The National Film Registry Class of 1993: I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)

The Cheat (1915): “the kind of moralistic melodrama I’ve come to expect from the 1910s; hardly the kind of film I’d associate with Cecil B. DeMille”

Where Are My Children (1916): “an uncomfortable modern watch”, “we are skating on thin ice here, people”.

The Black Pirate (1926): “a brisk, enjoyable old-fashioned pirate movie”, “a showcase for early two-strip technicolor”

The Wind (1928): “an overall higher quality than most silents”, “Lillian Gish’s final (and perhaps most iconic) silent performance.”

It Happened One Night (1934): “an undisputed film classic, but some of its luster has worn off over the years.”

A Night at the Opera (1935): “Apparently I’m the only person who prefers this movie over ‘Duck Soup‘.”

The March of Time: Inside Nazi Germany (1938): “a startling (though, admittedly, somewhat manipulated) view of a country run by fascism.”

His Girl Friday (1940): “snappy dialogue, wonderful chemistry between [Cary] Grant and [Rosalind] Russell, and a pace so frenetic it can never be duplicated, only appreciated.”

Cat People (1942): “one of the more influential iconic movies in the horror genre.”

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942): “a very simple (and partially inaccurate) biopic…but really this is a vehicle for [James] Cagney.”

Lassie Come Home (1943): “How can I say no to a Lassie movie?”

An American in Paris (1951): “one of the most romantic, feel-good musicals ever made. I dare you not to grin from ear to ear while watching it.”

Magical Maestro (1952): “plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to smooth over its increasingly rough edges.”

Eaux d’Artifice (1953): “I don’t get this one at all…I feel so uncultured.”

Shane (1953): “a step up from most westerns on this list…but overall ‘Shane’ never fires on all cylinders like its reputation would suggest.”

Sweet Smell of Success (1957): “I like these actors, and I like the world this film inhabits, but I just couldn’t get into it.”

Touch of Evil (1958): “[Orson] Welles shows that he still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, creating a stylish, unsettling, captivating movie.”

Shadows (1959): “even with the film’s rough presentation, you can see [John] Cassavetes’ love of the game”

Nothing But a Man (1964): “the kind of film the National Film Registry is all about.”

Point of Order (1964): “the legacy is the original footage [of the McCarthy hearings] more than the film itself.”

Badlands (1973): “surprisingly understanding of these two incredibly fucked up kids”, “a wonderful introduction to the works of Terrence Malick.”

The Godfather Part II (1974): “better than the original? Not really. Is it a worthy successor that can stand alongside the first? Absolutely.”

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975): “everything about this movie is solid…but it didn’t wow me at the level I hoped it would.”

Chulas Fronteras (1976): “[Makes the NFR for] its preservation of two similar cultures separated by an invisible line.”

Blade Runner (1982): “a well-crafted piece of science fiction with effective, imaginative world building.”

Other notes

• This is the year the NFR starts to have some fun. With the first 100 selections, they got most of the preordained classics out of the way; and now it’s time to loosen up. There are still the big ones like “Shane” and “Godfather Part II”, but there’s also a newsreel, a Tex Avery cartoon, a cult horror movie, a documentary made entirely of archival footage, and an experimental short that is possibly the NFR’s first “staring at water” movie. They also throw in the recently-eligible “Blade Runner”, which was just finding new recognition thanks to the previous year’s “Director’s Cut” release.
• Interesting to note that most of the more iconic films on the list are the ones that I felt may have been over-hyped, with many of my write-ups saying something in the vein of “it’s good, but not as great as everyone says it is”. Meanwhile some of the more obscure titles, free from any preordained classic status, received higher praise from me.
• Also noteworthy that both “It Happened One Night” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the two Big Five Oscar winners eligible at the time, made the list in the same year (the third Big Five winner -“The Silence of the Lambs” – would join their ranks in 2011).
• Despite multiple films on this list dealing with racial relations and non-White cultures, all 25 of these films are directed by White people. In fact, except for Lois Weber, they’re all White men. Baby steps, everyone. We’ll get to Spike Lee soon enough.
• As the NFR entered its fifth year of inductions, critics were starting to notice the patterns of what makes an “NFR list”. Gary Arnold of The Washington Times noted “a quota system has evolved, with at least one slot set aside for documentaries, abstraction and ethnic consciousness.” Don’t know how I feel about the phrase “ethnic consciousness”, but he’s got a point. 
• According to Library of Congress articles of the time, 1300 films were considered for the Registry in 1993. One passage I found interesting was the Library of Congress encouraging the public to nominate films for the 1994 list, but also requesting that “the public try to limit suggestions to fewer than 50 titles”. I assume this was before the NFR’s online submission process, which automatically caps at 50 entries. Imagine the extended lists from ’90s film nerds that arrived at the Library of Congress back in the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if all 1300 movies were nominated by one guy! Someone please invent the internet.
• In the same week the Class of 1993 was announced, “Mrs. Doubtfire” was number one at the US box office, with future NFR entries “Jurassic Park” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” playing in theaters. Coincidentally, “Schindler’s List” would begin its theatrical run the day after the NFR announcement. Also in theaters was perennial favorite “Cool Runnings”!

Next up, the NFR class of 1994, a roster of films that once made me asked the question, “Did the 1994 NFR committee need a hug?”