Welcome to Public Domain Theater, your home for the wonderful world of films that have (in the United States, at least) fallen into the public domain, and are free for everyone to see!
Today, we’re proud to present that cinematic classic, It!
No, no, not the one about Stephen King’s shapeshifting monster clown. This It is the 1927 romantic comedy, that popularized the idea of the “it girl”.
The film stars Clara Bow as a shopgirl who decides to romance the store’s handsome young manager, and just demolishes any obstacles that get in their way. Until the requisite third act misunderstanding, of course, when their indomitable will and ingenuity turn to hilarious acts of spite, until the inevitable true love reconciliation at the end. All in all, a thoroughly charming and delightful comedy from the Silent Age of Cinema.
(Also, it’s got this one scene that serves as a time capsule of what amusement parks looked like before safety regulations were a thing.)
To keep the chuckles going, we’ve paired this flick with the short film “Sing a Song of Six Pants”, starring the Three Stooges: Larry, Moe, and Curly Shemp. Here the Stooges play some tailors, and there’s a plot about the bank coming to repossess their equipment, and a safecracker crossing paths with them … but, c’mon. It’s the Three Stooges – none of that plot stuff matters. That’s just a setup for them to do a whole bunch of gags, and there are some mighty good ones here (as long as you don’t think too hard about how painful being caught in a steam press would actually be).
So I hope you’re in the mood for some laughs, because we’ve got some gutbusters for you straight from the public domain!
Opening Short:
Feature Presentation:
