It’s all about the National Film Registry this month at the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus Theater! This month we are we look at some films already added to the Library’s esteemed list or some that were just added last month.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 @ 7:30 p.m.
Pillow Talk (Universal, 1959)
Added to the National Film Registry in 2009
The first film to co-star Doris Day and Rock Hudson, this remains one of the screen’s most definitive, influential and timeless romantic comedies. Sweet and sophisticated, it is a time capsule of 1950s America. Two single New Yorkers develop an anonymous, antagonistic relationship by sharing a telephone “party line.” Both romance and complications ensue when they finally meet in person. The film is a perfect showcase for its two charismatic stars, especially the effervescent Day who demonstrates why she was both America’s Sweetheart and one of cinema’s finest comediennes. Color, 102 minutes.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 5 @ 7:30 p.m.
12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight, 2013)
***NEW TO THE REGISTRY***
One of the key films of the 2000s and winner of the Best Picture Oscar, “12 Years a Slave” offers a raw, visceral look at slavery on a Louisiana plantation. Directed by Steve McQueen, the film is based on the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, an African American free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years before regaining his freedom. In addition to the Best Picture Oscar, the film also won for Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley), and Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o). Color, 134 minutes.
For more information on LC screenings, see this link.