25 New Films Listed for Preservation by the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has added 25 classic films to their collection in Washington, DC, bringing the total up to 475. Included in the list of honored films for 2007 are The Naked City, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Back to the Future. The chosen movies are picked from a group of films nominated by the public, the National Film Preservation Board and the Library’s Motion Picture Division staff.

Aside from distinguishing the films named to the collection as classics, the library’s mission also includes preservation. In the announcement of the selections, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington noted that “up to half the films produced in this country before 1950 — and as much as 90 percent of those made before 1920 — are lost forever.” In response to this fact, said Billington, “The National Film Registry seeks not only to honor these films, but to ensure that they are preserved for future generations to enjoy.”

The rest of the 25 films include: 12 Angry Men (1957), Bullitt (1968), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), Dances With Wolves (1990), Days of Heaven (1978), Glimpse of the Garden (1957), Grand Hotel (1932), The House I Live In (1945), In a Lonely Place (1950), Mighty Like a Moose (1926), Now, Voyager (1942), Oklahoma! (1955), Our Day (1938), Peege (1972), The Sex Life of the Polyp (1928), The Strong Man (1926), Three Little Pigs (1933), Tol’able David (1921), Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son (1969), The Women (1939), Wuthering Heights (1939).