Basis: Published before 1931 - U.S. copyright term expired
Evidence: First published 1928 (before 1931): US copyright term has expired. Paul Leni / Universal, premiered 1928-12-25; on-screen notice 'Copyright MCMXXIX by Universal Pictures Corp.' (1929, also before 1931). Based on Thomas F. Fallon's 1922 play and Wadsworth Camp's 1916 novel The House of Fear (PD). Surviving silent version with original English intertitles; not the 2016 Universal restoration. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Warning_(1928_film) . Rights log: files/growth/crime-rights-log.md (2026-10-23).
Music: Silent film: this archive copy has an added soundtrack of unknown origin, so the Starlite copy has the audio removed and the original audio is MUTED; a CC0 (Musopen) piano bed is played instead.
