Buster Crabbe

A 1953 feature film edited from the 1939 Universal serial Buck Rogers, re-released for theatrical distribution. A 20th-century pilot named Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) and his young friend Buddy Wade awaken from 500 years in suspended animation to find the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane. Buck joins the hidden resistance forces to defeat Kane and restore freedom. The original serial was directed by Saul A. Goodkind and Ford Beebe. The film entered the public domain via non-renewal of its copyright.

Sci-Fi · Action · Adventure

A 1940 American 12-chapter science fiction serial from Universal Pictures, co-directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, and the last of the three Universal Flash Gordon serials. A mysterious plague called the Purple Death ravages the Earth. Dr. Zarkov discovers a ship from planet Mongo seeding the atmosphere with dust — Ming the Merciless is up to his old tricks. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov return to Mongo to stop Ming, encountering the Rock People and the Arborians along the way. Buster Crabbe reprises his role as Flash, with Carol Hughes replacing Jean Rogers as Dale Arden. The serial entered the public domain via non-renewal of its copyright.

Sci-Fi · Action · Adventure

One of the Zane Grey westerns Henry Hathaway directed for Paramount in the early 1930s, back when Randolph Scott was still playing B-leads in buckskin. Scott is Dale, a mountain man who overhears saloonkeeper Beasley's scheme to grab a rancher's land and kidnap his daughter — so Dale kidnaps her first, dragging the enraged but safe heiress (Verna Hillie) into the hills while he untangles the plot. Harry Carey steals scenes as a philosophical crook. Handsomely shot around Big Bear and considerably better made than the poverty-row oaters of the same year. The film entered the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Western · Action