Each year the National Film Preservation Board selects films marked for preservation in the Library of Congress as part of the National Film Registry. Up to fifty films may be nominated by the public for consideration. These features, added to the registry in 2012, are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
As other volunteers quit or are killed, a rancher is left alone to deal with the responsibility of putting a captured outlaw aboard a Fort Yuma-bound train. This film, based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, stars Glenn Ford and Van Heflin.
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
A real 1952 murder is the inspiration for this courtroom drama of premeditated murder as a jealous army lieutenant pleads innocent to killing a man who attacked his beautiful wife. The film stars James Stewart and George C. Scott as opposing attorneys.
Born Yesterday (1950)
Actress Judy Holliday won an Oscar for portraying the socially unsophisticated girlfriend of a corrupt millionaire junk dealer. Embarrassed by his girlfriend’s lack of sophistication he arranges a crash course in “culture” but is surprised and outraged when, after becoming aware of her role as a pawn in his crooked business deals, she refuses to cooperate.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. George Peppard portrays her next-door neighbor, a writer sponsored by a wealthy patroness.
A Christmas Story (1983)
A young boy must convince his parents that a toy rifle is the only gift that will make Christmas worthwhile. The film, based on a 1966 book by radio personality Jean Shepherd, stars Peter Billingsley and Darrin McGavin.
Dirty Harry (1971)
A rooftop sniper named Scorpio has killed twice. Streetwise San Francisco police detective Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood, plans to track him down no matter what the system prescribes.
A League of Their Own (1992)
In 1943, a washed-up ballplayer, played by Tom Hanks, is hired to coach in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League while the male pros are at war. Reluctant at first, he finds himself drawn back into the game by the heart and heroics of the team.
The Matrix (1999)
In an anti-utopian future, the “real” world as we know it is nothing more than simulated reality created by an all-powerful artificial intelligence. Computer programmer Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, learns the truth and joins a rebellious group of humans fighting for the future of the human race.
Slacker (1991)
Filmed in linear vignette format, writer/director Richard Linklater presents a day in the life of a subculture of marginal, eccentric and overeducated 20-somethings in and around the University of Texas.
Originally published on February 15, 2013 in the Lititz Record Express