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On the final night of shooting in Nova Scotia, one or more criminals mixed the dissociative hallucinogen PCP (angel dust) into the clam chowder served to the cast and crew. 80 people were taken ill, and more than 50 were taken to the hospital (87-year-old Gloria Stuart was fortunately spared because she had dined elsewhere). Initially, shellfish poisoning was suspected, but when James Cameron noticed that one crew member was demanding to see a priest, the director of photography was leading a conga line, and the assistant director was talking to Cameron over a walkie-talkie while looking straight at him (she even stabbed him in the cheek with a pen when he brought this up to her), he realized that the chowder had been spiked with hallucinogenic drugs. In absence of a purging agent, he forced himself to vomit before the drug took full effect; his blood-shot eyes afterwards frightened other crew members into thinking that it was another side effect of the drug. Although PCP's primary effects only last a few hours, the drug itself can take eight or more days to completely metabolize out of the body: Bill Paxton said he felt listless for two weeks after the incident. The culprit(s) were never caught; some disgruntled crew members who had been fired were suspected, but Cameron himself always believed that it was an ex-crew member who had had an argument with the caterer, and subsequently poisoned the chowder in an attempt to get the caterer fired as well.
(at around 2h 30 mins) The elderly couple seen hugging on the bed while water floods their room were the owners of Macy's department store in New York, Rosalie Ida Straus and Isidor Straus, both of whom died on the Titanic. Ida was offered a seat on a lifeboat but refused so that she could stay with her husband, saying, "As we have lived together, so we shall die together." There was a scene filmed that depicted this moment but was cut from the final version. It was Mrs Straus who originally said "Where you go, I go" that inspired Rose's same line in the film.
James Cameron went on 12 dives to the real Titanic himself, and found it an overwhelming emotional experience to actually see the sunken ship. During his first trip, he was so goal-oriented that he managed to film the shots he wanted, but as soon as he was back on the surface, he broke down in tears after finally realizing the magnitude of the historic tragedy that he had just witnessed. He ended up spending more time with the ship than its living passengers did.
(at around 2h 35 mins) In the scene where the water comes crashing into the Grand Staircase room, the film makers had only one shot at it because the entire set and furnishings were going to be destroyed.
After finding out that she had to be naked in front of Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet decided to break the ice, and when they first met, she flashed him.
The scenes set in 1912, i.e. the whole movie except the present-day scenes and the opening and ending credits, have a total length of two hours and forty minutes, the exact time it took for Titanic to sink. Also, the collision with the iceberg reportedly lasted 37 seconds, which is how long the collision scene is in the movie.
James Cameron: (at around 1h 9 mins) Just below Lovejoy during the below decks party, with a gray beard.
James Cameron: Standing behind Fabrizio on the deck waiting for a lifeboat when Murdoch starts shooting.
James Cameron: [perfect cut] Several dissolves between the Titanic on the seabed to the Titanic of the past, and the dissolve from the young to the old Rose.
James Cameron: [feet] The shoe at the beginning, Rose's feet while climbing the rail, Jack's feet when taking off his shoes, Rose's and Jack's feet while dancing.