Public Domain

Forbidden Paradise

Name: Forbidden Paradise
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Released: 1924

1924 · Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures · Dir. Ernst Lubitsch

Alexei, a young officer, saves the Czarina of a small European kingdom from revolutionary conspirators and is rewarded with her love. Infatuated, he deserts his sweetheart, Anna, the Czarina's lady-in-waiting, only to discover that his Queen is far from true to him. Desperate, he joins the revolutionists and plots against her. The Czarina pleads that she loves only him, and he swears no harm will befall her. Meantime the chancellor nips the revolution in the bud, and the Czarina orders Alexei's arrest. But she causes herself such unhappiness in doing so that she releases him from prison, relinquishes him to Anna, and seeks solace in a new affair with the French Ambassador

Confidence

100

— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

Forbidden Paradise, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Pola Negri, was released in the United States on November 16, 1924, by Paramount Pictures. As a film published before the current threshold of January 1, 1929, it is definitively in the public domain under US copyright law. Works published prior to 1929 have reached the end of their maximum possible copyright term (95 years) and have naturally expired. Even if the film was originally registered (which it was, as a Famous Players-Lasky production) and successfully renewed in its 28th year, the copyright protection would have lapsed on December 31, 2019.

— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

Library of Congress: Catalog of Copyright Entries (1924)
Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1921-1930)
Stanford Copyright Renewal Database

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.