'Dirty Dancing,' 'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'Up in Smoke' among movies entering the National Film Registry

[December 17, 2024] 

Nobody puts baby in a corner, but they're putting her in the National Film Registry.

“Dirty Dancing,” along with another 1980s culture-changer, “Beverly Hills Cop,” are entering the Library of Congress' registry, part of an annual group of 25 announced Wednesday that spans 115 years of filmmaking.

“Dirty Dancing” from 1987 used the physicality and chemistry of Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman to charm generations of moviegoers, while also taking on issues like abortion, classism and antisemitism. In the climactic moment, Swayze defiantly declares, “Nobody puts baby in a corner” before taking Grey to dance to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

1984's “Beverly Hills Cop,” the first Eddie Murphy film in the registry, arguably made him the world's biggest movie star at the time and made action comedies a blockbuster staple for a decade.

Since 1988, the Librarian of Congress has annually selected movies for preservation that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The current picks bring the registry to 900 films. Turner Classic Movies will host a TV special on Wednesday, screening a selection of the class of 2024.

The oldest film is from 1895 and brought its own form of dirty dancing: “Annabelle Serpentine Dance” is a minute-long short of a shimmying Annabelle Moore that was decried by many as a public indecency for the suggestiveness of her moves. The newest is David Fincher's “The Social Network" from 2010.

A look at some of the films entering the registry

“Pride of the Yankees” (1942): The film became the model for the modern sports tear-jerker, with Gary Cooper playing Lou Gehrig and delivering the classic real-life line: “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

“The Miracle Worker” (1962): Anne Bancroft won an Oscar for best actress for playing title character Anne Sullivan and 16-year-old Patty Duke won best supporting actress for playing her deaf and blind protege Helen Keller in director Arthur Penn's film.

“Up in Smoke” (1978): The first feature to star the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong established a template for the stoner genre and brought weed culture to the mainstream. Marin, who also appears in the inductee “Spy Kids” from 2001, is one of many Latinos with prominent roles this year's crop of films.

“Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” (1982): The second movie in the “Star Trek” franchise featured one of filmdom's great villains in Ricardo Montalban's Khan, and showed that the world of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock could bring vital thrills to the cinema.

“Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989): The Oscar-winning documentary on the NAMES Project Aids Memorial Quilt was a landmark telling of the devastation wrought by the disease.

This image released by the Library of Congress shows Tommy Chong, left, and Cheech Marin in a scene from the 1978 film "Up in Smoke." (Paramount Pictures/Library of Congress via AP)

“My Own Private Idaho” (1991): Director Gus Van Sant's film featured perhaps the greatest performance of River Phoenix, a year before the actor's death at age 23.

“American Me” (1992): Edward James Olmos starred and made his film directorial debut in this tale of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles and the brutal prison experience of its main character.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007): Joel and Ethan Coen broke through at the Oscars with their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, winning best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay, while Javier Bardem won best supporting actor for playing a relentless killer with an unforgettable haircut.

Full list of 2024 National Film Registry inductees

“Annabelle Serpentine Dance” (1895)

“KoKo’s Earth Control” (1928)

“Angels with Dirty Faces” (1938)

“Pride of the Yankees” (1942)

“Invaders from Mars” (1953)

“The Miracle Worker” (1962)

“The Chelsea Girls” (1966)

“Ganja and Hess” (1973)

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)

"Uptown Saturday Night" (1974)

Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)

“Up in Smoke” (1978)

“Will” (1981)

“Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” (1982)

“Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)

“Dirty Dancing” (1987)

“Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989)

“Powwow Highway” (1989)

“My Own Private Idaho” (1991)

“American Me” (1992)

“Mi Familia” (1995)

“Compensation” (1999)

“Spy Kids” (2001)

“No Country for Old Men” (2007)

“The Social Network” (2010)

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