Dr. Billington on Nov. 18 announced his annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry. This group of titles brings the total number of films placed on the Registry to 225.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant motion pictures to the Registry. The list is designed to reflect the full breadth and diversity of America's film heritage, thus increasing public awareness of the richness of American cinema and the need for its preservation.
The Librarian chose this year's films after evaluating more than a thousand titles nominated by the public, and discussions with members and alternates of his advisory body, the National Film Preservation Board, whom he consults both on Registry film selection and national film preservation policy.
For each title named to the Registry, the Library works to ensure that the film is preserved for all time, either through the Library's own massive motion picture preservation program at Dayton, Ohio, or via collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Library contains one of the largest collections of film and television in the world, from the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture to the latest feature releases.
Films Selected to the National Film Registry 1997
- "Ben-Hur" (1926)
- "The Big Sleep" (1946)
- "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957)
- "Cops" (1922)
- "Czechoslovakia 1968" (1968)
- "Grass" (1925)
- "The Great Dictator" (1940)
- "Harold and Maude" (1972)
- "Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage" (1937)
- "How the West Was Won" (1962)
- "The Hustler" (1961)
- "Knute Rockne, All American" (1940)
- "The Life and Death of 9413 -- A Hollywood Extra" (1928)
- "The Little Fugitive" (1953)
- "Mean Streets" (1973)
- "Motion Painting No. 1" (1947)
- "The Music Box" (1932)
- "The Naked Spur" (1953)
- "Rear Window" (1954)
- "Republic Steel Strike Riots Newsreel Footage" (1937)
- "Return of the Secaucus 7" (1980)
- "The Thin Man" (1934)
- "Tulips Shall Grow" (1942)
- "West Side Story" (1961)
- "Wings" (1927)
