Republic Pictures

A wounded gunfighter is taken in and nursed by a family of Quakers, and their gentle faith slowly wears down his thirst for revenge against the man who killed his foster father. John Wayne produced and starred; it was the first film his own company made. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance

Bad Man of Deadwood is a 1941 Republic Pictures western directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes. Rogers plays sharpshooter Brett Starr, who rolls into the town of Deadwood with Professor Blackstone's traveling medicine show, alongside singer Sally Payne. The show's tuneful pitch gets a hostile reception from the crooked businessmen who run the town and the hired guns who enforce their rule, so Starr sticks around to help the townsfolk — including a reform-minded judge's daughter — break the gang's grip. A classic singing-cowboy oater from Rogers's peak Republic years, the film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Music

Chapter one, "The Spider Strikes," of the 15-chapter Republic serial. Plainclothes detective Dick Tracy hunts the masked criminal mastermind known as the Spider, who has kidnapped his brother and threatened the city. Ralph Byrd stars as Chester Gould's square-jawed hero in the first Dick Tracy screen serial. The serial entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Action · Crime · Adventure

Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner square off over drilling rights on Indian land in Oklahoma — and over schoolteacher Catherine Allen — in a feud that escalates from fists to sabotage to a race against a burning oil field. John Wayne stars opposite Martha Scott and Albert Dekker, with Gabby Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau, and Dale Evans. One of Republic's biggest pictures of 1943, later reissued as War of the Wildcats. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance · Drama

When Gabby Kendrick refuses to breed his prize stallion Golden Sovereign to Roy Rogers' mare, fate intervenes — the horses run off, a rustler's bullet kills the Sovereign, and Roy is blamed and jailed. A year later he returns with Trigger, the Sovereign's son, determined to clear his name. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Gabby Hayes star in the film Republic used to explain how the smartest horse in the movies came to Roy. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Western · Music

When a gang starts slaughtering game out of season to corner the meat market, cowboy Roy Rogers rides in to help wildlife officer Cap Foster protect the herds — and ends up framed for Foster's murder. Republic's King of the Cowboys is joined by Trigger, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, and the Sons of the Pioneers in this Trucolor musical western from ace serial and B-western director William Witney. The archive.org source is the uncut Trucolor version. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Western · Music

That's My Baby! is a 1944 comedy directed by William Berke and starring Richard Arlen as a comic book artist and Ellen Drew as the publisher's daughter. The film follows a love triangle complicated by the father's severe melancholy, which requires an emergency cure of laughter. The film features a variety of musical acts and comedy routines, including performances by Mike Riley and His Musical Maniacs and Freddie Fisher and His Schnikelfritz Orchestra. Produced by Walter Colmes and released by Republic Pictures, the film is a lighthearted wartime entertainment. As a public domain film, it is freely available.

Comedy · Music

A vaudeville sharpshooter is manipulated by his beautiful assistant and her alcoholic husband into killing the husband on stage, only to realize he has been set up. Erich von Stroheim stars in this early Anthony Mann noir. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Noir · Drama

A mystery film directed by Ralph Staub for Republic Pictures, loosely based on the Ellery Queen novel The Chinese Orange Mystery. Eddie Quillan plays Ellery Queen, a mystery writer and amateur detective who investigates the theft of a rare Chinese Mandarin stamp from a Manhattan hotel and the murders that follow. Charlotte Henry co-stars as Josephine Temple, the stamp's owner who becomes a suspect. The film also features Franklin Pangborn as the hotel's hysterical manager. The film is in the public domain.

Mystery · Crime

Roy Rogers returns to his ranch after ten years in Hollywood only to have Trigger kidnapped by a gang demanding a $100,000 ransom — and Roy has to track them down without spooking them into harming the horse. Jane Frazee is the ranch owner's daughter and Andy Devine does triple duty as three members of the Bullfincher clan. One of Roy Rogers's best-loved Republic westerns, directed by serial veteran William Witney, and in Trucolor. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western

A wounded gunfighter is taken in and nursed by a family of Quakers, and their gentle faith slowly wears down his thirst for revenge against the man who killed his foster father. John Wayne produced and starred; it was the first film his own company made. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance

Bad Man of Deadwood is a 1941 Republic Pictures western directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes. Rogers plays sharpshooter Brett Starr, who rolls into the town of Deadwood with Professor Blackstone's traveling medicine show, alongside singer Sally Payne. The show's tuneful pitch gets a hostile reception from the crooked businessmen who run the town and the hired guns who enforce their rule, so Starr sticks around to help the townsfolk — including a reform-minded judge's daughter — break the gang's grip. A classic singing-cowboy oater from Rogers's peak Republic years, the film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Music

A 1956 American Western co-directed by Albert C. Gannaway and Ismael Rodríguez, shot in Mexico and released through Republic Pictures. Bruce Bennett stars as Daniel Boone, leading a wagon train of settlers into Kentucky while fending off Shawnee warriors stirred up by the French renegade Simon Girty. Lon Chaney Jr. plays the Shawnee chief Blackfish, and country singer Faron Young appears as a settler — one of several Gannaway productions to cast Nashville stars. The film is in the public domain after its copyright went unrenewed, and it has been a fixture of budget western compilations ever since.

Western · Adventure

Chapter one, "The Spider Strikes," of the 15-chapter Republic serial. Plainclothes detective Dick Tracy hunts the masked criminal mastermind known as the Spider, who has kidnapped his brother and threatened the city. Ralph Byrd stars as Chester Gould's square-jawed hero in the first Dick Tracy screen serial. The serial entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Action · Crime · Adventure

A 1957 American South Seas adventure directed by Lee Sholem and Elmo Williams, starring Jon Hall — who also produced and narrated — alongside John Carradine, Peter Lorre, and Mike Mazurki. Captain Jim Knight sails the South Sea Islands and discovers a criminal gang that has seized a small island, forcing the native pearl divers to work beyond safe limits. After Knight captures the gang, they escape en route to Tahiti and a corrupt French magistrate joins them when a native boy locates a sunken ship carrying a Burmese king's treasure. The film was compiled from Knight of the South Seas, an unsold 1955 television pilot, and gave Hall ample opportunity to show off the underwater diving footage he loved. It is in the public domain.

Adventure · Action

Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner square off over drilling rights on Indian land in Oklahoma — and over schoolteacher Catherine Allen — in a feud that escalates from fists to sabotage to a race against a burning oil field. John Wayne stars opposite Martha Scott and Albert Dekker, with Gabby Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau, and Dale Evans. One of Republic's biggest pictures of 1943, later reissued as War of the Wildcats. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western · Romance · Drama

When Gabby Kendrick refuses to breed his prize stallion Golden Sovereign to Roy Rogers' mare, fate intervenes — the horses run off, a rustler's bullet kills the Sovereign, and Roy is blamed and jailed. A year later he returns with Trigger, the Sovereign's son, determined to clear his name. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Gabby Hayes star in the film Republic used to explain how the smartest horse in the movies came to Roy. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Western · Music

A 1957 American Western directed by Albert C. Gannaway and released by Republic Pictures, notable for its cast of Grand Ole Opry stars. Faron Young plays a young marshal and Marty Robbins a fellow lawman, while Jim Davis plays the villainous ex-cavalry officer Angus McKane, who is trying to force Mexican landowners off their grants after the Mexican American War. Lee Van Cleef appears as McKane's henchman Damon Pardee. More famous for its country music casting than its craft, the film fell into the public domain when its copyright was not renewed and remains a curiosity for fans of both westerns and classic country.

Western · Drama

When a gang starts slaughtering game out of season to corner the meat market, cowboy Roy Rogers rides in to help wildlife officer Cap Foster protect the herds — and ends up framed for Foster's murder. Republic's King of the Cowboys is joined by Trigger, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, and the Sons of the Pioneers in this Trucolor musical western from ace serial and B-western director William Witney. The archive.org source is the uncut Trucolor version. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Western · Music

That's My Baby! is a 1944 comedy directed by William Berke and starring Richard Arlen as a comic book artist and Ellen Drew as the publisher's daughter. The film follows a love triangle complicated by the father's severe melancholy, which requires an emergency cure of laughter. The film features a variety of musical acts and comedy routines, including performances by Mike Riley and His Musical Maniacs and Freddie Fisher and His Schnikelfritz Orchestra. Produced by Walter Colmes and released by Republic Pictures, the film is a lighthearted wartime entertainment. As a public domain film, it is freely available.

Comedy · Music

A vaudeville sharpshooter is manipulated by his beautiful assistant and her alcoholic husband into killing the husband on stage, only to realize he has been set up. Erich von Stroheim stars in this early Anthony Mann noir. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Noir · Drama

A mystery film directed by Ralph Staub for Republic Pictures, loosely based on the Ellery Queen novel The Chinese Orange Mystery. Eddie Quillan plays Ellery Queen, a mystery writer and amateur detective who investigates the theft of a rare Chinese Mandarin stamp from a Manhattan hotel and the murders that follow. Charlotte Henry co-stars as Josephine Temple, the stamp's owner who becomes a suspect. The film also features Franklin Pangborn as the hotel's hysterical manager. The film is in the public domain.

Mystery · Crime

Roy Rogers returns to his ranch after ten years in Hollywood only to have Trigger kidnapped by a gang demanding a $100,000 ransom — and Roy has to track them down without spooking them into harming the horse. Jane Frazee is the ranch owner's daughter and Andy Devine does triple duty as three members of the Bullfincher clan. One of Roy Rogers's best-loved Republic westerns, directed by serial veteran William Witney, and in Trucolor. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Western