Four silent films – including one made in San Francisco – are among those selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry, it was announced today.
James H. Billington, Head of the Library of Congress, made the announcement in what has become an annual event.
Billington named 25 motion pictures – including Hollywood classics, recent blockbusters, documentaries and innovative shorts from every era of American filmmaking to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. It’s a kind of annual honors list for the movies.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, the Librarian of Congress annually names 25 films to the National Film Registry. The films are deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The films are not selected as the “best” American films of all time, but rather, as works of enduring significance to American culture. To date, more than 500 films have been honored.
In a prepared statement, Billington stated, “As the nation’s repository of American creativity, the Library of Congress – with the support of the U.S. Congress – must ensure the preservation of America’s film patrimony. The National Film Registry is a reminder to the nation that the preservation of our cinematic creativity must be a priority because about half of the films produced before 1950 and as much as 90 percent of those made before 1920 have been lost to future generations.”
The films on this year’s list which date from the pre-talkie era are The Bargain (1914), Newark Athlete (1891), Preservation of the Sign Language (1913), and A Trip Down Market Street (1906). Lonesome (1928), released at the end of the silent era and included on the 2010 list, includes dialogue and two-color Technicolor.
Among the silent era films, The Bargain is the only dramatic work. The film stars William S. Hart, who found his greatest fame as the silent screen’s most popular cowboy. It is second Hart Western to be named to the National Film Registry. The film was chosen “because of Hart’s charisma, the film’s authenticity and realistic portrayal of the Western genre and the star’s good/bad man role as an outlaw attempting to go straight.”
The one silent era film with a local connection is A Trip Down Market Street. It is a 13-minute "actuality" whose film was shot by placing a movie camera on the front of a cable car as is proceeds down Market Street in San Francisco. The Library of Congress described it as “A fascinating time capsule from over 100 years ago, the film showcases the details of daily life in a major American city, including the fashions, transportations and architecture of the era.”
The LOC press release notes that “The film was originally thought to have been made in 1905, but historian David Kiehn, who examined contemporary newspapers, weather reports and car license plates recorded in the film, later suggested that A Trip Down Market Street was likely filmed just a few days before the devastating earthquake on April 18, 1906.”
Kiehn’s remarkable discovery – announced earlier this year – was of such import in film history circles that the Fremont, California film historian was featured on 60 Minutes and elsewhere.
More info: The Library of Congress press release announcing the 25 newest additions to the National Film Registry, as well as an annotated list of films, can be found at www.loc.gov/today/pr/2010/10-273.html
Thomas Gladysz is an arts journalist and author. Recently, he wrote the introduction to a new “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Böhme's classic book, The Diary of a Lost Girl (PandorasBox Press). Gladysz will speak about his new book at the Village Voice Bookshop in Paris on January 13, followed by a screening of the film at the nearby Action Cinema.
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