Public Domain
Charade
1953 · Portland Productions · Dir. Roy Kellino
This is an anthology film with three stories. In "Portrait of a Murderer", a female artist draws sketches of a mysterious neighbor. She is unaware that the man is a murderer. "Duel at Dawn" is set in 1880s Austria. Two military officers fight a duel, with the survivor free to claim the heart of their shared love interest. "The Midas Touch" is a romance story of sorts. Jonah Watson is a successful American businessman, but is disgruntled with his life. He emigrates to England to start a new life, and works as a common servant. But he falls in love with a cockney maid who dreams of marrying into wealth.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The 1953 film 'Charade' (an anthology film starring James Mason and Pamela Mason, not to be confused with the 1963 Cary Grant film) is in the public domain in the United States. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a copyright renewal filing during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this 1953 production. The original registration (LP3012) was filed by Portland Productions in 1953, but it was never renewed in its 28th window (approximately 1980–1981).
This film frequently appears in public domain compilation sets and on archive sites with no record of enforcement or renewal. It is distinct from the more famous 1963 'Charade', which is also famously in the public domain due to a missing copyright notice, though for different legal reasons.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), Motion Pictures 1950-1959
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (Hurst)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.