How does a movie get to be a classic, and not just an old movie?
Like an angel earns his wings, there's more than one way:
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946) was a box-office flop turned Christmas classic thanks to television. "It became a cherished holiday tradition" because of a clerical error, according to the Internet Movie Database.
The movie's copyright lapsed, meaning that TV stations could show it for free as many times as snowflakes. The more it came on, the more the audience loved it.
• The Los Angeles-based American Film Institute names the best of everything, including The Searchers (1956) as all-time best Western, and City Lights (1931) as the best romantic comedy.
Citizen Kane (1941) tops the institute's list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time, followed by The Godfather (1972) and Casablanca (1942).
• The Nutty Professor (1963) must be a classic, since the Library of Congress treasures this film along with Cinderfella (1960) and other recently acquired proofs of "the comedic genius of Jerry Lewis."
The Jerry Lewis Collection will be available to "qualified researchers," the library announced, ranking Lewis alongside Groucho Marx and Danny Kaye.
-- Ron Wolfe
Style on 02/02/2016