Movies... For Free! Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947)

Showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain...


Dick Tracy's Dilemma a.k.a Mark of the Claw, 1947.

Directed by John Rawlins.
Starring Ralph Byrd, Kay Christopher, Lyle Latell, Jack Lambert, Ian Keith, Bernadene Hayes, Jimmy Conlin, William B. Davidson, Tony Barrett and Tom Keene.

After releasing two features with Morgan Conway as Chester Gould's celebrated police detective Dick Tracy, RKO bowed to exhibitor pressure and recast Conway with Ralph Byrd, the actor who had made his name as Tracy in four Republic serials between 1937 and 1941.

Dick Tracy's Dilemma sees the detective investigating a number of crimes - the theft of a fortune in furs, an insurance swindle and the obligatory murders - all of which he links to a hook-handed criminal known as The Claw. Returning to the cast for this third outing are Lyle Latell as Pat Patton and Ian Keith as Vitamin Flintheart, while Kay Christopher takes over from Anne Jeffreys as Tracy's girlfriend Tess Trueheart.


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Movies... For Free! Escape from Sobibor (1987)

Showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain...


Escape from Sobibor, 1987.

Directed by Jack Gold.
Starring Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacuła, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker, Jack Shepherd.

Escape from Sobibor is a British made-for-TV movie based on the 1982 book of the same name by Richard Rashke. Set in 1943, the film tells the true story of the uprising at the Sobibor extermination camp where roughly half of the 600 Jewish inmates escaped after members of the underground resistance turned on their captors.

Heading the cast is cult actor Rutger Hauer, who bagged a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Television) for his turn as Red Army Captain and resistance leader Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky. The film premiered on American television on the CBS network on April 12th, 1987 and was shown on West German TV in January 1989.

There are two versions of Escape from Sobibor in existence - a 143 minute cut and an edited 120 minute DVD cut, which is the version presented here...


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Movies... For Free! Jail Bait (1954)

Showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain...


Jail Bait, 1954.

Directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Starring Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves, Herbert Rawlinson, Clancy Malone, Conrad Brooks, Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell and Theodora Thurman.

After his proposed Bela Lugosi supernatural TV series Dr. Acula failed to get off the ground, schlock filmmaker Ed Wood turned his hand to film noir for his second feature Jail Bait, which was produced under the title The Hidden Face. Inspired by the 1935 crime drama False Faces (a.k.a. Let 'em Have It), the film revolves around a gangster who plans to undergo drastic facial plastic surgery in order to evade the police. To do so he kidnaps the son of Dr. Gregor, played by English actor and silent era star Herbert Rawlinson, who died the day after filming was completed (the part was originally written for Lugosi, who dropped out after falling ill himself).

Jail Bait reunites Wood with Glen or Glenda cast members and regular collaborators Lyle Talbot, Timothy Farrell and Conrad Brookes (all of whom would go on to appear in the cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space), along with then girlfriend Dolores Fuller. It also marks an early screen appearance for former bodybuilder Steve Reeves, who would later enjoy success in Europe in a string of low budget Italian sword-and-sandals efforts (as Europe's highest paid star of the time, Reeves reportedly turned down the roles of The Man With No Name in A Fistful of Dollars and James Bond in Dr. No).


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Movies... For Free! Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

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Movies... For Free! Duel (1971)

Duel, 1971.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Dennis Weaver, Carey Loftin and Jacqueline Scott.


Written by I Am Legend novelist Richard Matheson and based off his own short story that had featured in Playboy, Duel is a psychological thriller about a motorist (Dennis Weaver) who is stalked by a crazed truck driver (Carey Loftin). It is notable for being the feature debut of Steven Spielberg, who had recently signed to a contract with Universal and had been honing his skills on the well-received TV pilot Night Gallery (1969) and episodes of several TV shows including Marcus Welby, M.D. (1970), Columbo (1971) and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971).

Shot on location in 13 days for an original running time of 74 minutes, Duel enjoyed high ratings when it premiered on US television as an ABC Movie of the Week in November 1971. This prompted Spielberg to embark on two additional days of filming, extending the movie to 90 minutes for a theatrical release in Europe and the UK (along with a limited North American release the following year). With the success Duel establishing Spielberg as a major emerging talent, he would go on to produce two further TV movies before making his theatrical feature film debut in 1974 with The Sugarland Express.

For more on Steven Spielberg, check out Trevor Hogg's in-depth career profile Encountering Spielberg and be sure to vote in our poll for your favourite Steven Spielberg movie.


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Five Essential Films of Steven Spielberg
Short Film Showcase - Amblin' (1968)

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Movies... For Free! The Ring (1927)

Showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain...


The Ring, 1927.

Written and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall-Davis, Ian Hunter, Forrester Harvey, Harry Terry and Gordon Harker.

The Ring centres on a love triangle between a young woman called Mabel (Lillian Hall-Davis, who would also star in Hitchcock's next production The Farmer's Wife), her prize-fighter fiancé 'One-Round' Jack Saunders (Carl Brisson) and rival boxer and champion Bob Corby (Ian Hunter). After defeating Jack in a fairground contest, Bob enlists him as a sparring partner in order to get close to Mabel, and when the pair run away together Jack must challenge his rival in the ring for both the championship and the love of his woman.

The only film from Hitchcock's extensive body of work where he was to receive the sole writing credit, The Ring was the third of three pictures released by the director in 1927 (the others being The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog and Downhill). Although it is one of his lesser-known movies, the film enjoyed positive reviews when released and included a number of technical innovations and experimentation with regards to montage and editing which demonstrates Hitchcock's growing confidence in his craft.

Read more about The Ring in our article Silent Master: The Early Films of Alfred Hitchcock.


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Five Essential... Films of Alfred Hitchcock
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Movies... For Free! The Lodger (1927)
movies... For free! The 39 Steps (1935)
Movies... For Free! The Lady Vanishes (1938)

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Movies... For Free! Following (1998)

With Inception set to hit cinemas this month we continue our Christopher Nolan theme with his debut feature...

Following, 1998.

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan.
Starring Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell and John Nolan.


Inspired by a burglary at his home and shot on weekends over the space of a year, Christopher Nolan's self-financed feature debut Following is a neo-noir thriller centred on a young writer named Bill (Jeremy Theobald, star of Nolan's earlier short Doodlebug). Following strangers around the streets of London in search of inspiration for his latest novel, Bill is soon confronted by one of his targets, a well-dressed gentleman and professional thief named Cobb (Alex Haw). Fascinated by Cobb, Bill accepts an invitation to join him on a robbery and is quickly led into a dark criminal underworld as his curiosity turns into a voyeuristic obsession.

Shot in black and white on 16mm film-stock, Following adopts a non-linear plot structure which would become a staple of his later work, Nolan serves as writer, cinematographer and co-producer alongside Theobald and future wife and producing partner Emma Thomas. The film also features Lucy Russell and John Nolan (the director's uncle), who would make cameo appearances with Theobald in Nolan's acclaimed 2005 reboot Batman Begins.


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For more on the works of Christopher Nolan, be sure to check out Trevor Hogg's comprehensive three part profile Theatre of the Mind.

Related:

Short Film Showcase - Doodlebug (1997)

Click here to view all entries in our Movies... For Free! collection.