The Library of
Congress added 25 more titles to the National Film
Registry Tuesday, and the list includes everything from
silent documentary footage of the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake to the cross-dressing musical The Rocky
Horror Picture Show. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the 2005
lists include several films that were a part of film
history--the racy Barbara Stanwyck melodrama
Baby Face (1933) helped usher in the Hays
Code, which dictated what Hollywood films could and
couldn't show; Rocky Horror helped solidify the
"midnight movie" and brought audience participation to
new cinematic heights; and Amy Heckerling's 1982 Fast
Times at Ridgemont High ushered in a new
generation of high school comedies. Also included was George
Steven's landmark Giant (1956), starring queer
film legends Rock Hudson and James Dean.
Rocky Horror "changed the whole movie
experience as the audience became part of the show for good
or bad," said National Film Preservation Board staff
coordinator Steve Leggett to The Hollywood Reporter. Warner Bros. cut some of
the more objectionable content from Baby Face
upon the film's original release, but it was the
uncensored version, discovered last year, that was
named to the registry. Selection to the National Film
Registry singles out films for preservation, either by
the Library of Congress or elsewhere.
The 2005
selections are: Baby Face (1933), The Buffalo
Creek Flood: An Act of Man (1975), The
Cameraman (1928), Commandment Keeper Church,
Beaufort, S.C., May 1940 (1940), Cool Hand Luke
(1967), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982),
The French Connection (1971), Giant
(1956), H20 (1929), Hand Up (1926),
Hoop Dreams (1994), House of Usher
(1960), Imitation of Life (1934),
Jeffries-Johnson world championship fight (1910), Making
of an American (1920), Miracle on 34th Street
(1947), Mom and Dad (1944), The Music
Man (1962), Power of the Press (1928), A
Raisin in the Sun (1961), The Rocky Horror
Picture Show (1975), San Francisco earthquake
and fire, April 18, 1906 (1906), The Sting (1973),
A Time for Burning (1966), Toy Story
(1995). (Advocate.com)