Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman, and released by Warner Bros. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty, with both Cox and Beatty making their feature-film debuts. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the film as the Sheriff. The screenplay was written by Dickey and an uncredited Boorman. Widely acclaimed as a landmark picture, the film is noted both for the memorable music scene near the beginning that sets the tone for what lies ahead: a trip into unknown and potentially dangerous territory, and for its infamous "squeal like a pig" male rape scene. In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.