25 new titles added to the National Film Registry
by amy
Every year at this time, the Librarian of Congress names 25 new films to the National Film Registry--titles it deems culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and thereby worthy of preservation. This year's list includes several titles from the 1970s, a rich period in American filmmaking, including the lovely revisionist western, McCabe and Mrs. Miller; the scariest movie of all time, The Exorcist; the real-life blockbuster political thriller All the President's Men; Albert and David Maysles' inspired cinema verité documentary about the odd Beale sisters of Grey Gardens (which is still fostering adaptations); and that landmark of the disco era, Saturday Night Fever. The list also includes a couple classics from 1980, including the hilarious parody of 1970s-era disaster films, Airplane (R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen; died Nov. 28, 2010); and what is now largely considered the best of the Star Wars series, The Empire Strikes Back (also R.I.P, Irvin Kershner; died Nov 27, 2010).
Of the older titles, my favorite is 1934's It's a Gift, a W. C. Fields classic about a perennially put-upon father, husband, and grocer trying to get a decent night's sleep on the back porch while dealing with cantankerous customers and battling scene-stealing Baby LeRoy (whom Fields supposedly thoroughly detested). In Fields' hands, the name "Capital 'L,' small 'e,' capital 'F,' small 'o,' small 'n,' small 'g': LeFong" will never be funnier. See for yourself.
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