Public Domain Romantic Comedies for Valentine’s Day

Public domain movies offer a chance to enjoy Valentine’s Day with movies that you’ve never seen before. Most movie stars look better in black and white. Most movies are better in black and white. Most public domain movie are in black and white. Romance is in the air on the all the multiple distribution channels offering public domain content appropriate for Valentine’s Day. Looking for romantic comedy back before they all starred the same for actresses and that one American and that one British guy? Public domain romantic comedy is here to send you a Valentine of silvery grey love.

Misbehaving Husbands

Carole Lombard was one of the all time great comic actresses of Hollywood with a career cut tragically short by an early death. “Misbehaving Husbands” isn’t the highlight of her career, but even minor Lombard is better than major Julia Roberts. Any movie in which a mannequin plays a major part in the romantic entanglements is a good choice for Valentine’s Day, unless Kim Cattrall is the mannequin, and this public domain golden oldie is worth a look. You also get the added attraction of seeing Harry Langdon who a few years earlier was as big as Charlie Chaplin or Harold Lloyd.

My Man Godfrey

“My Man Godfrey” is major Carole Lombard and that means a thousand times funnier than Julia Roberts romantic comedy. This is one of the all time great screwball comedies and when you add in the always brilliant William Powell, you have a public domain comedy worthy of Valentine’s Day, Arbor Day or the Fourth of July.

A Bride for Henry

A bachelor party is at the epicenter of this public domain comedy about the effects of romance and vengeance. You won’t find the bachelor party antics of today’s R rated comedies going on here, but the result of what passes for a wild 1930s party for the groom on the night before the wedding could easily be refashioned into a movie made today. Meaning that the meat of “A Bride for Henry” is about as deep as a contemporary hangover. Anger over the failure of the fiancé to show up for the wedding spurs a tale of romantic revenge by hitching a ride to matrimony with the first available replacement. It’s all a lesson in teaching a lesson to infinitely stupid men, but with enough pleasantly distracting diversions of the screwball type to keep you entertained for the movie’s sub-hour running time.

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