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    Watch Sidney Poitier’s 1964 Oscar Speech for His Historic Best Actor Win

    Sidney Poitier made history in 1964 as the first Black performer to win an Oscar in the best-actor category, for Ralph Nelson’s comedy-drama “Lilies of the Field,” in which Mr. Poitier played Homer Smith, an itinerant worker who helps a group of nuns build a chapel in rural Arizona.“Because it is a long journey to this moment, I am naturally indebted to countless numbers of people,” he said in his acceptance speech, in which he thanked the creative team behind the film, his agent, and the members of the Academy. “For all of them, all I can say is a very special thank you.”Anne Bancroft, who had won the best actress Oscar in 1963 for her role as Anne Sullivan in “The Miracle Worker,” presented Mr. Poitier with the award. He was competing against Albert Finney (“Tom Jones”), Richard Harris (“This Sporting Life”), Rex Harrison (“Cleopatra”) and Paul Newman (“Hud”).When Mr. Poitier accepted an honorary Academy Award in 2002, he took a similar tack, thanking the “handful of visionary American filmmakers, directors, writers and producers” he said made his career possible by going against the odds.“Without them, this most memorable moment would not have come to pass and the many excellent young actors who have followed in admirable fashion might not have come as they have to enrich the tradition of American filmmaking as they have,” Mr. Poitier said. More

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    ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ Join National Film Registry

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ Join National Film RegistryThe movies, along with “A Clockwork Orange” and “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” are among 25 selected by the Library of Congress.John Belushi, left, Aretha Franklin and Dan Aykroyd from “The Blues Brothers,” a new addition to the  National Film Registry.Credit…NBC/UniversalDec. 14, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETAs the oft-quoted line from “The Dark Knight” goes, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Now a more respectable immortality awaits this 2008 Christopher Nolan superhero blockbuster, which earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for his performance as the Joker: it is among the memorable motion pictures, along with “Shrek,” “A Clockwork Orange” and “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” that have been chosen for preservation this year on the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.On Monday, the library plans to make its annual announcement that it has selected a new roster of 25 films, from 1913 to 2010, that will be honored for their historical and cultural significance and added to this registry, helping to preserve them for future generations.Those selections include milestone films like “Lilies of the Field,” the 1963 drama for which Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to win best actor at the Oscars; and “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow’s 2008 war drama for which she became the first woman to win the best director Oscar.This year’s list also includes “Kid Auto Races at Venice,” the 1914 Keystone Studios comedy that was the first released film to feature Charlie Chaplin playing the character of the Little Tramp.Commercial hits like the animated “Shrek” (2001); the musical “Grease” (1978); and “The Blues Brothers” (1980), the comedy based on John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s recurring “Saturday Night Live” characters, have been chosen as well.The library noted that this year it had added nine films directed or co-directed by women. They include “Outrage” (1950), a drama from Ida Lupino and starring Mala Powers as a rape victim recovering from her trauma; “Suspense” (1913), a silent thriller written by, starring and co-directed by Lois Weber; and Kathleen Collins’s “Losing Ground” (1982), one of the few features of its time to be written and directed by a Black woman.All told, seven films from people of color were selected this year, the library said. They also include Melvin Van Peebles’s blaxploitation thriller “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971); and “Freedom Riders” (2010), Stanley Nelson’s documentary about 1960s civil-rights activism in segregated America.Additional films include Otto Preminger’s drug-addiction drama “The Man With the Golden Arm” (1955), which starred Frank Sinatra; “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the dystopian Anthony Burgess novel; Wayne Wang’s “The Joy Luck Club” (1993), adapted from the Amy Tan novel; the concert film “Wattstax” (1973); and Wim Wenders’s musical documentary “Buena Vista Social Club” (1999).The Library of Congress said in a statement that these additions bring the total number of titles on its preservation registry to 800. Films must be at least 10 years old and “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” to be considered. Nominations can be made by the public at loc.gov/film and selections are made by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. A television special, featuring several of these films and discussions between Hayden and the film historian Jacqueline Stewart, will be shown Tuesday evening on TCM.Here is the complete list of the 25 movies chosen for the National Film Registry:1. “Suspense” (1913)2. “Kid Auto Races at Venice” (1914)3. “Bread” (1918)4. “The Battle of the Century” (1927)5. “With Car and Camera Around the World” (1929)6. “Cabin in the Sky” (1943)7. “Outrage” (1950)8. “The Man With the Golden Arm” (1955)9. “Lilies of the Field” (1963)10. “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)11. “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971)12. “Wattstax” (1973)13. “Grease” (1978)14. “The Blues Brothers” (1980)15. “Losing Ground” (1982)16. “Illusions” (1982)17. “The Joy Luck Club” (1993)18. “The Devil Never Sleeps” (1994)19. “Buena Vista Social Club” (1999)20. “The Ground” (1993-2001)21. “Shrek” (2001)22. “Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege” (2006)23. “The Hurt Locker” (2008)24. “The Dark Knight” (2008)25. “Freedom Riders” (2010)AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More