2024 Public Domain Film Screening
On 1/25 the McGraw-Page Library is hosting a Public Domain Film Screening in honor of the new additions to the public domain from 1928 as of January, 2024.
The event will be held in the Library on the screen in front of the Library Fireplace from 2-6pm.
The films screened will include:
- Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie is a black and white short animated film from 1928, which was directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The film was produced by Walt Disney Studios and features the debut of popular Disney characters, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. There is controversy over the early renditions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, however, as the popular characters have direct ties to blackface and minstrels through their performative and visual conventions as well as the inclusion of "Turkey in the Straw," which is an American folk song with directly racist ties. If you're interested in learning more about this topic, please check out a recent addition to our Art History book collection: Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation by Dr. Nicholas Sammond.
- The Circus
The Circus, also from 1928, is a romantic comedy film, which was written, produced, performed, and directed by silent film icon Charlie Chaplin. The film was released a few months after the first feature-length part-talkie synchronized sound film, The Jazz Singer, from 1927. Although it is not Chaplin's last silent film, The Circus is the last Chaplin film made during the silent film era before popular cinema transitioned to the talkies. Chaplin was nominated for Best Actor, Best Writer, and Best Director for The Circus at the first Academy Awards in 1929, but he ultimately won an Honorary Award for his overall contribution to cinema.
- Speedy
Speedy, another 1928 romantic comedy film, stars Harold Lloyd, who alongside Charlie Chaplin was one of the most famous and influential film comedians of the silent era. Speedy marks Lloyd's last theatrically released silent film. Due to the popularity of sound films, the film was re-released in 1928 with the addition of a synchronized musical score and sound effects. The film was nominated at the first Academy Awards for Best Director of a Comedy (Director Ted Wilde). The film features a brief appearance of baseball star Babe Ruth and a cameo for fellow baseball star Lou Gehrig.
- Easy Virtue
Before Alfred Hitchcock was known as the Master of Suspense he directed several silent films including Easy Virtue, a 1928 British romantic melodrama. The story was adapted from a 1924 play by English playwright, Noël Coward. The British Film Institute (BFI) restored the film in 2012 as a means of preserving Hitchcock's silent film legacy. This film focuses on the theme of a woman running from a troubled past from which she can't escape -- a theme featured in multiple later Hitchcock films.