Best Public Domain Comedies of the 1930s

The 1930s was one of the great decades for American film comedy. The decade saw the invention of screwball comedy (It Happened One Night, 1934), the perfection of surreal slapstick (the Marx Brothers's Paramount run), the rise of the romantic-comedy team (Astaire and Rogers), and the brief flourishing of pre-Code naughtiness before the Production Code clamped down in 1934. A surprising portion of the decade's comedy output has lapsed into the public domain.

The screwball cycle

Screwball comedy emerged with It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra, Columbia) and dominated American film comedy through the late 1930s. The formula — sparring romantic leads, witty dialogue, eccentric supporting characters, plots driven by mistaken identity or class collision — produced some of cinema's most enduring comedies. Most major screwballs remain under studio copyright. A few key entries, however, have lapsed:

Nothing Sacred (1937) — David O. Selznick production. Carole Lombard as a small-town woman believed to be dying of radiation poisoning who becomes a New York media sensation. Fredric March co-stars. The picture is a sharp satire of 1930s tabloid journalism that has aged remarkably well. Selznick's company's later rights situation put the film in the public domain.

His Girl Friday (1940) — Howard Hawks's adaptation of The Front Page. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Columbia failed to renew the copyright in 1968, putting one of the greatest American screwball comedies in the public domain. Sharper, faster, and more cynical than nearly any other comedy of the era.

My Man Godfrey (1936) — Universal. Carole Lombard discovers a homeless man (William Powell) at the city dump and hires him as a butler. Pre-Code social satire wrapped in screwball comedy. Some prints have lapsed into the public domain through complicated copyright handling.

Topper and the supernatural-comedy strain

One of the most enduring 1930s comedy hits was Topper (1937), Hal Roach's adaptation of Thorne Smith's novel about a stuffy banker (Roland Young) haunted by the playful ghosts of his deceased socialite friends (Cary Grant and Constance Bennett). The film spawned sequels (Topper Takes a Trip, 1938; Topper Returns, 1941), a 1953 TV series, and several remakes. Several entries in the Topper franchise are now in the public domain.

The Marx Brothers and the public-domain question

The Marx Brothers's Paramount-era films (1929–1933) include some of their wildest work — The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup. Most remain under copyright (Universal acquired Paramount's pre-1948 library and has been more careful about copyright maintenance than most studios). Their MGM run (A Night at the Opera, 1935; A Day at the Races, 1937; etc.) remains tightly held. A few minor Marx Brothers titles and shorts have lapsed.

Pre-Code comedy

The brief pre-Code window (1929–1934) produced comedies whose frankness about sex and class was unrepeatable after Code enforcement began. Many pre-Code comedies are now public domain — partly because the studios let them lapse, given how controversial they'd become after 1934.

The Front Page (1931) — Lewis Milestone's first adaptation of the same play that later became His Girl Friday. Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien as the newspaper editors. More cynical than the later Cary Grant/Rosalind Russell version. Public-domain status due to complicated post-United Artists rights handling.

The Hal Roach legacy

Hal Roach Studios produced shorts and features throughout the 1930s — the Laurel and Hardy films, the Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts, the Topper series, and dozens of other entries. The studio's complicated post-dissolution rights situation has put a substantial portion of the Roach output into the public domain. The Laurel and Hardy public-domain catalog is particularly extensive.

The essential entries

His Girl Friday (1940) — Strictly 1940, but transitional from 1930s style. The fastest, funniest screwball comedy in the public domain.

Nothing Sacred (1937) — Lombard at her peak. Sharp tabloid satire that has aged remarkably well.

Topper (1937) — The original Roach feature. Cary Grant in his most charmingly insouciant role.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) — RKO production. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. Howard Hawks at his peak. Some prints in the public domain through RKO's complicated post-collapse rights.

Where to start

Start with His Girl Friday — the fastest, sharpest, most rewatchable comedy in the entire public-domain pool. From there, move to Nothing Sacred for Carole Lombard's irreducibly brilliant comic timing, and Topper for Roach's lighter supernatural-comedy variant.