Janet Leigh, a movie actress best known for her role as the murder victim in "Psycho," visited the Library on Oct. 29, following the Lewisburg, Pa., stop of the National Film Registry Tour for which she introduced another Registry film she stars in, Orson Welles's "Touch of Evil" to a sell-out crowd.
Janet Leigh and Dr. Billington discussed the actress's involvement with the Library's film preservation efforts and their fondness for classic films and serials. - Christina Tyler Wenks
Ms. Leigh is a stalwart supporter of film preservation in general and the tour in particular. She has been a guest of the Library to help raise awareness for film preservation in five states, but Oct. 29 marked the first time she visited the Library itself. She was accompanied by her daughter, actress Kelly Curtis, and they were shown around the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division before meeting the Librarian. They spent the afternoon visiting the Jefferson building and exhibitions.
The National Film Registry Tour, also known as the National Film Preservation Tour, is an outreach program of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division that began its nationwide journey in 1995, aiming to go to all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. As of November, the tour had visited 45 states and had seven venues to go, including the District of Columbia. Its mission is twofold: to celebrate more than a century of American movie-making and to raise awareness of the need to preserve this great heritage.
The tour consists of about 40 film titles, drawn from the National Film Registry, representative of many genres and dates. They demonstrate the preservation work of various archives, as well as that of the Library.
Janet Leigh is not the only celebrity to lend support to the Film Preservation Tour by attending press conferences, receptions and seminars. James Earl Jones, a member of the Library's private sector advisory group, the Madison Council, has traveled to eight events. Other actors who have participated include Tony Curtis, Alfre Woodard and Cliff Robertson.
Members of the National Film Preservation Board, drawn from across the film industry to advise the Librarian on selections to the National Film Registry, have also joined the tour.
The National Film Registry Tour was initially funded by the Madison Council and the Film Foundation. In 1998 the cable movie network American Movie Classics gave a grant to the Library to take the tour to all the remaining states. It is expected that the Film Preservation Tour will wrap up by early summer 2002.
