US film registry adds 25 classic flicks

The US Library of Congress has added a further 25 films to its National Film Registry.

15:36 30 December 2004

The US Library of Congress has added a further 25 films to its National Film Registry.

New inductees include classic movies such as Ben-Hur, Jailhouse Rock and 1992 film Unforgiven, starring Clint Eastwood.

The selections, made by the librarian of Congress from nearly 1,000 films nominated by the public, library staff and film experts also included spinach-eating hero Popeye and intrepid dog Rin Tin Tin.

The National Film Registry, housed in the Washington DC library, is a collection of 'significant' films to be preserved for future generations.

"We realised that a number of cultural icons hadn't been included," said Gregory Lukow, the head of the Library's motion picture, broadcast and recorded sound department.

"It's the first time Elvis, Popeye and Andy Warhol have been selected. These are three of the American film-making icons of one kind or another. Rin Tin Tin was the biggest star of the 1930s. He saved Warner Brothers."

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor, Rin Tin Tin's silent-screen adventure Clash of the Wolves and Andy Warhol's Empire State, a real-time, eight-hour portrait of the Empire State Building in New York, have now all been named as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" American motion pictures.

Also featured on the list of 25 were Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, 1959 epic Ben Hur, Jerry Lewis's 1963 comedy The Nutty Professor, Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, and Duck and Cover, a 1950s infomercial instructing America's schoolchildren what to do in the event of nuclear attack.

The 25 new inductees are:

1. Ben-Hur (1959)
2. The Blue Bird (1918)
3. A Bronx Morning (1931)
4. Clash of the Wolves (1925)
5. The Court Jester (1956)
6. D.O.A. (1950)
7. Daughters of the Dust (1991)
8. Duck and Cover (1951)
9. Empire (1964)
10. Enter the Dragon (1973)
11. Eraserhead (1978)
12. Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980)
13. Going My Way (1944)
14. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
15. Kannapolis, NC (1941)
16. Lady Helen's Escapade (1909)
17. The Nutty Professor (1963)
18. OffOn (1968)
19. Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936)
20. Pups is Pups (Our Gang) (1930)
21. Schindler's List (1993)
22. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
23. Swing Time (1936)
24. There It Is (1928)
25. Unforgiven (1992)