Public-Domain Cinema

Art Deco Emblems for Films Entering the Public Domain

Films and novels enter the US public domain 95 years after release — 1929 and 1930 titles are now free to reinterpret. Each design here is an original Art Deco emblem built from scratch for a specific film or novel of that vintage: a new illustration in period style, not a copied poster, still or studio artwork.

The six pieces below span a detective thriller (The Maltese Falcon), a jazz-age musical revue (King of Jazz), a backstage murder mystery (The Canary Murder Case), a ventriloquist's psychological drama (The Great Gabbo), a crime drama (Thunderbolt) and a scandal-novel adaptation (The Wild Party) — all built in the same restrained noir-and-gold palette as the rest of the shop.