Each year, since 1989, the U.S. Library of Congress has issued a list of films that are being added to the National Film Registry. This week, among holiday celebrations, that list has been issued by National Librarian James H. Billington. Among the picks are classic films, groundbreaking pictures, and a few surprise listings as well.
Number one on the list (alphabetically): Baby Face, the film responsible for the Hays Production Code which eventually led to the MPAA ratings system that exists today. Number eleven: Hoop Dreams, the controversial documentary that was excluded from the Academy Award nominations of 1994, leading to a revamping of the Academy’s nomination process. And then there’s number six, the film responsible for introducing the word “gnarley” into the cultural vernacular: Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The inclusion of Fast Times has been a big topic of discussion, leading to a reminder by the Billington that the movies chosen, “are not necessarily the 'best' American films ever made or the most famous, but they are films that continue to have cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.” There’s no argument that Fast Times did have a cultural significance that continues on today. Every time I see Sean Penn acting pompous I want to remind him of Ridgemont High and his cinematic roots.
Other selections on the list include some of my personal favorite films. Miracle on 34th Street is particularly notable during the holiday season, but Halloween isn’t exactly overlooked with the inclusion of Rocky Horror Picture Show (a favorite for the haunting holiday for me, and year round for many others). Toy Story gets its kudos for the cartoon’s cinematic accomplishments, and con-men Professor Harold Hill and Henry Gondorff also make the list with their respective films The Music Man and The Sting, the latter of which also received an excellent tribute on DVD earlier this year.
The movies that make the list are singled out for preservation in the Library of Congress’ archive or other facilities. Many studios mark their own films for preservation, although the Library’s list may increase the priority a film receives, especially if the film is one the studio was overlooking.
The complete list of the 2005 Library of Congress National Film Preservation selections:
1) Baby Face (1933)
2) The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (1975)
3) The Cameraman (1928)
4) Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort, S.C., May 1940 (1940)
5) Cool Hand Luke (1967)
6) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
7) The French Connection (1971)
8) Giant (1956)
9) H2O (1929)
10) Hands Up (1926)
11) Hoop Dreams (1994)
12) House of Usher (1960)
13) Imitation of Life (1934)
14) Jeffries-Johnson world championship fight (1910)
15) Making of an American (1920)
16) Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
17) Mom and Dad (1944)
18) The Music Man (1962)
19) Power of the Press (1928)
20) A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
21) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
22) San Francisco earthquake and fire, April 18, 1906 (1906)
23) The Sting (1973)
24) A Time for Burning (1966)
25) Toy Story (1995)
