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!

We’ve got a humdinger for you this go around: the 1930 comedy Animal Crackers, starring none other than the Marx Brothers! Groucho, Harpo, and Chico are all here .. oh, and that Zeppo fellow, too.

The story’s set at a swanky house party hosted by regular Marx Brothers co-star Margaret Dumont, where the theft and forgery of a valuable painting adds a touch of chaos to the proceedings. But, c’mon, it’s a Marx Brothers movie – the plot’s never really that important, just an excuse for the Marx boys to do their comedy and music routines (and do them quite well – this is the source of the famous “I once shot an elephant in my pajamas” joke). Unusually for a Marx Brothers movie, though, occasionally people other than the Marxes get some of the funny lines, which is appreciated.

To match the anarchic comedy of the Marx Brothers, I figured our opening cartoon needed to be really off the wall to keep up. So I selected “Koko Needles the Boss”, part of the Fleischer Studios’ Inkwell series, where cartoon character Koko the Clown is in a ceaseless feud with animator Max Fleischer. The fourth wall is utterly obliterated as artist and artwork duke it out in a madcap battle that presages “Duck Amuck” by nearly thirty years.

So if you’re ready to laugh your head off, come down to Public Domain Theater and … well, we can’t guarantee you’ll laugh your whole head off. But, maybe, like, your scalp? At least down to the ears?

Opening Cartoon:

Feature Presentation: