Fame

In the high-pressure cauldron of New York City, talented students at the High School for the Performing Arts strive to escape poverty, perfect their art, find success in the entertainment business, and achieve the ultimate goal: fame. The script was criticized by the New York Board of Education, the production was troubled, and initial reviews were mixed. But the music earned two Oscars and a Golden Globe, and the film—which featured actual students from the real-life High School for the Performing Arts as dancers, singers, actors and musicians—inspired multiple TV series, a stage musical, and a 2009 remake, and in 2023 was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry—proof that Fame really will live forever.