If you were to ask me for the reason why I love cinema so much, it would be difficult to formulate a coherent response. The film medium has the capacity to incite an entire spectrum of indescribable emotions of joy, of sadness, of fear, of exhilaration and only a fellow film buff could possibly identify with the awe that accompanies each viewing of '2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)' or the unending delight that is 'Singin' in the Rain (1952).' For one hundred years, American cinema has provided an extraordinary abundance of unforgettable moments, permanently imprinted in our collective memories; never to be forgotten until the day that we die. In 1986, as a tribute to almost a century of film-making, Chuck Workman compiled an eight-minute montage of cinema's most treasured images, definitively tracing almost every notable American motion picture from 'The Great Train Robbery (1903)' to 'A Passage to India (1984).'
The version of 'Precious Images' that I watched, for which IMDb does not have a separate entry, was a 1996 update "presented to the audiences of America" in honour of the 100th anniversary of film and it includes extra snippets from such films as 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988),' 'Schindler's List (1993)' and 'Forrest Gump (1994).' All in all, images from more than four hundred films are spliced into the montage, much too many to identify in one go, and so each repeat viewing unveils a dozen more precious memories that you hadn't noticed before. Rather than being a random assortment of images, the film unfolds in various stages, the background music setting a theme to which the film choices must adhere for example, Gene Kelly's recital of "Singin' in the Rain" is the cue for various classic musicals, and Bernard Herrmann's main theme for 'Psycho (1960)' unleashes a sudden stream of murder and mayhem.
I suppose that only a film buff could properly appreciate the brilliance of 'Precious Images (1986).' Taken as an ordinary montage of related images, there is little that would evoke any genuine emotional response. However, every movie moment that we recognise brings forth a flood of unforgettable memories, almost-forgotten emotions; the magic of the film is momentarily resurrected for us to enjoy once again. At one point in the compilation, Workman switches clips at a rate of several a second, each actor's face flickering in our irises for only an indistinguishable instant, and, on more than one occasion, the associated emotions become almost overwhelming. The film unusually, but not undeservedly, won the 1987 Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action, and one can only speculate on how many hours must have been dedicated to the production of the montage; not just the physical editing, but also the rights acquisition for each film. 'Precious Images' remains an indelible treasure for all fans of cinema.
