Public Domain Movies released in 1945

In a classic poverty-row noir, the protagonist struggles helplessly in the grip of inexorable fate. Currently rated 7.4 at the IMDB. This was the first poverty-row film chosen by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry, in 1992. Don't miss it. The copy you find here is sharper than the two that have already been uploaded. And the mpeg2 file contains nav packets, so you can load it into DVDAuthorGUI (a free program) and quickly create a DVD to watch on your television.

"Man is involved in two freakish accidents that make him look like a murderer. Poverty row masterwork that is the most precise elucidation of the noir theme of explicit fatalism." - noir expert Spencer Selby A B-movie, it was shot in six days. The film, budgeted for $89,000, but cost $117,000 to make. Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Tim Ryan, Roger Clark, Pat Gleason, Esther Howard. Originally uploaded by: www.k-otic.com

Rene Clair weaves the quintessential spider web with brilliant camera work including unusual but effective angles, snappy dialogue, and magnificent performances by ten impeccably cast artists. The viewer is drawn into the anxiety, claustrophobia, terror, and resignation felt one-by-one by each of the twelve weekend "guests" of Mr. Owen. Any mystery, suspense or thriller fan will be incomplete without seeing this work of absolute genius. This may be the best mystery ever put to film

From IMDb: Holmes and Watson investigate a series of bizarre and apparently unconnected murders, and the death of a possible suspect. The trail leads to a society of hypnotists and a mysterious, glamorous woman. The fiendish Dr. Moriarty, though reported hanged in Montevideo, is believed to be involved. Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Hillary Brooke, and Henry Daniell

Taken from IMDB: A hat-check girl at the Stork Club (Hutton) saves the life of a drowning man (Fitzgerald). A rich man, he decides to repay her by anonymously giving her a bank account, a luxury apartment and a charge account at a department store. When her boyfriend (DeFore) returns from overseas, he thinks she is a kept woman.

"Adolescent believes that his widowed mother's suitor may have murdered his father. Stylish cheapie by the recognized master of stylish cheapies." - noir expert Spencer Selby

Tim takes a job as a lowly chipper because he has been afraid to go high ever since a bad fall in which he was injured and another workman was killed. A poverty-row quickie.

Government agent Charlie Chan is investigating a spy ring intent on stealing radar plans, which leads him to a radio station in a building also containing a radar research facility. Stars: Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Ben Carter, and Benson Fong Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter perform a version of their nightclub routine. A lack of a copyright notice in the film puts it in the public domain. IMDb Link

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