By Dave Woods

dwoods@joplinglobe.com

BRANSON, Mo. — Open since 2006, Titanic Branson has welcomed almost 1 million visitors across the museum’s gangway to relive the short life of the ship and its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Now, almost 100 years after the “unsinkable” ship struck an iceberg in the mid-Atlantic and sent more than 1,500 souls to the ocean floor, owners Jim Joslyn and his wife, Mary Kellogg, have given Titanic buffs a new reason to set sail for Branson again: “Titanic: the Movie Exhibit.”

Joslyn said that he and his wife were trying to figure out last year what to do next to keep the attraction fresh and interesting.

“Mary said, ‘Let’s do the 10th anniversary of Jim (Cameron) winning 11 Oscars,’” he said. “Well, that’s exactly what came out of it. We got Jim to do an interview and talk about him and (Titanic co-producer) Jon Landau. It just really came together. We got props, we got the dresses that Kate (Winslet) wore, and all of the Oscars Jim won, and behind-the-scenes footage.”







What’s next?

Joslyn was the producer responsible for the landmark live TV event “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault,” a 1986 special hosted by Geraldo Rivera.

He said he became interested in the Titanic’s story almost out of necessity.

“From the (TV) networks you always get the age-old question: What are you going to do next for us?” Joslyn joked. “They are constantly in need of new material to put on the air.”

He remembers watching a National Geographic special on the Titanic in 1985 and thinking that it should be his next adventure and TV project. He convinced his friend and co-producer, Doug Llewelyn, to get on board. He found some investors with deep-pockets, chartered salvage ships from France and put a $6 million expedition together.

His crew successfully dove to the Titanic wreck-site 40 times, to a depth of more than 2.5 miles. The expedition returned to the surface with hundreds of hours of detailed — and often haunting — film footage. They were also the first to retrieve artifacts from the bottom. The expeditions to the wreck site led to Joslyn creating his second hit show, “Return to the Titanic ... Live.”

After the expedition was finished, Joslyn said there were a few important things he and his wife needed to consider.

“We said we have a responsibility to protect and preserve,” he said, “but, also we needed to start putting these (artifacts) on exhibition.”

Joslyn’s first Titanic touring exhibit opened in 1997 in Memphis, Tenn. Then in 2006, a permanent home for Joslyn’s collection of Titanic’s treasures opened in Branson.

The museum displays more than 400 artifacts salvaged from the ships wreck-site and collected from survivors. Titanic Branson’s collection includes letters and personal photographs from passengers and crew. It preserves deck chairs, life jackets and dinnerware marked with the logo of the White Star Lines, the company that commissioned and built the 52,000-ton ocean liner.

Movie exhibit

Joslyn said he was sold on the idea of a Titanic movie from the beginning.

“I remember Jim sending me the original principal-photography script,” he said. “I go, ‘This is breathtaking,’ you know. I saw Leo (DeCaprio) and Kate (Winslet) ... You could just see them all over the script.”

Joslyn likened the story of Titanic’s Jack and Rose to another pair of star-crossed lovers.

“It’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on a ship,” he said. “Kids identify with it. Adults identify with it. So, when they come in and see the famous scene of Jack Dawson standing on Titanic’s bow … ‘I’m king of the world’ … that’s the $1 million scene. It cost $1 million to do that scene. Everybody remembers that shot, and of course, when Jim went and got the Oscar, what did he say? I feel like I’m king of the world!’ A nice moment.”

For the new exhibit, Joslyn and Kellogg have amassed a collection of memorabilia from “Titanic” that will make any movie fan’s head spin, including the 11 Oscars won during the 1997 Academy Awards.

“We have a section that talks about behind the scenes — making the $1 million shot is one of the elements in it,” Joslyn added. “We also have all the hats for all the women in the 1912 scenes. They are all originals from the movie. You have the dress Kate wore in her and Leo’s first scene together. We have her sinking coat ... the one Rose wore with her and Jack in the water.”







From the moment Titanic sailed into harbor in Branson, the ship-shaped museum has been a star along the strip. Now, with the addition of the movie exhibit to the attraction, Titanic has a new co-star: The Heart of the Ocean necklace.

Joslyn said that it was his wife who had the idea for the exhibit to include an authentic necklace, like the one Rose wore in the movie.

“Mary said, ‘Let’s put one more element in there. We need the real Heart of the Ocean necklace — a real sapphire and real diamonds.’ We had a jeweler build it and now a real one exists, just exactly like it was in the movie,” Joslyn said with a proud grin.

The necklace contains a 155-carat sapphire and 215 diamonds. It’s valued at $250,000 and exhibited in a vault-like display case.

“The people that build for the CIA and FBI built the security system for the necklace,” Joslyn said. “The showcase is built like a vault. I don’t know what you would do with it if you got it. Sure, the stones would be worth something, but those stones are pretty traceable.”

Joslyn laughed when he talked about the time when his wife considered wearing the Heart of the Ocean out for an evening on the town.

“Mary almost wore it out one night,” he said with a laugh. “But she chickened out and said, ‘I just can’t wear it. It’s a little to high of a security risk.’”

When asked about how his now decades-long relationship with the Titanic stacked up compared to his other accomplishments as a television and entertainment producer, Joslyn didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“It ranks at No. 1, of course,” he said. “I mean, here I am, 20 years later, and I’m still on the ship.”



Want to go?

Titanic Branson is located at the intersection of Highway 76 & 165 (Gretna Road). For more information, call (800) 381-7670 or visit www.titanicbranson.com