Public Domain Films

Films released in the United States before 1923 are now in the public domain. This page presents works by some of the early filmmakers covered in the first two weeks of the course.

Very Early Film

Galloping Race Horse

Four film stills of a horse running, showing that its legs are all off the ground in mid-stride.

Sequence of a race horse galloping. Photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge, first published in 1887 at Philadelphia.

See the animation of this sequence, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Fred Ott’s Sneeze

Sequence of three film stills showing a man progressing through a sneeze.

Three still shots of Fred Ott sneezing in the 1894 motion picture Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, the first copyrighted film in history.

See the complete film, hosted by the Library of Congress.

The Kiss

Sequence of three film stills showing a man approaching, embracing and kissing a woman.

Three still shots from the early short May Irwin Kiss.

See the complete film, hosted by the Library of Congress.

The Great Train Robbery

A contemporary poster advertising The Great Train Robbery. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Film still of a man pointing a gun at the viewer.

A still from The Great Train Robbery. When this part of the film was first shown, viewers used to run from the screen in fear, because the actor aiming a gun at the audience appeared so real to viewers unaccustomed to motion pictures. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

See the complete film, hosted by the Library of Congress.

D. W. Griffith

A stamp released by the U.S. Post Office to commemorate D. W. Griffith. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)