'Empire Strikes Back,' 'Airplane!' Among 25 Movies Named to National Film Registry

"All the President's Men," "The Exorcist" and "Malcolm X" also were chosen by the Librarian of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.

Films from esteemed directors Robert Altman, Blake Edwards, John Huston, Elia Kazan and Spike Lee and two from George Lucas are among the latest 25 motion pictures named Tuesday to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

The films, which include Hollywood classics, documentaries, innovative shorts and genres from virtually every era of American filmmaking, span the period 1891-1996. This year's selections bring the number of films in the registry to 550.

Included this time around is Altman's 1971 Western McCabe and Mrs. Miller; Edwards' The Pink Panther (1964), the first of his eight Inspector Clouseau pics; Huston's Let There Be Light, a 1946 war documentary banned for 35 years by the U.S. War Department; Lee's 1992 biopic Malcolm X; and Kazan's first feature, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).

Lucas' 15-minute student film -- Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, made in 1967 at USC -- also made the list, as did The Empire Strikes Back, his much-lauded 1980 Star Wars sequel that was directed by Irvin Kershner.

In addition to The Pink Panther, Hollywood comedies also are represented by the snappy The Front Page (1931), W.C. Fields' slapstick sensation It's a Gift (1934) and the zany Airplane! (1980) starring Leslie Nielsen. Such cultural touchstones as the Depression Era's Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), the horror box-office blockbuster The Exorcist (1973), the Watergate thriller All the President's Men (1976) and the disco-infused Saturday Night Fever (1977) also were selected, as were lesser-known yet culturally vital works such as the black independent film Cry of Jazz (1959) and I Am Joaquin (1969), from Chicano groundbreaker Luis Valdez.

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, the Librarian of Congress each year names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. To be preserved for all time, these are not selected as the "best" American films of all time but rather as works of enduring significance to American culture.

"As the nation's repository of American creativity, the Library of Congress -- with the support of Congress -- must ensure the preservation of America's film patrimony," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said. "The National Film Registry is a reminder to the nation that the preservation of our cinematic creativity must be a priority because about half of the films produced before 1950 and as much as 90% of those made before 1920 have been lost to future generations."

Annual selections to the registry are finalized by the Librarian after reviewing hundreds of titles nominated by the public and having extensive discussions with the members of the National Film Preservation Board as well as the Library's motion picture staff. The Librarian urges the public to make nominations for next year's registry at the Film Board's website at www.loc.gov/film.

For each title named, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations, either through the Library's massive motion-picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, studios and independent filmmakers.

The Packard Campus, funded as a gift to the nation by the Packard Humanities Institute, is a state-of-the-art facility where the nation's library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings. The campus is home to more than 6 million items, including nearly 3 million sound recordings.

A list of the films named to the 2010 National Film Registry can be found on the next page.

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Airplane! (1980)

The sharply perceptive parody of the big-budget disaster films that dominated Hollywood during the 1970s was characterized by a freewheeling style reminiscent of comedies of the 1920s. Airplane! introduced a much-needed deflating assessment of the tendency of producers to push successful formulaic movie conventions beyond the point of logic. One of the film's most noteworthy achievements was to cast actors best known for careers in melodrama -- Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges among them -- and provide them with opportunities to showcase their comic talents.

All the President's Men (1976)

Based on the memoir by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about political dirty tricks in the nation's capital, the Alan J. Pakula drama that starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman is a rare example of a best-selling book that was transformed into a hit film and a cultural phenomenon in its own right.

The Bargain (1914)

After beginning his career on the stage (where he originated the role of Messala in Ben-Hur in 1899), William S. Hart found his greatest fame as the silent screen's most popular cowboy. The Bargain, directed by Reginald Barker, was Hart's first film and made him a star. The second Western starring Hart to be named to the National Film Registry, the film was selected because of Hart's charisma, the film's authenticity and realistic portrayal of the Western genre and the star's good/bad man role as an outlaw attempting to go straight.

Cry of Jazz (1959)

The 34-minute, black-and-white short is recognized as an early and influential example of African-American independent filmmaking. Director Ed Bland, with the help of more than 60 volunteer crew members, intercuts scenes of life in Chicago's black neighborhoods with interviews of interracial artists and intellectuals. Cry of Jazz argues that black life in America shares a structural identity with jazz music. With performance clips by the jazz composer, bandleader and pianist Sun Ra and his Arkestra, the film demonstrates the unifying tension between rehearsed and improvised jazz. Cry of Jazz is a historic and fascinating film that comments on racism and the appropriation of jazz by those who fail to understand its artistic and cultural origins.

Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967)

The 15-minute film, produced by George Lucas while a student at the University of Southern California, won the 1968 United States National Student Film Festival drama award and inspired Warner Bros. to sign Lucas to produce the expanded feature length THX 1138 under the tutelage of Francis Ford Coppola. This film has evoked comparisons to George Orwell's 1984 and impressed audiences with its technical inventiveness and cautionary view of a future filled with security cameras and omnipresent scrutiny.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The much anticipated continuation of the Star Wars saga, Irvin Kershner's sequel sustained the action-adventure and storytelling success of its predecessor and helped lay the foundation for one of the most commercially successful film series in history.

The Exorcist (1973)

One of the most successful and influential horror films of all time, the influence of William Friedkin's pic, both stylistically and in narrative, continues to be seen in many movies of the 21st century. The film's success, both commercially and cinematically, provides a rare example of a popular novel being ably adapted for the big screen.

The Front Page (1931)

This historically significant early sound movie successfully demonstrates the rapid progress achieved by Hollywood filmmakers in all creative professions after realizing the capabilities of sound technology to invent new film narratives. Based on one of the best screenplays of the 1930s by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, The Front Page was directed by Lewis Milestone and featured great performances by Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Walter Catlett, Mae Clark, Slim Summerville, Matt Moore and Frank McHugh.

Grey Gardens (1976)

The influential cinema verite documentary by Albert and David Maysles has provided inspiration for creative works on the stage and in film. Through its close and sometimes disturbing look at the eccentric lives of "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Beale, two women (and cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy) living in East Hampton, N.Y., the film documents a complex and difficult mother-daughter relationship and a vanished era of decayed gentility.

I Am Joaquin (1969)

This 20-minute short film is based on an epic poem published by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales in 1967. The poem weaves together the long-tangled roots of his Mexican, Spanish, Indian and American parentage and a mythology of pre-Columbian cultures. The film is important to the history and culture of Chicanos in America, spotlighting the challenges they have endured because of discrimination. Luis Valdez, often described as the father of Chicano theater, produced and directed I Am Joaquin as a project of Teatro Campesino (the Farmworkers Theater), which he founded in 1965 to inform, encourage and entertain Chicano farmworkers. Valdez later directed the Chicano-themed Zoot Suit in 1981, a retelling of the early 1940s Los Angeles race riots, and La Bamba in 1987.

It's a Gift (1934)

The popularity and influence of W.C. Fields continues with each succeeding generation, distinguishing him as one of the greatest American comedians of the 20th century. It's a Gift has survived a perilous preservation history and is the third Fields film to be named to the National Film Registry. The film's extended comic sequence featuring Baby LeRoy, and depicting Fields' travails while trying to sleep on the open-air back porch of a rooming house, was adapted from one of his most successful live theatrical sketches.

Let There Be Light (1946)

John Huston directed three classic war documentaries for the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1943-46: Report From the Aleutians, Battle of San Pietro and this one, which was blocked from public distribution by the War Department for 35 years because no effort was made during filming to disguise or mask the identities of combat veterans suffering from various forms of psychological trauma. The film provides important historical documentation of the efforts of psychiatric professionals during World War II to care for emotionally wounded veterans and prepare them to return to civilian life. Let There Be Light was filmed by cinematographer Stanley Cortez with a score by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Lonesome (1928)

One of the few American features directed by the gifted Hungarian-born filmmaker and scientist Paul Fejos (1897-1963), the film has been recognized for its success as both a comic melodrama (about young lovers who become separated during the chaos of a thunderstorm at Coney Island) and for its early use of dialogue and two-color Technicolor. The film was restored by the George Eastman House and has found renewed popularity with repertory and film festival audiences.

Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)

A sensitive, progressive, issue-oriented Depression Era film by director Leo McCarey, the film concerns an aged and indigent married couple forced by their self-absorbed children to live separately in order to save money. The final scene, depicting the husband and wife parting company in a train station, counters the belief that late-'30s Hollywood films always had happy endings. Tomorrow deftly explores themes of retirement, poverty, generational dissonance and the nuances of love and regret at the end of a long married life.

Malcolm X (1992)

Spike Lee's biographical film about the life of civil rights leader Malcolm X was produced in the classical Hollywood style. Featuring an Oscar-nominated performance by Denzel Washington, the film exemplifies the willingness of the U.S. film industry in the early '90s to support the making of mainstream films about earlier generations of social leaders.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

This aesthetically acclaimed film demonstrates why the Western genre, especially when reinvented by the acclaimed Robert Altman, endured in the 20th century as a useful model for critically examining the realities of contemporary American culture. The film includes notable cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond and a score by Leonard Cohen.

Newark Athlete (1891)

Produced May-June 1891, this experimental film was one of the first made in America at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, N.J. The filmmakers were W.K.L. Dickson and William Heise, both of whom were employed as inventors and engineers in the industrial research facility owned by Thomas Edison. Heise and especially Dickson made important technical contributions during 1891-93, leading to the invention of the world's first successful motion picture camera (the Edison Kinetograph) and to the playback device required for viewing early peepshow films (the Edison Kinetoscope).

Our Lady of the Sphere (1969)

A leading figure in the California Bay Area independent film movement, Lawrence Jordan has crafted more than 40 experimental, animation and dramatic films. Jordan uses "found" graphics to produce his influential animated collages, noting that his goal is to create "unknown worlds and landscapes of the mind." Inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Our Lady of the Sphere is one of Jordan's best known works. It is a surrealistic dreamlike journey blending baroque images with Victorian-era image cut-outs, iconic space age symbols, various musical themes and noise effects, including animal sounds and buzzers.

The Pink Panther (1964)

This comic masterpiece by Blake Edwards introduced the animated Pink Panther character in the film's opening-and-closing credit sequences and actor Peter Sellers in his most renowned comic role as the inept Inspector Clouseau. The influence of the great comics of the silent era on Edwards and Sellers is apparent throughout the film, which is recognized for its enduring popularity. The musical score composed by Henry Mancini is memorable as well.

Preservation of the Sign Language (1913)

Presented without subtitles, Preservationis a two-minute film featuring George Veditz, onetime president of the National Association of the Deaf of the United States, demonstrating in sign language the importance of defending the right of deaf people to sign as opposed to verbalizing their communication. Deafened by scarlet fever at the age of eight, Veditz was one of the first to make motion-picture recordings of American Sign Language. Taking care to sign precisely and in large gestures for the cameras, Veditz chose fiery biblical passages to give his speech emotional impact. In some of his films, Veditz used finger spelling so his gestures could be translated directly into English in venues where interpreters were present. On behalf of the NAD, Veditz made this film specifically to record sign language for posterity at a time when oralists (those who promoted lip reading and speech in lieu of sign language) were gaining momentum in the education of the hearing-impaired. The film conveys one of the ways that deaf Americans debated the issues of their language and public understanding during the era of World War I.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Produced long after the heyday of classic Hollywood musicals, this cinematic cultural touchstone incorporated set-piece music and dance numbers into a story of dramatic realism. With its success, Saturday Night Fever proved that the American movie musical could be reinvented. The film's soundtrack, featuring hits by the Bee Gees, sold millions of copies and gave musical life to a movie significant for much more than just its celebration of the mid-'70s disco phenomenon.

Study of a River (1996)

Experimental filmmaker Peter Hutton is best known for his thoughtful and beautifully photographed ruminations on the co-existence of urban areas and natural waterways. His most renowned films focused on the Hudson River. Study of a River is a meditative examination of the winter cycle of the Hudson during a two-year period, showing its environment, ships plying its waterways, ice floes and the interaction of nature and civilization. Some critics have described Hutton's work as reminiscent of the 19th century artist Thomas Cole and other painters of the Hudson River School.

Tarantella (1940)

This five-minute color, avant-garde film was created by Mary Ellen Bute, a pioneer of visual music and electronic art in experimental cinema. With piano accompaniment by Edwin Gershefsky, Tarantella features rich reds and blues that Bute uses to signify a lighter mood, while her syncopated spirals, shards, lines and squiggles dance exuberantly to Gershefsky's modern beat. Bute produced more than a dozen short films between the 1930s and the 1950s and once described herself as a "designer of kinetic abstractions" who sought to "bring to the eyes a combination of visual forms unfolding with the ... rhythmic cadences of music." Bute's work influenced many other filmmakers working with abstract animation during the '30s and '40s, and with experimental electronic imagery in the '50s.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

Elia Kazan's first feature film, based on the novel by Betty Smith, focuses on a theme that he returned to many times during his career: the struggle of a weak or ill-prepared individual to survive against powerful forces. A timely film, Brooklyn was released at the end of World War II, helping to remind post-war audiences of the enduring importance of the American dream.

A Trip Down Market Street (1906)

This 13-minute "actuality" film was recorded by placing a movie camera on the front of a cable car as is proceeds down San Francisco's Market Street. A fascinating time capsule, the film showcases the details of daily life in a major American city, including the fashions, transportation and architecture of the era. It was originally thought to have been filmed in 1905, but historian David Kiehn, who examined contemporary newspapers, weather reports and car license plates recorded in the film, later suggested that A Trip Down Market Street was likely filmed just a few days before the devastating earthquake of April 18, 1906.