Author Archive: Retro

Most Controversial Films in the Public Domain

Some films simply clash with the social mores of their time; others upend them. We tend to imagine our own modern morality as steadfast and grounded in truth. The lessons of history often say otherwise.

Allow yourself a glimpse into our moral history with this short list of controversial films now in the public domain.

Birth of a Nation (1915)

1. W. Griffith’s 1915 epic presents an alternate history in which the Ku Klux Klan restores order and white supremacy over malignant black rule in the Reconstruction South. In Griffith’s film, African-Americans are depicted as overtly lazy, thieving, predatory, and violent. The drama unfolds around the need to suppress blacks’ base desires as they threaten the social and political fabric of America.

Birth of a Nation was Hollywood’s first bona fide blockbuster, raking in millions at the box office. It was also the first film shown at

Locating the weirdest films of the public domain is no easy feat. After all, what is one man’s trash may be another man’s genius; one woman’s exploitation may be another ladies’ titillation.

Weird is hard to define, difficult to pin down. From sexploitation to sleaze, vintage educational films to retro horror and sci-fi, here’s our list of the Weirdest Films Of The Public Domain, for your next strange movie night!

Spider Baby (1967)

1967’s Spider Baby, directed by Jack Hill and starring the legendary Lon Chaney Jr., is The Strange Case Of Benjamin Buttons meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in this bizarre exploitation romp through mental illness, the dangers of in-breeding, cannibalism, and corporate greed!

Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1963)

It’s hard for a woman to get ahead in this world, especially when she doesn’t have a body. Perhaps the schlocky title “Brain That Wouldn’t Die” might leave you underwhelmed, but don’t judge a film

Landmark Films in the Public Domain

Some films last well beyond their theatrical run. After their release, they never quite leave us. We see their imprint time and again.

These films that have given birth to the cinematic form—progenitors of style and substance. Their influence is incalculable, continuing to shape what we see on the screen to this day.

The Kiss (1896)

Also known as The May Irwin Kiss, this short film was one of the first commercially shown to audiences and definitely was the first to focus explicitly and singularly on sex.

The couple never looks at the camera (an uncommon cinematic affect at the time). The viewer has the sense of peering in through a peephole on a couple’s shared intimate moment. They nuzzle closely, some words of courtship are exchanged, and then they go for it. It’s the narrative arc of modern romantic comedies distilled into 18 seconds. The advertisement in the

Most Iconic Public Domain Films

What truly makes a film ‘iconic’? What makes us come back to films that are 50, 60, or even 100 years old? A truly iconic film is one that leaves a lasting impact on the culture after its release. Oftentimes these films are not recognized until years (or even decades) after their initial release. The following are the most iconic films in the public domain.

Night of the Living Dead

In 1968, George A. Romero made a big splash in the horror movie scene with his independently produced Zombie feature Night of the Living Dead. The film follows seven characters trapped within a farmhouse in Pennsylvania, unable to escape because of the Living Dead (Despite its significance in zombie movie canon, the word “Zombie” is never used in the film).

Produced on a budget of slightly over 100,000 dollars, Romero’s first feature film kick-started the Zombie subgenre of horror which

Famous Public Domain Movies and Famous Remakes

Certain stories simply demand to be told again and again and again. Though cinema has hardly moved into its second century, there are certain stories, characters, concepts, and ideas that we just can’t leave behind. It’s why so many movies are remade and rebooted.

Furthermore, a selection of these original properties have entered into the public domain. In this list, we’ll examine a selection of the most famous public domain movies and the remakes they inspired.

Phantom of the Opera (1925)

We’ll start with the Phantom of the Opera, a classic example of a story told and retold over the decades. From the original book by Gaston Leroux, audiences have been treated to dozens of films, television series, children’s books, and – perhaps most famously – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. One of the most important, however, is the 1925 silent movie starring Lon Chaney as the titular Phantom.

Great Film Noir Movies in the Public Domain

In theme and style, Film Noir is a highly distinctive genre that enjoyed its heyday during the 1940s and 1950s. “Noir”, of course, translates from French into English as “dark”, and these philosophical films explore the darkness of the human condition in the guise of crime dramas. The genre conventions of what are typically B-picture parables encompass voice-over narration, flashbacks, amnesia and nitty-gritty cinematography, often of bleak urban landscapes commonly shot at night in black and white. Unconventional camerawork frequently includes shots with skewered angles and chiaroscuro, accentuating a psychologically fraught state of mind. Noir’s expressionistic form conveys a shadowy world that’s out of kilter, inhabited by hardboiled dicks and dames, guys on the lam and femme fatales, obsessed with sex, greed, power and other base, all-too-human desires. These action-packed motion pictures of persecution, pursuit, paranoia and passion are modern morality plays – where good doesn’t always