Library of Congress Selects 25 More Films to Add the National Film Registry
/Every year, the Library of Congress (LOC) reviews thousands of nominations from the public and confers with members of the National Film Preservation Board and LOC film curators to select 25 films for inclusion in the National Film Registry. Final selections are announced every December.
In 1989 the first batch of 25 films were chosen and inducted. That elite group included classics like 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind," 1941's "Citizen Kane," 1942's "Casablanca," and even 1977's "Star Wars," which was a relatively recent release at that time.
Last month, another legendary sci-fi franchise earned its first inclusion, as 1982's "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" was among the 25 films selected. Other fan favorites chosen for induction in 2024 include 1987's "Dirty Dancing," 1984's "Beverly Hills Cop," 1978's "Up in Smoke," and 1974's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." The LOC also selected two inspirational and highly influential biopics — 1942's "The Pride of the Yankees" and 1962's "The Miracle Worker."
The earliest selection in the class of 2024 is 1895's 45-second silent film "Annabelle's Serpentine Dance" starring Ziegfeld Follies dancer Annabelle Moore. Early filmmakers were determined to capture movement on film, so the dance was widely performed in motion pictures of the era. The film was colorized using a process known as hand-tinting, meaning each frame was manually painted.
The oldest feature film among the new inductees is Michael Curtiz's 1938 crime drama "Angels with Dirty Faces," starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft, and The Dead End Kids, a group of young actors who appeared in numerous films of the late 1930s. This is Curtiz's fifth motion picture added to the registry.
The newest film among the recent batch of inductees is 2010's "The Social Network," which is director David Fincher's first film chosen for the registry. Another relatively recent film to earn induction is 2007's "No Country for Old Men," the third Coen brothers movie to get in.
This year's class of inductees features numerous works by Black filmmakers, including the 1973 horror flick "Ganja and Hess" and Sidney Poitier's 1974 comedy "Uptown Saturday Night."
Jessie Maple's 1981 film "Will," one of the first feature-length pictures directed by a Black woman, has also been inducted. Additionally, the 1999 independent drama "Compensation" is now in the registry. Not all inductees are full-length features. Filmmaker Zora Lathan's student films from 1975-76 have also been newly inducted.
Despite 36 years of selections, there are countless motion pictures still waiting for entry into this exclusive club. To be eligible for inclusion, a film must be at least 10 years old. It can be as short as 1891's 12-second silent film "Newark Athlete" or as long as Andy Warhol's eight-hour experimental piece "Empire" filmed in 1964. If you would like to nominate a film for future inclusion in the registry, you may do so here.
Since the original intent of the registry was to safeguard U.S. films, American motion pictures are given greater consideration than foreign films in the decision making. That is why highly influential films like Georges Méliès's 1902 classic "A Trip to the Moon," 1954's Japanese creature feature "Godzilla," and the 1966 spaghetti western "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" are not in the registry. Additionally, no films featuring the iconic British spy James Bond have been inducted.
Check out the full list of films selected for induction in 2024 below, and be sure to add any you have not seen to your watch list. You can also peruse the full list of inductees here. As a production company, Broadway Stages understands how much time, money, and heart goes into creating these films, and we applaud the National Film Preservation Board's efforts to preserve these projects.
2024 Inductees:
● Annabelle's Serpentine Dance (1895)
● Koko's Earth Control (1928)
● Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
● The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
● Invaders from Mars (1953)
● The Miracle Worker (1962)
● The Chelsea Girls (1966)
● Ganja and Hess (1973)
● The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
● Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
● Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)
● Up in Smoke (1978)
● Will (1981)
● Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
● Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
● Dirty Dancing (1987)
● Powwow Highway (1989)
● Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt (1989)
● My Own Private Idaho (1991)
● American Me (1992)
● Mi Familia (1995)
● Compensation (1999)
● Spy Kids (2001)
● No Country for Old Men (2007)
● The Social Network (2010)
About the National Film Preservation Board:
Established in 1988, the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress works to ensure the survival, conservation, and increased public availability of America's film heritage. Every year since 1989, the National Film Preservation Board has inducted 25 films showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage as a way to increase awareness for its preservation.
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