“Forgotten Hollywood”- LOC National Film Registry 2020

Posted on December 14, 2020 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

“`The 2020 selections of the Library of Congress National Film Registry have just been announced. Entrants including recent productions such as: The Hurt Locker, The Dark Knight, The Joy Luck Club, and Shrek.  Plus, there were popular selections, including Grease and The Blues Brothers. Notable motion pictures from Hollywood’s Golden Age include:

~ THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1927) –  This is a timeless Laurel and Hardy silent short comedy unseen in its entirety since its original release. The comic bits include a renowned pie-fighting sequence.  Only excerpts from reel two of the film had survived for many years. Critic Leonard Maltin discovered a mostly complete nitrate copy of reel one at  Museum of Modern Art in the 1970s.  In 2015, movie collector Jon Mirsalis located a complete version of reel two as part of a film collection he purchased from the estate of Gordon Berkow. The two-reeler still lacks brief scenes from reel one, but the film is now almost complete.

*** Hollywood Heritage historian Stan Taffel (and my good friend) has just announced that this film will have its United States television premiere Tuesday on TCM at 5p (PST). This is not listed anywhere!

 

~ CABIN IN THE SKY (1943) – This film adaptation of the 1940 Broadway musical marked the directing debut of renowned director Vincente Minnelli.  His talent for blending in dazzling musical numbers is on total display. Applauded at the time for showcasing an all-Black cast in a major Hollywood film when many theaters were still segregated, the film also demonstrates limited opportunities and acting compromises  African Americans endured during Hollywood’s studio era. It stars Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, and Eddie Rochester Anderson.

~ THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) – Drug addiction has been addressed in films many times before, dating back to the silent era. Few dared to be as honest, blunt, or graphic as this Otto Preminger treatment, which featured Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. Along with its still topical subject and powerful storytelling, the movie is further enhanced by its eye-popping Saul Bass opening credits sequence and Elmer Bernstein’s remarkable jazz score.

   

~ LILIES OF THE FIELD (1963) – The flick serves as a parable highlighting mutual respect via common purpose, an austere Arizona desert landscape, the impoverished nuns, and a lad they believe God sent to help them.  For his portrayal, Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win the Oscar for Best Actor.

~ A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) – Based on a book by Anthony Burgess, director Stanley Kubrick’s brings this movie to life in his own avant-garde style.  Set in a not-so-distant future, that is equal parts dystopian and cartoonish, the production remains disturbing, controversial, and startlingly unsettling.

“`Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the  Library of Congress names to the National Film Registry twenty-five motion pictures that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. The films must be at least ten years old.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2020 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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