Hey all.

I think we can all agree that *generally* speaking, older movies dont fare so well on WTM. This is probably because a lot of people dont have any interest in discovering older black and white or silent movies etc.. but some great films are being missed out on. Also, people dont realise that a lot of these films are what is considered "public domain", that is the copyright has expired etc. and they can be shared freely and legally, many of them viewable online for free.

I thought it would be nice to break from all the banter and enjoy some older movies :) We are all movie lovers after all :)

So sit back with your favourite beverage and enjoy some of these classics if you haven't already seen them, you never know they may help you score a point or two on WTM :) as well as broadening your cinema taste, which is always a good thing. OK so the quality isnt great on these (you probably arent going to be able to screencap for WTM for example) but this is still a great, convenient way for people to enjoy these old classics if they dont want to shell out on restored versions etc on DVD.

If anyone knows any other places you can find classic, public domain movies for free online, please post them, although I should probably add this disclaimer;

**** Don't post links to material which is currently copyrighted / not public domain *****
If you arent absolutely certain, dont post :)

Many of these download links contain mp4 downloads for all you gadgety iPod type people :)



Nosferatu (1922)
Can be downloaded here http://www.archive.org/details/nosferatu
Originally released in 1922 as Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie Des Grauens, director F.W. Murnau's chilling and eerie adaption of Stoker's Dracula is a silent masterpiece of terror which to this day is the most striking and frightening portrayal of the legend.



Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari ( The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ) (1919)
Can be downloaded here http://www.archive.org/details/DasKabinettdesDoktorCaligariTheCabinetofDrCaligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the first modern Horror Film and it influence a number of contemporary productions.
A real classic! - A great introduction to early German Surrealism / Expressionism.



M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Moerder (1931)
Can be downloaded here http://www.archive.org/details/M_
I STRONGLY urge people to watch this film. I personally believe this is Fritz Lang's greatest film, beating even the completely awesome and ambitious Metropolis. I only discovered this movie recently, and I was glued to the screen the whole time. Many of you will know already that Fritz Lang was a mentor of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock, and this movie really shows where Hitchcock got much of his inspiration. Impressive camera angles, great sound direction for an early talkie (I thnk this was one of the first talkie films to present audio cues of what was happening off-screen etc) and excellent and thought provoking issues are raised. It was really influential and ahead of its time technically. Please watch and enjoy this film! I can also strongly recommend the Eureka! restored version of this movie on DVD. Its restoration is nothing short of stunning, and the documentaries about the restoration and the movie itself are very interesting.



The Last Man On Earth (1964)
http://www.archive.org/details/the-last-man-on-earth
I'm sure most of you have seen I Am Legend by now, the Will Smith one. Maybe even the 2nd interpretation of the book, Charlton' Heston's Omega Man, but lots of people have never seen the first big-screen interpretation of Richard Matheson's book "I am Legend", The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price. Ultra campy but still creepy, the ending of this movie is the most faithful to the book and although I wont spoil anything, it will actually explain what the title "I am Legend" actually refers to. Something you dont get in the Will Smith one :) Awwww hell naw


Post is getting far too long now, so have a look at this guy's youtube channel for more examples.
http://www.youtube.com/user/LuckyStrike502#grid/user/148DA376DF715ABD

Other highlights include The House On Haunted Hill, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Scrooge, Carnival of Souls, The Hunchback of Notre Dame etc..

Enjoy, and post any other **PUBLIC DOMAIN** movies you may know of!

I just want to stress once more that if you only watch one of these movies, make it M. Simply awesome.

Great !

Thank you for this post, m00ch !

And for reminding me that Germany once had film makers, who had more talent than Uwe Boll ;)

I can recommend the internet archive. They have quite a collection of movies in different genres:
http://www.archive.org/details/moviesandfilms

You will find such classics as His Girl Friday ( http://www.archive.org/details/his_girl_friday ) or Peter Jackson's first film Bad Taste ( http://www.archive.org/details/BadTaste1987 ).

Wow I didnt know bad taste was PD now - cheers fungus! Havent seen that in a few years will have to watch it again soon. Most of those download links are for the internet archive its an awesome place indeed.

And Naut, shame shame indeed, put it at the top of your must watch list immediately :p

Bad Taste is NOT Public Domain btw :) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/faq#.2.1.5

So has anyone here watched any of these movies via these PD links? If only one person watches M and realises how awesome it is it will be worth it :)

I was planning on watching M soon, as well as Dr. Caligari, I've been meaning to watch that one for a longer time now.

you mean the Omega Man?

could you make this one a [Sticky] ?

edit: Thx

I found another public doman movie site
Classic Cinema Online:
http://www.classiccinemaonline.com/1/index.php

Don't know if it is any use, but just thought it would be fine posting it.

Didn't know about this public domain thing =o I thought rights took 100 years to expire? But I guess that makes things very much easier =) so thanks for the tips, tehee

Maybe people here can help me: I am looking for a movie, I think it SHOULD be in public domain, but can't find it anywhere. Does someone have any information or a link or whatever?

Movie: Die Austernprinzessin a.k.a. The Oyster Princess a.k.a. My Lady Margerine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0009893/

Some Russian old movies (including The Battleship Potemkin) on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mosfilm

Great !! Watched it on screen last year !! Was impressive and moving !!

So... If anyone wants to feel a little bit like RDPL55 in watching old great (and those less great) movies, then:

http://archive.org/search.php?query=%28collection%3Afeature_films%20OR%20mediatype%3Afeature_films%29%20AND%20-mediatype%3Acollection&sort=-avg_rating%3B-num_reviews&page=1

Next step: get all of this on DVD.

@Tommy
Very nice indeed. You should also check out The General, Metropolis, La passion de Jeanne d'Arc and Sunrise, to name some of the great classics.

And some personal recommendations would be: Der Müde Tod, La Roue, Visages d'Enfants, Girl Shy, Potomok Chingis-Khana, Bardeleys the Magnificent
These movies might not be considered to be among the greatest classics, but they imo are some real gems.

Hello all,

next weekend my friend and I are hosting an public domain film festival in our little vilage of Sv. Filip i Jakov, Croatia. If you're around visit us, it's all for free

@Asmodai I wish I could take a pic of this one living with me so you could identify the lazy bastard. no sound from him last few days and it's not even that hot....and there were no lady bats for him to please.
anyway, bats, huge gorillas, free movies...nice beaches....

The 39 steps was one of the Awesome Movie I ever seen.Watch more movies at... http://www.muvi.com