25 American Films named National Landmarks

[james cook]

Twenty-five American films were named national landmarks. The selections
were made by the Library of Congress with representatives of 13 film
organizations, including the Directors Guild of America. The films
choosen are listed below in alphabetic order.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
CASABLANCA (1942)
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
THE CROWD (1928)
DR. STRANGELOVE... (1964)
THE GENERAL (1927)
GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
HIGH NOON (1952)
INTOLERANCE (1916)
THE LEARNING TREE (1969)
THE MALTESE FLACON (1941)
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
MODERN TIMES (1936)
NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922)
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
THE SEARCHERS (1956)
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
STAR WARS (1977)
SUNRISE (1927)
SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
VERTIGO (1958)
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

Once a film is selected for the library's National Film Registry, the
copyright holder cannot colorize or cut it unless it bears a label stating
that it was altered "without the participation of the principal director,
screenwriter and other creators of the original film".

Under the 1988 Film Preservation Act passed by Congress, 25 films are to
be selected each year for three years, movies that are described as "not
the 25 best American films", but are "important to American culture and
history".

To qualify for the National Film Registry, a film must be at least 10
years old.

--

Jim Cook
discg1!izslc19
Philadelphia, PA

[Chuck Musciano]

Out of curiosity, I culled the 25 landmark films from the ratings
report:

Best Years Of Our Lives, The
0...000124 121 8.8 Casablanca
00.0001222 99 8.2 Citizen Kane
Crowd, The
.000000222 118 8.3 Dr. Strangelove
......0233 15 8.9 General, The
.000001221 93 7.7 Gone With The Wind
..0.0.1141 16 8.1 Grapes Of Wrath, The
..00012210 46 7.5 High Noon
Intolerance
Learning Tree, The
...0001231 75 8.3 Maltese Falcon, The
00000.2212 28 7.4 Modern Times
...0.01340 33 8.2 Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Nanook Of The North
.....02310 41 7.9 On The Waterfront
.....13131 9 8.0 Searchers, The
..0.000341 55 8.5 Singing In The Rain
...0002211 54 7.6 Snow White
....002311 57 7.8 Some Like It Hot
0.00001222 183 8.3 Star Wars
Sunrise
...0003221 26 7.8 Sunset Boulevard
...0012311 70 7.8 Vertigo
..00001222 114 8.2 Wizard Of Oz, The

Overall, a good selection of highly rated films. I'll include the unrated
ones on the next ballot, so rent them all and be ready to vote! :-)

Chuck Musciano ARPA : ch...@trantor.harris-atd.com
Harris Corporation Usenet: ...!uunet!x102a!trantor!chuck
PO Box 37, MS 3A/1912 AT&T : (407) 727-6131
Melbourne, FL 32902 FAX : (407) 727-{5118,5227,4004}

Gee, Beaver, everything that's fun can get you in trouble. Haven't you
learned that yet? --Gilbert

[Blair P. Houghton]

In article <27...@trantor.harris-atd.com> ch...@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano) writes:
>
> Out of curiosity, I culled the 25 landmark films from the ratings
>report:
>

> ...0001231 75 8.3 Maltese Falcon, The

This one jogged my memory.

>Overall, a good selection of highly rated films. I'll include the unrated
>ones on the next ballot, so rent them all and be ready to vote! :-)

The constitution forbids ex-post-facto legislation, and The Maltese
Falcon was one of the _first_ films to be colorized. It's already
been damaged, and there is nothing anyone can do to force the people
who own it to place one of the warning labels on it.

Truly we are looking at impotent legislation designed only to placate
constituencies.

--Blair
"Your Tax Dollars' Inaction."

[Peter Farson]

In article <43...@buengc.BU.EDU> b...@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
}
}The constitution forbids ex-post-facto legislation, and The Maltese
}Falcon was one of the _first_ films to be colorized. It's already
}been damaged, and there is nothing anyone can do to force the people
}who own it to place one of the warning labels on it.
}
}Truly we are looking at impotent legislation designed only to placate
}constituencies.
}

I don't think so. I believe that the common interpretation of law
applied to this case would prevent prosecution for any sale of the colorized
movies that occurred before enactment of this law. However, prosecution
would still be permissible, under law, for any sales in violation of the law
that happened after passage of the law.

--
The public is a ferocious Peter Farson
beast: one must either celia!pe...@tis.llnl.gov
chain it up or flee from it. ...{ihnp4,ames}!lll-tis!celia!peter
Voltaire