Jimmy Lydon

Haunted by a recurring dream in which a suave stranger seduces his widowed mother, teenager Paul Cartwright (Jimmy Lydon) becomes convinced that the man — Brett Curtis (Warren William) — murdered his father. Edgar G. Ulmer's poverty-row Hamlet, made on PRC's tiny budgets with his signature hallucinatory style, proves atmosphere doesn't require money. Curtis's oily charm does the rest. One of the most admired of Ulmer's "stylish cheapies," the film is in the public domain.

Noir · Mystery · Thriller

James Cagney plays Joe, a gentle idler who spends his days observing life in Nick's waterfront saloon in San Francisco, sending lackey Tom on eccentric errands and watching the bar's regulars drift through: an old cowboy spinning tall tales, a hoofer who can't get a laugh, and Kitty Duval, played by Cagney's sister Jeanne. William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play comes to the screen under director H.C. Potter, with William Bendix as Nick and Broderick Crawford and Ward Bond among the ensemble. Warm, odd, and unhurried, it is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Comedy · Drama