The Public Domain Review

Scarlet Street (1945)

Sunday 21 August 2011 at 12:29

Widely regarded as one of Fritz Lang’s best films, Scarlet Street is based on the French novel La Chienne (The Bitch) by Georges de La Fouchardière. Somewhere between film noir and black comedy, the plot revolves around a man in mid-life crisis who befriends a young woman whose fiancé persuades her to con him out of some of the fortune she thinks he has.

Download from Internet Archive

Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but may not be in other jurisdictions. Please check its status in your jurisdiction before re-using.

CLIPS	SHORT	FULL LENGTH SILENT	FULL LENGTH TALKIE
Princess Nicotine (1909) 6min	Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) 12min	Last of the Mohicans (1920) 1hr11min	Meet John Doe (1941) 2hr3min
The Unappreciated Joke (1903) 1min	Frankenstein (1910) 13min	The General (1926) 1hr19min	Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) 1hr19mins
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) 21sec	The Great Train Robbery (1903) 10min	Wolf Blood (1925) 1hr7min	Reefer Madness (1938) 1hr8min
The Kiss (1896) 25 secs	Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940) 20min	Battleship Potemkin (1925) 1hr13min	The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) 1hr57min
Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901) 2min	Are You Popular (1947) 10min	The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) 1hr11min	Scarlet Street (1945) 1hr43min
		Faust (1926) 1hr55min

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/21/scarlet-street-1945/

Are You Popular? (1947)

Sunday 21 August 2011 at 12:17

One of the best examples of post-World War II social guidance films – jam-packed full of useful tips. From the Prelinger Archives.

Download from Internet Archive

Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but may not be in other jurisdictions. Please check its status in your jurisdiction before re-using.

CLIPS	SHORT	FULL LENGTH SILENT	FULL LENGTH TALKIE
Princess Nicotine (1909) 6min	Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) 12min	Last of the Mohicans (1920) 1hr11min	Meet John Doe (1941) 2hr3min
The Unappreciated Joke (1903) 1min	Frankenstein (1910) 13min	The General (1926) 1hr19min	Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) 1hr19mins
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) 21sec	The Great Train Robbery (1903) 10min	Wolf Blood (1925) 1hr7min	Reefer Madness (1938) 1hr8min
The Kiss (1896) 25 secs	Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940) 20min	Battleship Potemkin (1925) 1hr13min	The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) 1hr57min
Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901) 2min	Are You Popular (1947) 10min	The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) 1hr11min	Scarlet Street (1945) 1hr43min
		Faust (1926) 1hr55min

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/21/are-you-popular-1947/

Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901)

Sunday 21 August 2011 at 11:47

A naughty little skit from 1901 filmed by the Edison company.

Download from Internet Archive

CLIPS	SHORT	FULL LENGTH SILENT	FULL LENGTH TALKIE
Princess Nicotine (1909) 6min	Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) 12min	Last of the Mohicans (1920) 1hr11min	Meet John Doe (1941) 2hr3min
The Unappreciated Joke (1903) 1min	Frankenstein (1910) 13min	The General (1926) 1hr19min	Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) 1hr19mins
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) 21sec	The Great Train Robbery (1903) 10min	Wolf Blood (1925) 1hr7min	Reefer Madness (1938) 1hr8min
The Kiss (1896) 25 secs	Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940) 20min	Battleship Potemkin (1925) 1hr13min	The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) 1hr57min
Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901) 2min	Are You Popular (1947) 10min	The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) 1hr11min	Scarlet Street (1945) 1hr43min
		Faust (1926) 1hr55min

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/21/trapeze-disrobing-act-1901/

The Last American

Friday 19 August 2011 at 19:34

The Last American, a fragment from the journal of Khan-Li, by J. A. Mitchell; 1889; Frederick A. Stokes, New York.

Short future history novel from John Ames Mitchell (1845–1918). First published in 1889, it is the fictional journal of Persian admiral Khan-Li, who in the year 2951 rediscovers North America by sailing across the Atlantic.

Open Library link

Letters From a Cat (1879)	Castaway on the Auckland Isles: A Narrative of the Wreck of the "Grafton," (1865)	Infant's Cabinet of Birds and Beasts (1820)	Old French Fairytales (1920)
Armata: a fragment (1817)	An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism (1803)	The Medical Aspects of Death, and the Medical Aspects of the Human Mind (1852)	Quarles' Emblems (1886)
Cat and bird stories from the "Spectator" (1896)	Wonderful Balloon Ascents (1870)	The Book of Topiary (1904)	The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (1899)
English as She is Spoke (1884)	The Danger of Premature Interment (1816)	The Last American (1889)

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/19/the-last-american/

The Mechanism of Human Physiognomy

Friday 19 August 2011 at 18:56

Plates from Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne’s ‘Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine’, published by Jules Renouard, Paris, in 1862. By applying electrodes to male and female volunteers, Duchenne was able to activate individual muscles in the face. He saw the human face as a map, the features of which could be codified into universal taxonomies of inner states, with each muscle representing a ‘movement of the soul’. He listed 53 emotions that could be classified in terms of muscular action. (Photos from the National Media Museum via Flickr Commons)

Operation Doorstep	The Spirit Photographs of William Hope	The Maps of Piri Reis	Dr Julius Neubronner's Miniature Pigeon Camera
Art in Art	Huexotzinco Codex	Sessions for the Blind at Sunderland Museum	Eugène von Guérard's Australian Landscapes
Landscape and Marine Views of Norway	The Mechanism of Human Physiognomy	Space Colony Art from the 1970s	Men in Wigs

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/19/the-mechanism-of-human-physiognomy/

Landscape and Marine Views of Norway

Tuesday 16 August 2011 at 12:34

Selection of images from “Landscape and marine views of Norway” (ca.1890-1900), a set in the Library of Congress’ Photochrom Prints Collection (via Flickr Commons). Photochrom prints are colorized images produced from black-and-white photographic negatives via the direct photographic transfer of a negative onto lithographic limestone printing plates, with each colour tint applied using a separate stone bearing the appropriate retouched image. The finished print is produced using at least six, but more commonly from 10 to 15, tint stones. A very popular method at the turn of the century.

Operation Doorstep	The Spirit Photographs of William Hope	The Maps of Piri Reis	Dr Julius Neubronner's Miniature Pigeon Camera
Art in Art	Huexotzinco Codex	Sessions for the Blind at Sunderland Museum	Eugène von Guérard's Australian Landscapes
Landscape and Marine Views of Norway	The Mechanism of Human Physiognomy

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/16/landscape-and-marine-views-of-norway/

The Danger of Premature Interment (1816)

Monday 15 August 2011 at 18:33

The Danger of Premature Interment, by Joseph Taylor; 1816; W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, London.

“The Danger of Premature Interment proved from many remarkable instances of people who have recovered after being laid out for dead, and of others entombed alive, for want of being properly examined prior to interment. Also a description of the manner the ancient Egyptians, and other nations preserved and venerated their dead, and a curious account of their sepulchral ever burning lamps and mausoleums. Likewise the pernicious effects of burying in the body of churches, and confined church yards pointed out, whereby many valuable lives have been lost to the public, and their friends.”

Open Library link

Letters From a Cat (1879)	Castaway on the Auckland Isles: A Narrative of the Wreck of the "Grafton," (1865)	Infant's Cabinet of Birds and Beasts (1820)	Old French Fairytales (1920)
Armata: a fragment (1817)	An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism (1803)	The Medical Aspects of Death, and the Medical Aspects of the Human Mind (1852)	Quarles' Emblems (1886)
Cat and bird stories from the "Spectator" (1896)	Wonderful Balloon Ascents (1870)	The Book of Topiary (1904)	The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (1899)
English as She is Spoke (1884)	The Danger of Premature Interment (1816)	The Last American (1889)

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/15/the-danger-of-premature-interment-1816/

Rudolph Valentino (1923)

Monday 15 August 2011 at 17:50

Two songs from Rudoph Valentino: “El Relicario” and “Kashmiri Song”. Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the “Latin Lover”. He starred in several well known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik. His sudden death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans, with reported resultant suicides, and an estimated 100,000 people lining the streets of New York City to pay their respects at his funeral.

MP3 Download El Relicario / Kasmiri Song
Internet Archive Link

Beela Boola by the Electric City 4 (1920)	Hungarian Rag - Pietro Deiro (1913)	As a Porcupine Pines for its Pork - Billy Jones & Ernest Hare (1925)	Popeye, the Sailor Man - Al Dollar & His Ten Cent Band with Billy Murray (1931)
Chopins Funeral March - The Edison Concert Band (1906)	Houdini on his Water Torture Cell (1914)	Lomax Collection Recording of English, Sample 8	Enrico Caruso - A Dream (1920)
La Paloma (1903)	Orson Welles Show (1941)	Tokyo Rose (1944)	Fats Waller and His Orchestra live at The Yacht Club (1938)
Very early recording of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue (1924)	Rudolph Valentino singing (1923)

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/15/rudolph-valentino-1923/

Rhapsody In Blue – Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin (Original 1924 recording)

Monday 15 August 2011 at 17:48

This is the original recording of Gershwin’s masterpiece, acoustic as opposed to the later more famous and more well known electrically recorded version. In 2 parts.

MP3 Download Part 1 / Part 2
Internet Archive Link Part 1 / Part 2

Beela Boola by the Electric City 4 (1920)	Hungarian Rag - Pietro Deiro (1913)	As a Porcupine Pines for its Pork - Billy Jones & Ernest Hare (1925)	Popeye, the Sailor Man - Al Dollar & His Ten Cent Band with Billy Murray (1931)
Chopins Funeral March - The Edison Concert Band (1906)	Houdini on his Water Torture Cell (1914)	Lomax Collection Recording of English, Sample 8	Enrico Caruso - A Dream (1920)
La Paloma (1903)	Orson Welles Show (1941)	Tokyo Rose (1944)	Fats Waller and His Orchestra live at The Yacht Club (1938)
Very early recording of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue (1924)	Rudolph Valentino singing (1923)

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/15/rhapsody-in-blue-paul-whiteman-and-george-gershwin-original-1924-recording/

English As She Is Spoke (1884)

Monday 15 August 2011 at 16:50

English As She is Spoke, by Pedro Carolino; 1884; Appleton, New York

The book was intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent. Carolino added Fonseca’s name to the book without the latter knowing about it. Fonseca had written a successful Portuguese-French phrase book, which Carolino adapted.

Mark Twain: “Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect.”

Open Library link

Letters From a Cat (1879)	Castaway on the Auckland Isles: A Narrative of the Wreck of the "Grafton," (1865)	Infant's Cabinet of Birds and Beasts (1820)	Old French Fairytales (1920)
Armata: a fragment (1817)	An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism (1803)	The Medical Aspects of Death, and the Medical Aspects of the Human Mind (1852)	Quarles' Emblems (1886)
Cat and bird stories from the "Spectator" (1896)	Wonderful Balloon Ascents (1870)	The Book of Topiary (1904)	The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (1899)
English as She is Spoke (1884)	The Danger of Premature Interment (1816)	The Last American (1889)

Source: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/08/15/english-as-she-is-spoke-1884/