Public Domain Classics
Must-see, classic movies (and some shorts) that are in the public domain, free on Internet Archive, Youtube or similar sites.
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- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyStarsBud CollyerJoan AlexanderJackson BeckSuperman versus a thawed-out Tyrannosaurus.(The entire series of old Fliescher Animation Superman shorts; I'm not a huge Superman/Superhero fan, but the animation quality of these shorts is just amazing. These were the absolute pinnacle of state of the art animation, in their day, and it still shows. Cost-per-minute, these were the most expensive animation ever made, right up til 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', almost 50 years later)
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceJackie CooganThe Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsEdmond O'BrienFrank LovejoyWilliam TalmanTwo fishermen pick up a psychopathic escaped convict who tells them that he intends to murder them when the ride is over.Film Noir crime classic, from one of the first major female directors in Hollywood
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from quitting and remarrying, using an exclusive interview with a death row convict as an enticement to buy himself some time to win her back.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesEdward G. RobinsonLoretta YoungAn investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsWilliam PowellCarole LombardAlice BradyA scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorJack WhiteStarsMoe HowardLarry FineCurly HowardThe stooges are witnesses at a trial where their friend, a dancer at a nightclub where they are musicians, is accused of murder. The stooges manage to disrupt the proceedings but save the day when they discover the real murderer's identity.One of the best Three Stooges shorts
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe KeatonA man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanJack ConwayVictor FlemingStarsJanet GaynorFredric MarchAdolphe MenjouYoung Esther Victoria Blodgett comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom and achieves them only with the help of alcoholic leading man Norman Maine, whose best days are behind him.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFrank SinatraKim NovakEleanor ParkerA junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.One of Frank Sinatra's coolest roles
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsEdmond O'BrienPamela BrittonLuther AdlerFrank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.Film Noir classic, that 'Crank' (2006) was a remake of
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsTom NealAnn SavageClaudia DrakeThe life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
- DirectorHarry O. HoytStarsWallace BeeryBessie LoveLloyd HughesThe first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.The great, great Grampa of Jurassic Park. Epic af
- DirectorHenry KingStarsSimone SimonJames StewartJean HersholtA Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from the police, lives with her in a barren flat on the seventh floor, then marches away to war.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsRaymond MasseyEdward ChapmanRalph RichardsonThe story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.Pioneering early scifi, based on a H.G Wells story
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
- DirectorJules WhiteStarsMoe HowardLarry FineShemp HowardThe stooges are tailors, and are heavily in debt to the Skin & Flint finance company. When the boys read about the big reward for a fugitive robber, they think it could be the answer to their problems. The bank robber conveniently ducks into their shop and leaves a suit with a safe combination. After his girl friend fails to retrieve it, the robber returns with gang and a wild fight ensues. The boys miss out on the reward but wind up with the crook's bankroll and can pay their creditors.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsMickey RooneyJeanne CagneyBarbara BatesAfter taking 20 dollars from his employer to go on a date with plans to repay it the next day, an auto mechanic falls into increasingly disastrous circumstances for more and more money which rapidly spirals out of his control.