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!

This time around, we’re returning to the Sherlock Holmes film series, starring Basil Rathbone as the Great Detective, and Nigel Bruce as loyal companion Dr. Watson. This go around, Holmes must solve both a murder and a jewel robbery aboard a speeding train in Terror by Night.

Yes, every detective must inevitably have an adventure on a train, and Holmes gets a corker of one here, exploiting both the claustrophobic confines of the train cars and the dangerous rush of climbing around outside them to wonderful effect.

And our opening cartoon keeps with that adventures-on-a-train theme: it’s the Fleischer Studios Superman cartoon “Billion Dollar Limited”.

See! High tech crooks take aim on a billion dollars in gold freight!

Witness! Dashing reporter Lois Lane take command of the train and wield a tommy gun against the desperados!

Behold! The Man of Steel perform dizzying feats of strength, speed, and grace, proving that “more powerful than a locomotive” is no exaggeration!

So all aboard folks, check your ticket, and let’s barrel down the tracks to some rip-roaring fun at Public Domain Theater!

Opening Cartoon:

Feature Presentation: