some assistance to my fiancee last night. (to Jack, as if to a child) This is foie gras. It's goose liver. We see whispers exchanged. Jack becomes the subject of furtive glances. Now they're all feeling terribly liberal and dangerous. GUGGENHEIM (low to Madame Aubert) What is Hockley hoping to prove, bringing this... bohemian... up here? WAITER (to Jack) How do you take your caviar, sir? CAL (answering for him) Just a soupcon of lemon... (to Jack, smiling) ...it improves the flavor with champagne. JACK (to the waiter) No caviar for me, thanks. (to Cal) Never did like it much. He looks at Rose, pokerfaced, and she smiles. RUTH And where exactly do you live, Mr. Dawson? JACK Well, right now my address is the RMS Titanic. After that, I'm on God's good humor. Salad is served. Jack reaches for the fish fork. Rose gives him a look and picks up the salad fork, prompting him with her eyes. He changes forks. RUTH You find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you? JACK Well... it's a big world, and I want to see it all before I go. My father was always talkin' about goin' to see the ocean. He died in the town he was born in, and never did see it. You can't wait around, because you never know what hand you're going to get dealt next. See, my folks died in a fire when I was fifteen, and I've been on the road since. Somethin' like that teaches you to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count. Molly Brown raises her glass in a salute. MOLLY Well said, Jack. COLONEL GRACIE (raising his glass) Here, here. Rose raises her glass, looking at Jack. ROSE To making it count. Ruth, annoyed that Jack has scored a point, presses him further. RUTH How is it you have the means to travel, Mr. Dawson? JACK I work my way from place to place. Tramp steamers and such. I won my ticket on Titanic here in a lucky hand at poker. (he glances at Rose) A very lucky hand. GRACIE All life is a game of luck. CAL A real man makes his own luck, Archie. Rose notices that Thomas Andrews, sitting next to her, is writing in his notebook, completely ignoring the conversation. ROSE Mr. Andrews, what are you doing? I see you everywhere writing in this little book. (grabs it and reads) Increase number of screws in hat hooks from 2 to 3. You build the biggest ship in the world and this preoccupies you?! Andrews smiles sheepishly. ISMAY He knows every rivet in her, don't you Thomas? ANDREWS All three million of them. ISMAY His blood and soul are in the ship. She may be mine on paper, but in the eyes of God she belongs to Thomas Andrews. ROSE Your ship is a wonder, Mr. Andrews. Truly. ANDREWS Thank you, Rose. We see that Andrews has come under Rose's spell. 83 TIME TRANSITION: Dessert has been served and a waiter arrives with cigars in a humidor on a wheeled cart. The men start clipping ends and lighting.
ROSE (low, to Jack) Next it'll be brandies in the Smoking Room. GRACIE (rising) Well, join me for a brandy, gentlemen? ROSE (low) Now they retreat into a cloud of smoke and congratulate each other on being masters of the universe. GRACIE Joining us, Dawson? You don't want to stay out here with the women, do you? Actually he does, but... JACK No thanks. I'm heading back. CAL Probably best. It'll be all business and politics, that sort of thing. Wouldn't interest you. Good of you to come. Cal and te other gentlemen exit. ROSE Jack, must you go? JACK Time for my coach to turn back into a pumpkin. He leans over to take her hand. INSERT: We see him slip a tiny folded not into her palm.
Ruth, scowling, watches him walk away across the enormous room. Rose surreptitiously opens the note below table level. It reads: "Make it count. Meet me at the clock". CUT TO: Script © 1996 James Cameron. All photos © 1997 by Paramount Pictures and Twentieth-Century Fox.
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James Cameron's Titanic
