“Forgotten Hollywood”- LOC National Film Registry 2021…
Manny P. here…
“`It is that time of the year again! The 2021 selections of the Library of Congress National Film Registry have just been announced. Entrants including three silent film and a number of modern fantasy, science fiction, and horror productions, including Star Wars Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, WALL•E, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Even the postmodern subversive exploitation comedy that was a midnight staple at art houses, Pink Flamingos, made the cut. How divine!
“`Let us look at the Hollywood Golden Age selections:
~ FLOWERS AND TREES (1932) – A pioneering animated experiment, Flowers and Trees was the first three-strip Technicolor feature shown to the public. The overwhelmingly positive response convinced Walt Disney to produce all future Silly Symphony shorts in color. It was a commercial and critical success, winning the initial Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short Subject.
~ STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) – The final part by tormented actor Robert Walker, this riveting 1951 Hitchcock classic began the director’s string of iconic cinema that would continue over the subsequent twelve years with movies such as The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. This is one of the original identity-inspired mystery thrillers, in which natural human behavior is the driving force behind the true macabre rather than any supernatural elements. Hitch’s favorite device of an ordinary man caught in an ever-tightening web of fear was a common theme for lots of his productions. Farley Granger and Ruth Roman also star in this feature.
~ WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (1962) – The effort to make this motion picture include the legendary public feud between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Directed by Robert Aldrich, this 1962 horror dark comedy delves into the redundant worlds of fading stardom and the grotesque. The flick remains vivid and uncomfortably terrifying. As in the finest Hitchcock movies, suspense, rather than actual mayhem, drives the piece.
~ SOUNDER (1972) – This effort received acclaim, with critics praising it as an alternative to the contemporaneous wave of black movies, most of which were considered of low quality and budget and exploitative. The film’s depiction of a loving sharecropper family in the deep South during the Great Depression was hailed as a banner accomplishment for black filmmakers and audiences. Supporting parts were offered to local townsfolk and actors from regional theatre. Cicely Tyson cemented her status as a major star with her performance.
“`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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