Joan Bennett

A 1929 American pre-Code crime film in which Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond helps a young woman in distress. Ronald Colman stars as the title character in his first talking picture, a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Claud Allister plays his loyal friend Algy Longworth, while Montagu Love plays the villain Carl Peterson and Lawrence Grant plays his accomplice Dr. Lakington. Joan Bennett appears as Phyllis Benton, the young woman whose plea for help sets the plot in motion. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by F. Richard Jones, the film was adapted by Sidney Howard from the 1921 play by H. C. McNeile. The film is in the public domain.

Crime · Mystery · Thriller

A comedy directed by Irving Pichel, based on the novel by Berry Fleming. Colonel Willard Effingham (Charles Coburn), a retired Army officer, returns to his hometown of Fredericksville, Georgia, and discovers the town's historical monuments are being neglected. When the corrupt city council tries to sell the town square for a parking lot, the Colonel mounts a one-man crusade to preserve the town's heritage, enlisting the help of his niece (Joan Bennett) and a young newspaper editor (William Eythe). The film is a gentle satire of small-town politics and civic pride, with Coburn's blustering but warm-hearted performance as its centerpiece. The film is in the public domain.

Comedy

The sequel to Father of the Bride. Stanley Banks has finally accepted his daughter's marriage, only to learn she is expecting a baby, throwing him into a fresh panic about becoming a grandfather. Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Bennett reprise their roles. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Comedy · Family

Fresh out of prison, con man John Muller botches a casino heist and needs to disappear — until he meets Dr. Bartok, a psychiatrist who is his near-exact double, save for a scar on the opposite cheek. Muller kills Bartok, scars himself, and steps into the dead man's life, only to learn the doctor had dangerous secrets of his own. Paul Henreid plays both roles opposite Joan Bennett in this fatalistic Eagle-Lion noir from director Steve Sekely, reissued as The Scar. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Crime · Noir · Thriller

A mild-mannered middle-aged cashier and amateur painter is manipulated by a cynical young woman and her hustler boyfriend, who pass his work off as her own and sell it to a dealer. Fritz Lang's first of three films with Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea is a bleak noir of guilt and doom. The film entered the public domain when its copyright was not renewed.

Drama · Noir