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WASHINGTON, D.C.: “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 this week, 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.”

The 1984 movie Beverly Hills Cop was Eddie Murphy’s first film to enter the National Film Registry. It made him a huge movie star and helped make action comedies popular blockbusters in the 1980s.

Since 1988, the Librarian of Congress has picked movies each year to preserve because they are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” important. This year’s selections bring the registry to 900 films. Turner Classic Movies celebrated with a special screening of some of the new additions.

The oldest film on the list is Annabelle Serpentine Dance from 1895, a one-minute clip of Annabelle Moore dancing. At the time, her moves were criticized as indecent. The newest is David Fincher’s The Social Network from 2010.

Here are highlights from some of the new additions:

• Pride of the Yankees (1942): This film set the standard for emotional sports movies. Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig and delivers the famous line, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
• The Miracle Worker (1962): Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke both won Oscars for their performances as teacher Anne Sullivan and her blind and deaf student, Helen Keller.
• Up in Smoke (1978): The first movie starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong popularized the stoner comedy genre and brought weed culture into the mainstream. Cheech Marin also appears in Spy Kids (2001), another film added this year.
• No Country for Old Men (2007): Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem, who played a chilling killer with a memorable 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).