Past Inspirations

Public-domain pictures from the same trail as these books: comedy teams, pulp heroes and serials, and a lot of Westerns. A few horror and silent classics sit at the end. Press a card and the film plays above, streamed from the Internet Archive. Nothing is stored on this site.

Browse

Nothing in that group is on the shelf.

Comedy teams

Laurel and Hardy, then Abbott and Costello.

Comedy1928Two TarsLaurel and Hardy rent a car, start a traffic jam, and take the street apart. Comedy1929Big BusinessLaurel and Hardy sell a Christmas tree and declare war on one house. Comedy1929LibertyEscaped convicts Laurel and Hardy finish getting dressed on a high steel girder. Comedy1930BratsStan and Ollie spend an evening with their sons, who are also Stan and Ollie. Comedy1930Hog WildOllie tries to bolt a radio aerial to the roof. The ladder has other plans. Comedy1930Another Fine MessOn the run, the boys hide in an empty mansion and pretend they live there. Comedy1939The Flying DeucesLaurel and Hardy join the French Foreign Legion after a broken heart. Comedy1949Africa ScreamsAbbott and Costello go on safari, looking for a map and finding gorillas. Comedy1952Jack and the BeanstalkAbbott and Costello’s fairy tale. The picture turns to color up in the clouds.

Pulp heroes & serials

Dick Tracy, the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, and one chapter of Flash Gordon.

Pulp1937Dick Tracy, Chapter 1Opening chapter of the Republic serial. The later Tracy serials were copyright-renewed and are not here. Pulp1937The Shadow StrikesRod La Rocque as the mystery man in the first Grand National Shadow film. Pulp1938International CrimeRod La Rocque’s Shadow again, this time working as a radio criminologist. Pulp1940Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, Chapter 1Buster Crabbe in chapter 1 of the 1940 serial. The 1936 Flash Gordon serial is still copyrighted. Pulp1943Sherlock Holmes and the Secret WeaponBasil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and a bombsight broken into a code. Pulp1944The Scarlet ClawRathbone and Bruce in a marsh village that believes it has a monster. Pulp1945Dick TracyMorgan Conway’s Tracy hunts Splitface, a killer working through an old jury. Pulp1945The Woman in GreenRathbone and Bruce against a hypnotist and a blackmail ring. Pulp1946Dick Tracy vs. CueballTracy follows stolen diamonds and a bald killer who strangles with a hatband. Pulp1946Dressed to KillThe last Rathbone and Bruce film, built around three stolen music boxes. Pulp1946Terror by NightHolmes and Watson guard the Star of Rhodesia on the night train to Scotland. Pulp1947Dick Tracy’s DilemmaRalph Byrd’s Tracy tracks a fur thief called The Claw. Pulp1947Dick Tracy Meets GruesomeBoris Karloff as Gruesome, with a gas that freezes a room full of people.

Westerns

From the first movie holdup to Wayne, Autry, and Rogers.

Western1903The Great Train RobberyEdwin S. Porter’s one-reel Western, and one of the first screen holdups. Western1933Riders of DestinyJohn Wayne undercover in a Lone Star western about a stolen water right. Western1934The Star PackerJohn Wayne as a sheriff after a hooded bandit and a crooked saloon. Western1934Randy Rides AloneJohn Wayne rides into a robbed town whose only witness is a player piano. Western1934The Lucky TexanJohn Wayne and George “Gabby” Hayes strike gold, and a claim jumper wants it. Western1934West of the DivideJohn Wayne sorting out a rancher, a lost boy, and a man from his own past. Western1935The Dawn RiderJohn Wayne goes after the gang that shot his father. Western1936Oh, Susanna!Gene Autry’s singing-cowboy western, with a cavalry troop and a gold shipment. Western1937Public Cowboy No. 1Gene Autry against rustlers who spot the herds with a shortwave radio. Western1938Come On, RangersRoy Rogers back with the Texas Rangers after a stretch of bad luck. Western1938Billy the Kid ReturnsRoy Rogers is taken for Billy the Kid and has to play the part. Western1947Angel and the BadmanJohn Wayne as a wounded gunman taken in by a Quaker family.

A few classics

A short side trail of horror and silent pictures.

Classic1920The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariRobert Wiene’s expressionist tale of a somnambulist and his keeper. Classic1922NosferatuF. W. Murnau’s vampire picture, with Max Schreck as Count Orlok. Classic1925The Phantom of the OperaLon Chaney beneath the Paris Opera House. Classic1968Night of the Living DeadGeorge A. Romero’s farmhouse siege, the picture that set the modern zombie story.

Search the public-domain archive

Results

Classic shows from the 1930s to the 1950s. Tune a station, pick an episode, and leave it on. The player uses the phone’s own audio, so it keeps going with the screen locked.

Search old-time radio

Results

Shows stream from the Internet Archive.