Public Domain films

There are many films in the public domain, including many of the films on Mystery Science Theater. Which are your favorites?

Off-hand, two of my favorite PD films are Fritz Lang's Metropolis & the Lon Chaney version of The Phantom of The Opera.

Sadly, I've heard that there is some dispute over the copyright status of Metropolis, though it seems likely that it will remain in the PD. My personal favorite is Nosferatu. Good, creepy stuff. I personally think it's better than any Dracula film I've seen. I'm also somewhat interested in the "Undersea Kingdom" serial. It looks pretty awful, but it seems to have a lot of the elements of a Star Wars/Flash Gordon type of film (just without spaceships).

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Sadly, I've heard that there is some dispute over the copyright status of Metropolis, though it seems likely that it will remain in the PD.

It seems to be firmly PD in the US, at least. Supposedly, the design of "Futura" (the robot) is copyrighted by her designer.

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My personal favorite is Nosferatu. Good, creepy stuff. I personally think it's better than any Dracula film I've seen.

I've yet to see Nosferatu in full, but I did see a clip one time.

Orlock stood in the doorway to a bedroom. The girl sleeping inside jumped up, startled. Then he raised his hand. When the shadow of his hand was over her heart, he clenched his fist. The girl fell over, her fate unknown.

It also looks like Nosferatu is the most faithful adaptation of the novel (this is second-hand knowledge on my part, though).

The closest I've come to watching the movie is reading a DC Elseworlds title based off of it.

Yeah, I was fortunate enough to find Nosferatu at the 99 cent store, bundled with Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I'm not sure that I would say that Nosferatu is the most faithful adaptation of the Dracula novel. There's actually a lot of changes. Nosreaftu doesn't turn into animals, but does have psychokinesis and the ability to walk through walls. The end is different and I don't think there were any brides in Nosferatu. I think some of the early Dracula movies were closer to the source. But I would say that Nosferatu is way creepier than the others, and has amazing special effects for the time. It probably scared the stuffing out of people back then.

"Meet John Doe" is my favorite PD film. It's one of my favorite films overall, and it was directed by Frank Capra, my favorite director.

There are a lot of PD comedies I like - the four PD Three Stooges shorts (Disorder in the Court, Brideless Groom, Malice in the Palace, Sing a Song of Six Pants), Abbott & Costello's "Africa Screams," Bob Hope's "My Favorite Brunette." All of those are classics.

"Angel and the Badman" starring John Wayne is good too.

VCI Entertainment is releasing a new "70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition" of Frank Capra's "Meet John Doe." I hope the remastering on this one is worth getting. I love this movie, but I have yet to buy it on DVD. I hope to pick up this version. I've been very happy with my VCI releases of the Lone Ranger films from the '50s, so I have confidence this one will be worth buying.

http://www.vcihomevideo.com/HollywoodLandProduct.aspx?id=2679

No love for the original Night of the Living Dead?