Quentin Tarantino picks his favourite public domain movies
Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino has selected his favourite movies that are in the public domain.
There are hundreds of titles that have fallen out of copyright and the maverick film maker behind Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction is a fan of this niche genre.
Speaking to the Pure Cinema Podcast, Tarantino has chosen five from the pre-1950s from a hefty catalogue of films available to watch for free.
“There is an incredible wealth of movies available out there to watch, especially if you think you have seen everything a couple of times. There are all kinds of classics, good movies, a bedrock of classic films,” he said.
“There’s interesting little crime films, interesting little war films or interesting little noir films from the 40s or 50s with legit people in them. Because of the title or the actors, I would totally watch that. Growing up in the 70s and 80s they showed a lot on local television, you didn’t know you were watching public domain movies.
“It’s not about choosing what I think are the five greatest non-silent movies that are in the public domain. If I was to do that, His Girl Friday would definitely be on that list and Night of the Living Dead and it goes on. This is to shine a light on movies people maybe have not seen that would be fun to watch.
“I’ve made it a point to keep it in the classic mode – before the 50s. If I wanted to open it up, I could have Death Rides a Horse, Kid Vengeance or The Death Collector. I decided to keep in the black and white era.”
Tarantino’s Top Five
5. Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941)
“[The Eastside Kids series of films] are all worth watching… All the Joseph H Lewis ones are really good.
“It has what I consider the greatest of all the Warner Brother gangster movies – Angels with Dirty Faces.
“That Gang of Mine is absolutely terrific. It stars Clarence Muse, he gives this performance of just tremendous dignity and it’s a really wonderful character. It’s just terrific, the whole movie.
“Bowery Blitzkrieg is a terrific boxing movie. The end fight is fantastic, your heart is in your throat – it’s just so exciting.”
4. British Intelligence (1940)
“[British Intelligence] is a lot of fun… I’m a big Boris Karloff fan. Oh my God, what a fun movie! It’s such an exciting film, it sets up a really intriguing story and it keeps you guessing pretty much right up until the last seconds.
“The two [leading stars] are fantastic together, the whole production is wonderful. The zeppelins are great dropping bombs, there’s terrific dog fights, all the actors and supporting characters are wonderful. It’s just a dandy of a movie.
“It’s a really fun spy World War 1 movie without any of that depressing trench stuff. It’s just really entertaining. It’s a great, breezy, cloak-and-dagger movie. You’re pretty much guessing up until the last 10 minutes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen, especially in this era, Boris Karloff be bad in a role ever. And Margaret Lindsay is wonderful.”
3. The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
“The actors kill it – they kill it with fantastic dialogue. The film is full of delicious dialogue. The whole story works, it’s exciting and it’s fun and it has intrigue. It’s tight and compact and hits you really hard. There is this romantic comedy through line that goes through the movie that’s always entertaining and is always charming. The movie is just so effing charming.
“Every line George Sanders says is a classic… To me, this movie is as fun and as enjoyable as a movie of this era could possibly be. I can not say enough about The Son of Monte Cristo.”
2. The Exile (1947)
“I loved it, I came across it as a kid and I got to see it a bunch of times [on TV]. To this day, it’s what I think about when I think of Douglas Fairbanks Junior and it is such an entertaining movie. Max Ophüls does his first American movie with this film. He was a magnificent director, but the thing that really sets him up cinematically, he’s not the pantheon but the level just below the pantheon which is the far side of paradise.
“There are a lot of adjectives to describe The Exile. It is invigorating and it is thrilling. Douglas Fairbanks Junior is fantastic. Paule Croset, who is the girl in it, is fantastic. Maria Montez is wonderful in her special guest part and I can’t imagine anyone better in that role. Henry Daniell is wonderful in the film.
“It’s a fun swashbuckler. [Fairbanks] is so entertaining, the relationship between him and the girl is lovely. You’re rooting for them, she’s completely charming. I would have to say, short of my number one, if I was going to turn people on to one of my discoveries, it would be The Exile.”
1. Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
“I’ve watched [Hi Diddle Diddle] again and again and know every line… I had a couple of friends and we traded lines from this movie forever. It’s just one of my favourite, favourite comedies of all time. For a movie made during the war, it is extremely hip, talking about things that are in the public consciousness.
“The movie goes from one gag-filled hysterical meta set-piece to another, to another, to another. And each one of them is funnier than the last. You have this magnificent cast of characters but each one of those set pieces slightly more acclimates the audience to the movie. So each set piece is appreciated more the way it’s given because you understand the movie a bit more by that point. And now it’s even funnier and more clever.
“By the time it gets to the climax, it is hysterical. It’s a gag comedy the way Airplane is but I care more about Martha Scott and Dennis O’Keefe than the characters in Airplane. I care about everybody in this movie and it’s easy to say that because I’ve seen it about 17 times.
“It’s impossible for me to love a movie more than I love this one. I’ve invested my life watching this movie and I just really really love it. I think it’s very, very funny, incredibly clever. I feel the director talking to me, it’s like he is on screen talking to you through the movie to some degree.”
Tarantino’s honourable mentions
Bulldog Drummond series (1930s)
“Like the Eastside Kids, I’d point out a series that I’m a big fan of. I pretty much like every film that’s in this series. It’s a really good adventure series, I like all the characters and I just love John Howard in the movies – he’s one of my favourite B-movie stars.
“I’m a huge fan of this series, there’s not a loser in the bunch. It’s unique in that it gets better as the movies go on because they find their groove.” Watch Bulldog Drummond Escapes.
My Dear Secretary (1948)
“Kirk Douglas is really funny in [My Dear Secretary] – it’s really interesting to see him commit 100 per cent to a romantic comedy role in a movie like this. Keenan Wynn plays his best friend and we put this on one day and started laughing at Keenan Wynn right from the beginning. He just stole the movie, he tore it up. I’ve always been a big fan but I’ve never seen him be funny like this. He is absolutely hysterical.”
Never Wave at a WAC (1953)
“I’m a big fan of Rosalind Russell. I pretty much laughed at the beginning of the movie until the end. I thought Rosalind Russell was just effing hysterical in the movie and it’s full of just great jokes, great gags.” Watch Never Wave at a WAC.