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Posted by: Cary O’Dell
A new list of 25 film titles for the National Registry is going to be announced on December 12, 2018. As we get closer to that date, we look back at some films added in previous years. In 1999, Spike Lee’s powerful “Do the Right Thing” made the list with this, his still highly timely film. In an …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Though greatly out-numbered, female film directors have always been a part of the movie-making industry. One of the very first, and still today, one of the very best was Ida Lupino. Lupino began her career in front of the camera as an actress before transitioning to being behind it, bringing to the screen a meaningful …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Obviously no list devoted to great cinema can overlook the contributions of Charlie Chaplin. Among his greatest films is this one, a brave political send-up from 1940 that was added to the National Film Registry in 1997. Extraordinarily timely when it came out, and in some ways, still, the silent film scholar Jeffrey Vance said about the intersection …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
“Broken Blossoms,” one of the great silents, was added to the National Film Registry in 1996. Directed by D.W. Griffith, it starred his best-known muse, the ethereal Lillian Gish. Though, today, Griffith is a somewhat controversial figure, Ed Gonzalez, film editor of “Slant” magazine, says that, regardless, his influence on film cannot be ignored: “No dialectic approach …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
In 1995, one of the all-time great Westerns, “Stagecoach,” was added to the Registry. Directed by that sagebrush master, John Ford, the film features–not surprisingly–John Wayne. Writer and archivist Scott Nollen noted of the film’s value and influence by saying: “Orson Welles, who named John Ford as his favorite filmmaker, claimed that he studied ‘Stagecoach,’ ‘over …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
In 1994, the National Film Registry welcomed Spielberg’s immortal “ET” to its list. The beloved film that has forevermore encouraged us to “phone home,” was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas and C. Thomas Howell. The Library of Congress’s own Dave Gibson once wrote of the film: “‘E.T. The Extra Terrestrial’ …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Animation has always had a home on the National Film Registry. As we count down to the announcement of the 25 newest film titles being added to the National Film Registry (which will be announced on December 12, 2018), we look back today at the year 1993 where, among that year’s selections, was this animated marvel. …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
In 1992, among the films added to the National Film Registry was the unforgettable noir, “Detour.” Though made a staggering 73 years ago, when viewed today, “Detour” is as hard-hitting as it ever was. The story of one of the most brutal road trips ever depicted on film, “Detour” was the work of director Edgar …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
In 1991, the third year of the National Film Registry, the Registry welcomed that big ape known as “King Kong” to its list. Though the film has since been remade–three times and counting–to many fans, nothing has surpassed the original in terms of thrills, heart and humanity. Film historian and “Kong” devotee Michael Price said of …
Posted in: Film Essay, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry