The U.S. has added 25 movies to the National Film Registry, which seeks to ensure the classics will be preserved for future generations.

The 2007 list, issued Thursday, includes Bullitt, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Grand Hotel, Oklahoma! and 12 Angry Men, Library of Congress head James Billington said in a news release.

Actor Henry Fonda, the star of 12 Angry Men, shown in 1962.
(Evening Standard/Getty)

The Librarian of Congress — Billington's official title — picks the movies on advice from the National Film Preservation Board because they are deemed to be "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. 

Once named, the library moves to preserve them, either through its own preservation program or by collaborating with other archives, studios and independent filmmakers.

The preservation effort is necessary because old movies are deteriorating.

"Up to half the films produced in this country before 1950 — and as much as 90 per cent of those made before 1920 — are lost forever," Billington said.

Among the selection announced Thursday:

• Bullitt, a 1968 crime drama, is famed for an 11-minute car chase over the hills of San Francisco.
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind is Steven Spielberg's 1977 exploration of the search for extraterrestrial life and UFOs.
• Grand Hotel is a multiple-plot movie from 1932 that stars Greta Garbo, Wallace Beery, John and Lionel Barrymore and Joan Crawford.
• Oklahoma! is the 1955 movie of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical hit, including songs like Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'.
• 12 Angry Men is the 1957 adaptation of a stage play that follows a juror (Henry Fonda) who slowly convinces his fellow jurors that the accused is not guilty.

With the 2007 selections, there are now 475 movies in the registry.