Manny P. here…
“`The 2024 selections of Library of Congress’ National Film Registry have been announced. This year’s selections are exceptional, including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Invaders from Mars (1953), The Miracle Worker (1962), Dirty Dancing (1987) and The Social Network (2010). Unfortunately our campaign to get Robert Youngson’s documentaries, Golden Age of Comedy and When Comedy was King, proved unsuccessful this year. The effort continues…
“`Let us look at the Golden Age of Hollywood selections:
~ ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938) – The collaborative efforts by James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart and director Michael Curtiz makes a Depression-era crime drama that reinforces the notion that cities were born in streets of immigrant neighborhoods. The work may have been considered Cagney’s signature role if not for The Public Enemy made seven years earlier. The Dead End Kids are symbolic of the kind of grit youths needed after they grew up to become the greatest generation determined to rid Axis aggression.
~ THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) – Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright and Walter Brennan shine in this bio-pic. This film is a Hollywood tribute to the New York Yankees iron man first baseman Lou Gehrig, who had recently died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease). Babe Ruth appears in the movie, adding to its authenticity and poignance. The beloved classic culminates with Cooper’s re-enactment of Gehrig’s famous 1939 farewell speech at Yankee Stadium and a heart-wrenching: Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
~ INVADERS FROM MARS (1953) – The 1950s produced many science fiction films, ignited by post-World War II paranoia over the hydrogen bomb, growing technological advancements, fear of Soviet expansion and Communist infiltration of American society. Directed by William Cameron Menzies, with cinematography by John Seitz, the movie features stunning sets and photography in Supercinecolor. Recently restored by Ignite Films in collaboration with George Eastman Museum, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and UCLA Film and Television Archive.
~ THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962) – This celebrated early work from director Arthur Penn tells the incredible true-life story of Helen Keller and her determined teacher Anne Sullivan, chronicled in remarkable performances by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, both fresh from a Broadway triumph on stage. Keller was still alive when the story was adapted to the screen. This production allowed the iconic activist to make peace with Hollywood and their previous attempts to categorize Keller as a curiosity.
“`The Library of Congress National Film Registry annually inducts twenty-five movies that are considered culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. These films must be at least ten years old.
Until next time> “never forget”
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