The NFR Class of 1998: Gettin’ Jiggy wit It

November 16^th, 1998: The National Film Registry celebrates 10 years of adding movies to a list by adding 25 movies to their list, making it an even 250 for the Registry. Here’s the Class of 1998, along with snippets from my write-ups on these films:

Westinghouse Works 1904 (1904): “another figure in the carpet of early filmmaking”
From the Manger to the Cross (1912): “preservation-worthy, but not on the top of anyone’s list”, “I assume the book is better.”
The Immigrant (1917): “an important stepping stone, if not essential Chaplin.”
Sky High (1922): “It represents Tom Mix, and it features impressive footage of the Grand Canyon. That’s about it.”
The Lost World (1925): “by no means a revered classic…but the effects by Willis H. O’Brien are worth the trip out.”
The Phantom of the Opera (1925): “There are other Phantoms out there, but there’s only one Lon Chaney.”
Pass the Gravy (1928): “[Max Davidson] has just as much a right to be in the NFR as any other lesser-known silent star”.
Steamboat Willie (1928): “a pivotal moment in film history. Plus the songs are really catchy.”
The Public Enemy (1931): “holds its own alongside the other gangster movies of the time”
42^nd Street (1933): “So much talking. More musical numbers, please!”
Little Miss Marker (1934): “compared to the other films that could represent [Shirley] Temple on the list, it is found wanting.”
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935): “stands next to the first [“Frankenstein”] as the horror film all others strive to be.”
The City (1939): “a bit heavy-handed”, “an emotional tone poem for change.”
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (1940): “a good lesson to all you aspiring architects out there.”
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943): “never goes to that next level you want from a classic film.”
Twelve O’Clock High (1949): “man do you have to slog through a long movie to get to all of the good stuff.”
Gun Crazy (1950): “proof that some B-movies are better than the main feature.”
The Hitch-Hiker (1953): “a wonderful example of how you can create a very suspenseful film on a shoe-string budget.”
Modesta (1956): “achieves a unique status on the NFR thanks to its Puerto Rican production”
Dead Birds (1963): “never take a documentary at face value.”
Dont Look Back (1967): “If you’re a [Bob] Dylan fan, you’ll get a lot more out of this than I did.”
Easy Rider (1969): “very much of its time, but still accessible”, “the road trip movie on LSD, perhaps literally.”
The Last Picture Show (1971): “great performances…mixed with two hours of bleak existence for everyone.”
Powers of Ten (1977): “in a word, trippy.”
Tootsie (1982): “one of the finest comedies ever made.”

Other notes

We don’t have any footage of the official NFR announcement (perhaps they learned their lesson from the previous year), but we do have an article from the Library of Congress newsletter telling us that Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington headed west and made the 1998 announcement at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences library in Los Angeles. Among those in attendance were several National Film Preservation Board members including Alan Bergman, Fay Kanin, and Leonard Maltin, as well as “Twelve O’Clock High” star Gregory Peck. It’s interesting to see the NFR trying to figure out what exactly the announcement is, dipping their toe into a bigger event a la the Oscar nominations. Ultimately, their current practice of a press release and a corresponding video works best.
While the Class of 1997 featured plenty of big, iconic movies, the Class of 1998 primarily consists of films that live in the shadow of movies already on the Registry. We have the stepping stone films of directors already on the list, films that represent stars that are important but not essential figures in movie history, plus one that is the sequel to another NFR movie (iconic in its own right, but still a sequel). What this list lacks in heavy hitters, however, it makes up for with its eclecticism: actuality footage, a comedy short, an animated short, amateur disaster footage, New Deal propaganda, several independent productions, an ethnographic film, a concert documentary, and whatever the hell “Powers of Ten” is. We even get one entry produced by and filmed in a U.S. territory, which is still a rarity on the list.
There seem to be a disproportionate number of my write-ups on this year’s movies that I tackled in the first year of the blog, before I had settled on the blog’s more informative than irreverent tone. I have dogeared most of these for a re-write in the future. Stay tuned.
When the Class of 1998 was announced, the number one movie at the US box office was the Adam Sandler comedy “The Waterboy”. Also in theaters that week was future NFR entry “Saving Private Ryan”, and a re-release of “The Wizard of Oz”. Other notable films in release include “Rush Hour”, “Pleasantville”, and “Practical Magic”; all of which, and I can’t stress this enough, were outgrossed that weekend by “The Waterboy”.
Also worth noting that five months earlier “Easy Rider” and “Tootsie” were included on the AFI’s list of 100 greatest American films, along with 66 other NFR entries (with another 29 to come).
This year’s creative double dippers: Producers Carl Laemmle Jr. and Darryl F. Zanuck, actors Morris Carnovsky and Frank Conroy, songwriter Bob Dylan, director William A. Wellman, and editor Donn Cambern (though it is debated how much Cambern contributed to the editing of “The Last Picture Show”). This list also gives us three generations of Fondas: Henry, Peter, and a brief appearance by Bridget. Still no Jane anywhere on this list, but that’s another story.
Thematic double dippers: Universal monsters, animal abuse (most of it directed at chickens), angry mobs, films shot outside the United States, extra-marital affairs, border crossings, westerns with ineffectual threats, overall disregard for a film’s leading lady, cars/motor vehicles as a primary setting, films that premiered at a World’s Fair, and disputed screenplay credits.
Favorites of my own subtitles: Steel This Movie, Savior the Moment, The Land During Time, Why the Lon Face?, Word of Mouse, The Very Model of a Modern Major Capital, and The Robber Bride and Groom.
I can admit now that I was high while watching “Easy Rider” for this blog. Nothing crazy, just a brownie. I thought it would help!
And of course, it bares repeating that “Steamboat Willie” was inducted into the NFR just a few weeks after Congress had passed the Copyright Term Extension Act, which pushed the film’s copyright expiration from 2003 to 2024. Disney strongly pushed for this extension and similar proposals in the past, to the point that the ’98 act was called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act by critics. Since my initial write-up in 2017, “Steamboat Willie” finally lapsed into the public domain, though it has unfortunately joined the growing list of public domain titles that immediately receive a cheap horror movie.
That’s too depressing to end this post on, so let’s revisit a favorite of mine from the “Dont Look Back” post: “Sebastian Cabot, Actor. Bob Dylan, Poet.” Let’s see you pursue that kind of greatness, Timothée Chalamet!