The Blues Brothers Has Been Added to The National Film Registry

I was delighted to read that The Blues Brothers was among 25 films which had been added to the National Film Registry.

Every December The National Film Registry, which is a part of The Library of Congress' National Film Preservation Board, selects 25 films to be added to registry which are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

I made the case for the inclusion of The Blues Brothers in The National Film Registry shortly after the death of Aretha Franklin in August 2018 and again this past June on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its release. As I wrote nearly six months ago:

The Blues Brothers had plenty of laughs. Indeed, the finest collaboration between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, a collaboration which began even before they became original cast members on Saturday Night Live and a collaboration cut short by Belushi’s sudden death in March 1982 less than two years after the release of the film. 

But The Blues Brothers was so much more than a comedy. It contained one of the greatest chase scenes in the cinematic history inspired in part by the silent era films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd as well as more contemporary movies such as Bullitt and The French Connection. 

Most significant of all The Blues Brothers was a love letter to American music – rhythm & blues, soul, gospel, jazz and even country music. Ahem, I meant country and western music. For this reason alone, I have made a point of nominating The Blues Brothers for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. The Registry preserves films which are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." If a film which features Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Cab Calloway and Aretha Franklin isn’t “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” then what is? 

I have no idea if anyone at the National Film Preservation Board read my thoughts on the subject. Whatever their inspiration (perhaps they were on a mission from God) I am glad The Blues Brothers will be preserved in perpetuity with audiences seeing and hearing its love letter to American music for decades, if not centuries to come.