New to the National Film Registry: ‘Forrest Gump,’ ‘Bambi,’ ‘Stand and Deliver,’ ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ ‘The Lost Weekend,’ ‘Norma Rae,’ and More
Posted on December 28, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Each year the Librarian of Congress announces 25 titles to be added to the National Film Registry, created in 1988 in response to Ted Turner’s controversial efforts to colorize black and white films. It is a sort of virtual library, identifying films of particular cultural, artistic, or historical value and significance. As usual, this year’s National Film Registry list includes some very high profile films like the Oscar-winning “Silence of the Lambs,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Norma Rae,” the Disney animated classic Bambi
I was very pleased to see some of my favorite classic films on the list, including the screwball comedy Twentieth Century
and 
, former Miss America 
, former Fonzie 
, and former Saturday Night Live star 
. I love them all. But here are my very favorites, the ones I try to watch every year.
Who better to play Scrooge than his namesake Scrooge McDuck? And who better for the part of the unquenchable Bob Cratchit than Mickey Mouse? This compilation DVD includes other Christmas goodies “The Small One” and “Pluto’s Christmas Tree.”
has the distinguished actor Michael Caine as Scrooge and the equally distinguished Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. Special mention of 
as well.
. The voice talent is outstanding, with Broadway star Jack Cassidy (father of teen idols David and Shaun) as Bob Cratchit and of course Jim Backus as Mr. Magoo, in this version an actor playing the part of Scrooge. The tuneful songs were written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, who later went on to write “Funny Girl.” (The legend is that their song “People” was originally written for this movie.)
This MGM classic features the top stars of the 1930’s. Watch for future “Lassie” star June Lockhart as one of the Cratchit children — her real-life father Gene Lockhart played Bob. (He also appears in another Christmas classic, as the judge in
.)
This is the all-time best, with the inimitable Alistair Sim as Scrooge. There has never been a more embittered miser or a more jubilent Christmas morning rebirth. When he orders that turkey for the Cratchits and walks into his nephew’s celebration at the end, everything Dickens hoped for from his story is brought to life.
portrayed Holmes and Watson in 14 films released between 1939-46. The early films are true to the books but the later ones update the characters to the 1940’s, with plots related to WWII.
appeared in “Young Sherlock Holmes,” an underrated origin story film that has our heroes solving their first mystery together while they are still in boarding school.
In “They Might be Giants” a mental patient who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes and his doctor (she’s a woman, but she is named Watson) investigate the mystery of reality and what we call sanity.
Disney’s animated “The Great Mouse Detective” is the story of mice who live on Baker Street with Sherlock Holmes (voiced by Basil Rathbone). Inspired by their flatmate, they solve the mystery of a clockwork creation that was substituted for the Queen of the Mice. The villain is portrayed by the silky-voiced Vincent Price.
A British miniseries updates the setting to the 21st century, with Holmes and Watson solving mysteries in the era of laptops and cell phones.
One of the most fascinating versions of the Holmes stories is “The Seven Percent Solution,” which has Watson doing an intervention and taking Holmes to consult with Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) about his use of cocaine. Of course once he is there he gets involved in another mystery, the kidnapping of another of Freud’s patients.
The popular British minseries is a perennial favorite on PBS.
Legendary writer-director Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” with a story inspired in part by Conan Doyle’s “The Bruce-Partington Plans.” There is an excellent score by Miklos Rozsa.
Douglas Wilmer and Thorley Walters play Holmes and Watson but the stars of “Young Frankenstein” have the lead roles in “Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother,” a wild comedy about “Sigerson Holmes” and his efforts to surpass his famous older sibling.
Made-for-British-television movies show us an older Holmes and Watson in “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady” and “Sherlock Holmes and the Incident at Victoria Falls.”
Truman Capote’s bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmas making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, the only relative who cared about him is beautifully filmed with the magnificent Geraldine Page and Capote himself reading the narration.
The California Raisins guys put together this Christmas special, with the highlight the funniest-ever performance of “Carol of the Bells.”
Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are French nuns trying to raise money to build a hospital. Their faith and goodness transforms those they meet.
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” is the first line of this classic novel based on the loving if sometimes tumultuous family of author Louisa May Alcott. The movie opens with an important Christmas lesson about the joy of giving.
Based on the classic book, this stars Loretta Swit as the mother of six rambunctious kids who insist on playing roles in the church pageant.
Before Google, companies had human beings to track down information. Katherine Hepburn plays the head of the all-female research department for a television network and Spencer Tracy is the engineer who is installing the company’s first computer, which takes up a whole wall and uses punch cards and vacuum tubes. Sparks fly — and not just in the equipment.
Bruce Willis plays a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office Christmas party when the building is taken over by bad guys led by Alan Rickman in this action-movie classic.
Tom Hanks stars in this animated story based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg about a magical train ride to the North Pole.
This comedy smash hit stars Macauley Culkin as a little boy who is accidentally left home when his family goes away for the holidays and has to take care of himself and guard the house from a couple of inept thieves. The slapstick is a bit over the top but the message of Christmas is surprisingly touching.
The story of the plucky orphan from the comic pages became one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time and one of its highlights is Christmas with Daddy Warbucks.
The first feature film to address the AIDS epidemic is this wrenching story of love and loss with beautiful performances from Campbell Scott, Bruce Davison, and Mary-Louise Parker.
HBO’s drama with an all-star cast is based on the true story of the early days of the epidemic, the heroic public health officials and tragic mistakes.
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of a lawyer who sued the law firm that fired him for having AIDS, based on a true story.