"Rocky Horror," "Music Man" and "Raisin" Added to National Film Registry

By Andrew Gans
December 28, 2005

A few theatre-related titles were added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, which was renewed this past year as part of the Family Entertainment & Copyright Act.

Variety reports that Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, "per the National Film Preservation Act, which seeks to protect the full breadth of American filmmaking," chose 25 films to add to the list. The list includes 1961's "A Raisin in the Sun," 1962's "The Music Man" and 1975's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

In a statement librarian Billington said, "The films we choose are not necessarily the 'best' American films ever made or the most famous, but they are films that continue to have cultural, historical or aesthetic significance. . . .The selection of a film, I stress, is not an endorsement of its ideology or content but rather a recognition of the film's importance to American film and cultural history and to history in general."

The registry was established by Congress in 1989; 425 titles now comprise the registry, and each title is guaranteed preservation. Choices were made based on 1,000 movies nominated by the public.

The complete list of films just added to the registry follow:
"Baby Face" (1933)
"The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man" (1975)
"The Cameraman" (1928)
"Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort, South Carolina, May 1940" (1940)
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967)
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982)
"The French Connection" (1971)
"Giant" (1956)
"H2O" (1929)
"Hands Up" (1926)
"Hoop Dreams" (1994)
"House of Usher" (1960)
"Imitation of Life" (1934)
"Jeffries-Johnson World's Championship Boxing Contest" (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)