While Hollywood sets records at the box-office this holiday season, the Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected 25 motion pictures that will be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures for generations to come. Spanning the period 1911- 1995, the films named to the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress range from the sci-fi classic “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and Bette Davis’ Oscar-winning performance in “Jezebel” to the Muppets’ movie debut and Michael Jackson’s iconic video “Thriller. This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 525.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films to the registry that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant to be preserved for all time. These films are not selected as the “best” American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture.
Other selections to this year’s registry include Al Pacino’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” the World War II drama “Mrs. Miniver,” the swashbuckling adventure “The Mark of Zorro” and the popular spaghetti Western “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Among the lesser-known films named to the registry are “The Jungle,” a hybrid documentary/dramatization made by a group of young African-American gang members; “A Study in Reds,” directed by amateur filmmaker Miriam Bennett; and Martin Brest’s student film “Hot Dogs for Gauguin.”
2009 National Film Registry Selections
1) Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
2) The Exiles (1961)
3) Heroes All (1920)
4) Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972)
5) The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
6) Jezebel (1938)
7) The Jungle (1967)
8) The Lead Shoes (1949)
9) Little Nemo (1911)
10) Mabel’s Blunder (1914)
11) The Mark of Zorro (1940)
12) Mrs. Miniver (1942)
13) The Muppet Movie (1979)
14) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
15) Pillow Talk (1959)
16) Precious Images (1986)
17) Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)
18) The Red Book (1994)
19) The Revenge of Pancho Villa (1930-36)
20) Scratch and Crow (1995)
21) Stark Love (1927)
22) The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
23) A Study in Reds (1932)
24) Thriller (1983)
25) Under Western Stars (1938)
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