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The Monster (1903)

- January 16, 2014 in collections, Digital Copy: No Additional Rights, early film, egypt, Film: 1900s, Films, Films: Fantasy, Films: Short, Georges Méliès, monsters, Underlying Work: PD Worldwide

A 1903 film directed by French filmmaker Georges Méliès and, as is common with his films, starring the man himself. The story centres on the chaotic, and ultimately futile, attempt to bring a dead Egyptian Princess back to life.

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Tommy Burns knocking out Bill Squires (1907)

- October 24, 2013 in bill squires, boxing, collections, Digital Copy: No Additional Rights, Film: 1900s, Films, Films: Clip, Films: Documentary, heavyweight, Internet Archive, knockout, Library of Congress, miles brothers, sport, tommy burns, Underlying Work: PD U.S.

A Miles Brothers film of the legendary heavyweight prize boxing match between Bill Squires and Tommy Burns, played out at Ocean View, California, on July 4th 1907. Weighing in at a measly 178 pounds, the 5’7″ Canadian Burns was a 10-1 underdog against Australia’s Bill Squires who was coming off a 20 consecutive knockout streak. To the shock of all present, this mismatch came to an unexpected end in the first round when Burns KO’d Squires in one of the fastest knockouts in the history of boxing up to that point. The fight was labeled the “shortest and fiercest contest on record”. Burns would go on to secure a reputation for knocking out the biggest men in the sport. He wrote, in a book brought out in 1908, about how the face of boxing was changing, no longer being about brute strength but speed: “In modern boxing speed is nearly everything, and I have always considered my success to be primarily due to the fact that lacrosse and hockey had taught me to be spry and smart on my feet before I ever thought of donning a pair of boxing gloves.” Housed at: Internet Archive | From: The Library of […]

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Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908)

- September 26, 2013 in animation, collections, Digital Copy: Attribution, early animation, early cartoon, Émile Cohl, Film: 1900s, Films, Films: Animation, Films: Clip, Internet Archive, Underlying Work: PD Worldwide

An animated film by French caricaturist, cartoonist and animator Émile Cohl. It is one of the earliest examples of hand-drawn animation, and considered by many film historians to be the very first animated cartoon.

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The Somersault Man (1923)

- July 26, 2013 in acrobatics, collections, Digital Copy: Share Alike, Films, Films: 1920s, Films: Clip, Films: Documentary, netherlands, Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Open Images, somersault, Underlying Work: No Known Copyright Restrictions

A short silent clip from a Dutch newsreel showing a man somersaulting through the streets. Housed at: Open Images | From: Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision Underlying Work: No Known Copyright Restrictions | Digital Copy: Share Alike Download: Ogg | Mpeg4 HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your subscription! Name: E-mail:

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Just Imagine (1947)

- May 28, 2013 in animation, collections, Digital Copy: No Additional Rights, Films, Films: 1940s, industry, Internet Archive, prelinger archives, telephone, Underlying Work: PD U.S.

Film using stop animation shows the character “Tommy Telephone” (the AT&T advertising “spokescreature” at the time) making a telephone by assembling 433 separate parts. Housed at: Internet Archive | From: Prelinger Archives Underlying Work: PD U.S. | Digital Copy: No Additional Rights Download: Ogg | MPEG4 | Torrent HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your subscription! Name: E-mail:

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The Kawana Trio (1919)

- May 10, 2013 in acrobats, collections, Films, Films: 1910s, juggling, vaudeville

A film by Hans A. Spanuth for the series “Spanuth’s Original Vod-A-Vil Movies” filmed in Chicago. It shows the daring exploits of the the Kawana Trio, described in the opening credits as “Artistic Foot Jugglers”. The film is housed at Open Images, originally from the Library of Congress. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your subscription! Name: E-mail:

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Hands (1944)

- April 8, 2013 in collections, Films, Films: 1940s, Films: Documentary, Films: Ephemeral, Films: Short, hands, propaganda, war, world war 2, ww2, wwII

“Have you ever thought about what hands can do?”, asks the opening of this short WWII propaganda film from the U.S. Army Pictorial Service. The film is from the Prelinger Archive, housed at the 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. HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation. We welcome all contributions, big or small - everything helps! Become a Patron Small angel : £3.00 GBP - monthly Medium sized hero : £5.00 GBP - monthly Large emperor : £10.00 GBP - monthly Vast deity : £20.00 GBP - monthly Make a one off Donation SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your [...]

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George Méliès’ Temptation of St. Anthony (1898)

- March 8, 2013 in collections, Films, Films: 19th Century, Films: Clip, Films: Drama, Films: Fantasy, Georges Méliès, Temptation of St. Anthony

George Méliès’ short retelling of the temptation of Saint Anthony (La tentation de Saint-Antoine), with the temptations taking the form of the unexpected and persistent appearance of various scantily clad women. Although not as technically epic as his earlier masterpieces it nonetheless marks an advance in terms of subject matter, being one of the earliest films to tackle an explicitly religious theme. In this respect, as Film Journal comments, “Méliès proves himself the ancestor of Cecil B. DeMille and Franco Zeffirelli, whose own religious epics offer a similar blend of the solemn and the kitschy”. The supernatural temptations reportedly faced by Saint Anthony during his sojourn in the Egyptian desert, have been an often-repeated subject in the history of art and literature. Colin Dickey’s excellent article for The Public Domain Review explores how Gustave Flaubert spent nearly thirty years working on a surreal and largely ‘unreadable’ retelling of the story and how it was only in the dark and compelling illustrations of Odilon Redon, made years later, that Flaubert’s strangest work finally came to life. Read it here: http://publicdomainreview.org/2013/03/07/the-redemption-of-saint-anthony/ Download from Internet Archive – Part of the wonderful and comprehensive George Méliès Collection. DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN [...]

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Horse Drawn Fire Engines (1896)

- February 8, 2013 in collections, edison, Films, Films: 19th Century, Films: Clip, Films: Documentary, fire engine, horses

Four horse drawn fire engines roar up a snow-covered Newark, New Jersey, street while spectators watch from the sidelines. Until the mid-19th century most fire engines were maneuvered by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam engine was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage by firefighters and its use was discontinued, and motorized fire engines did not become commonplace until the early 20th century. (Wikipedia) 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. DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW! With our initial funding now come to an end, we need your support to help us continue our mission – to promote the public domain as an indispensable public good, and to curate and showcase the most interesting out-of-copyright works on the web. SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply [...]

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Design for Dreaming (1956)

- January 21, 2013 in 50s, advertisements, cars, collections, Films, Films: 1950s, Films: Fantasy, Films: Short, fridges, general motors, Populuxe, prelinger archives, retro-future, retrofuturism

Over the top 1950s “Populuxe” advertisement for General Motors, set at their 1956 Motors Motorama. A woman falls asleep and dreams of a glorious future of perfect products, including a variety of shiny futuristic dream cars and Frigidaire’s fully automated “Kitchen of the Future.” The star of the story is played by dancer and choreographer Tad Tadlock. The film has over the years become a popular symbol of 50s consumerist culture and was featured extensively in the BBC documentary series Pandora’s Box by Adam Curtis. Some footage was also used in the music video for Peter Gabriel’s 1987 single “In Your Eyes”, Rush’s 1989 music video for “Superconductor”, a 1989 commercial for the Nintendo Game Boy game Super Mario Land, and a 1994 commercial for Power Macintosh. Part of the film, with dialogue, is played during the opening titles for The Hills Have Eyes. Some snippets (without dialogue) are played in the video watched by Michael Douglas during his physical in The Game and in the opening titles for The Stepford Wives. (Wikipedia) The film is downloadable at the Internet Archive, and is part of the Prelinger Archive. Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but [...]

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