Public Domain
Secrets of the Night
1924 · Universal Pictures · Dir. Herbert Blaché
At a lavish house party, bank president Robert Andrews stages his own “murder” to distract a visiting bank examiner from uncovering a shortage, setting off a whodunit where nearly everyone has a motive. The investigation spirals until Andrews is found alive and admits the frame-up—after the deficit is repaid. A silent black-and-white Universal mystery-melodrama-comedy directed by Herbert Blaché; long thought lost, a print resurfaced in 2017.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under the current laws of the United States, specifically the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, all works published or registered in the U.S. prior to January 1, 1929, have entered the public domain. Secrets of the Night was released by Universal Pictures on December 28, 1924, and registered for copyright in the same year (LP20876).
Because the film was published before the 1929 cutoff, its statutory copyright term has expired regardless of whether it was renewed in its 28th year. As of January 1, 2020, all works from 1924 are officially in the public domain in the United States.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- 17 U.S.C. § 304
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Secrets of the Night (1924)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.