S2E23 - The 2025 National Film Registry inductees!

About this episode

This episode discusses the 2025 National Film Registry inductees, highlighting significant silent films and their cultural impact.

Episode Notes Full descrptions from the Library of Congress “The Tramp and the Dog” (1896) "The Tramp and the Dog," a silent film from Chicago's Selig Polyscope Company, is considered director William Selig's most popular early work. Filmed in Rogers Park, it is recognized as the first commercial film made in Chicago. Previously a lost film, it was rediscovered in 2021 at the National Library of Norway. The film depicts a tramp who attempts to steal a pie from a backyard windowsill, only to be met by a broom-wielding housewife and her dog, who foils the crime. The film is one of the first known as “pants humor,” where a character loses (or almost loses) his pants during an altercation. This scene inspired future comedy gags showing drifters and tramps losing their pants to dogs chasing them. “The Oath of the Sword” (1914) A three-reel silent drama, "The Oath of the Sword" depicts the tragic story of two young lovers separated by an ocean. Masao follows his ambitions, studying abroad at the University of California, Berkeley, while Hisa remains in Japan, caring for her ill father. This earliest known Asian American film production featured Japanese actors…

People in this episode

Host: Klaus at Gunpoint

Topics covered

• National Film Registry
• silent films
• film history
• Asian American cinema
• comedy in film

Keywords

• National Film Registry
• silent film
• The Tramp and the Dog
• The Oath of the Sword
• film history
• Asian American film

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Library of Congress, Japanese American Film Company

Books & works: The Tramp and the Dog, The Oath of the Sword

Places: Chicago, Rogers Park, Japan, University of California, Berkeley