u/Classicsarecool

I’m looking forward to Waterloo Bridge, the earliest film version of the more famous one from 1940. It was directed by James Whale, who also directed Frankenstein, and starred Mae Clarke, who played Elizabeth in Frankenstein and had a grapefruit smashed in her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy (which are much more well known works also entering the public domain in 2027). The 1940 film is also a favorite of mine, so it’s interesting to see an earlier version entering. A young Bette Davis also has a small role here.

Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the films, all from 1931. Three calendar months from today, all three enter the American public domain.

It was…pretty terrible. The funniest part was “WHY LISA WHY!” Kate Siegel as Claudette was actually very good. For me, it shows the script is fundamentally broken. I know it was for charity and that they said they were trying to see if the script worked. Actually watching it makes me doubt that. Greg Sestero being involved gives me whiplash, because the film did seem like it was trying to laugh at Tommy Wiseau. In a normal friendship, that would probably cause a rift, although they seem to still be good friends. I understand why Tommy wanted it blocked from release, as it may show people that the script is fundamentally incoherent and broken. Those are my thoughts.

This features real survivors of the tragedy, but is unfortunately a lost film.

(With the recent quick succession of celebrity passing, here is an older example I could think of).

There’s ongoing confusion about this one because of a discrepancy between the on-screen notice and the official registration.

The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 24, 1931 and in New York on December 31, 1931. The title card / copyright notice on the film itself reads MCMXXXI (1931). The Catalog of Copyright Entries, however, records the registration as January 5, 1932 (LP2738), and it was renewed from that 1932 date in 1959.

This is similar to a couple of 1929 films (The Love Parade and The Skeleton Dance) whose formal registrations were listed as 1930, yet they entered the public domain in 2025 based on the earlier notice/publication year. So which date controls for the 95-year term — the 1931 title-card notice and premiere, or the 1932 registration?

Curious on what the consensus is here. Thanks so much!

I am shocked at myself at having put this off for so long, after years of hearing only good things about it. I suppose I wanted a good memory of seeing it for the first time. I’d really only heard of a couple famous lines and the basic premise. It was such an interesting and intriguing film, well done by Billy Wilder and the other writers. I enjoyed William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Erich von Stroheim very much in this, and Swanson gave what I found to be the most intriguing performance from a female lead that I have seen since Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, also made by Billy Wilder.

I liked how the film intentionally blurred the line between reality and fantasy, with many old actors playing themselves. Swanson too, as this was actually a comeback (return, as Norma Desmond called it) film for her. When I saw Buster Keaton, I yelled “Hey!” and pointed at the screen. I have watched von Stroheim’s “Greed” before, and heard the story of how he was sort of forced out of directing (and how the film was butchered). Stroheim’s character was quietly the most interesting, in my opinion, because he enabled Swanson’s character and other revelations I won’t spoil. Still, Swanson was very interesting and I liked how her voiced seemed to change in different scenes based on what the mood was. I’ve already seen nearly 30 silent films in my life, but now I hope to see more of Swanson, whose silent films I have not seen. It was cool to see DeMille too.

I’m very glad I watched this, and highly recommend it.

I wanted to see the first part-talkie film. Al Jolson did a good job, and the story was fairly compelling. It wasn’t a masterpiece artistically, but Jolson carried it. May McAvoy and Eugenie Besserer did very well too. It is, of course, a product of its time with the blackface scenes, but in understanding that context, I found it decent. I’d have liked to have seen it in a theater in 1927.

Unfortunately, the Technicolor (two-strip) is not common today is preserved only at the UCLA archives. I have only managed to see this as a bad black and white copy on Internet Archive. I saw it in January, only weeks after it entered the public domain on January 1 of this year. Starring the talented Dennis King and (pre-Nelson Eddy) Jeanette MacDonald, my favorite soprano, this was a decent enough operatic film that I wish I could see in its full Technicolor glory. I'm sure I'd like it better if the quality were clearer. Hopefully one day, since it's public domain in America now. Have any of you seen it?

Unfortunately, the Technicolor (two-strip) is not common today is preserved only at the UCLA archives. I have only managed to see this as a bad black and white copy on Internet Archive. I saw it in January, only weeks after it entered the public domain. Starring the talented Dennis King and (pre-Nelson Eddy) Jeanette MacDonald, my favorite soprano, this was a decent enough operatic film that I wish I could see in its full Technicolor glory. I’m sure I’d like it better if the quality were clearer. Hopefully one day, since it’s public domain in America now. Have any of you seen it?