Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`It is that time of the year again! The 2022 selections of the Library of Congress National Film Registry have just been announced. This year’s selections are more modern and diverse, including Hairspray (1988),  The Little Mermaid (1989),  When Harry Met Sally (1989), Iron Man (2008), and curiously, home movies from Cab Calloway, taken between 1948 and 1951.

“`Let us look at the Golden Age selections:

~ CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1950) –  Produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Michael Gordon, this was the first U. S. film version of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 French play. Despite Cyrano’s low budget and it appearing too much like a stage production,  José Ferrer’s star-making performance received much acclaim. For his performance, Ferrer won the Oscar for Best Actor, becoming the initial Hispanic actor to win the statuette.  Preserved from the 35 mm nitrate original camera negative and a 35 mm acetate fine grain master in cooperation with Paramount Pictures.

~ CHARADE (1963) – Dubbed the greatest Alfred Hitchcock motion picture NOT made by the iconic director. Instead, Charade was directed by Stanley Donan. It was the only opportunity to enjoy the onscreen chemistry of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, two of Hollywood’s most sophisticated actors. It also boasts support from three actors who would go on to win Oscars: Walter Matthau, George Kennedy and James Coburn. The elegant score was created by Henry Mancini.

~ SUPERFLY (1972) – The film is a classic of the escapist Blaxploitation wave of  the 1970s. The Harlem community backed the flick financially, and a number of black businesses helped with production costs. Curtis Mayfield’s soulful score received lots of acclaim for the dynamic sound and for challenging the drug culture in its lyrics.  Superfly and Freddie’s Dead became pop chart hits.

~ CARRIE (1976) – This remains a magical year of cinema, with Network, Rocky and All the President’s Men already in the National Film Registry. Brian De Palma burst onto the national spotlight with Carrie. Adapted from the Stephen King novel, De Palma mixes up a stylish cauldron of horrific scenes coupled with unforgettable performances by Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. It was a film that helped define the slasher genre of movies. King’s works would be revisited after the success of Carrie.

“`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”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 at 12:54 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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