You do not need a subscription to watch some of the best films ever made. The ten movies below are in the public domain in the United States, which means they can be watched and shared legally, and copies are commonly offered free by archives and video sites. Each title links to its page on Every Movie Plug.
- Night of the Living Dead (1968): George A. Romero's horror classic is public domain because its copyright notice was accidentally removed during a title change.
- Nosferatu (1922): The silent vampire film about Count Orlok, whose copyright has expired.
- Metropolis (1927): Fritz Lang's sci-fi epic about a city divided between rich and poor. Films published before 1929 have passed into the public domain in the U.S.
- A Trip to the Moon (1902): Georges Méliès's short about explorers fired to the Moon from a giant cannon.
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920): The German Expressionist horror landmark.
- Charade (1963): The Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn thriller, in the public domain in the U.S. because it was released without a copyright notice, per the Internet Archive.
- His Girl Friday (1940): The screwball newspaper comedy, whose copyright was not renewed in 1968.
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957): Ed Wood's cult sci-fi film, whose copyright was not renewed.
- The General (1926): Buster Keaton's Civil War locomotive chase, a pre-1929 film.
- The Kid (1921): Charlie Chaplin's silent comedy about a tramp raising an abandoned boy.
Public domain status depends on the country and on the specific edition. Restored or re-edited versions of older films can still be protected, so watch a version that is offered free by its host. Reasons for each film's status are drawn from Movies Found Online and the Internet Archive.