Bizarre Insertions Into Supposed Public Domain Films

[misteranalog]

I have noticed that a few public domain films on places like Youtube have defects that seem to have been inserted on purpose. In addition to the usual white and black speckles, lines, etc. I have also seen what looks like pieces of black tape inserted into the backgrounds of key scenes. The next to worst are the semi-anamorphic cartoon-like faces inserted into PD films, which seems to have been copied from subliminal seduction advertising. The absolute worst insertions are of the sort put into PD films by those guys who claim to have put in watermarks into PD films, most likely to stop people from copying his stuff. Do companies that sell PD stuff do this a lot?

[Ray Faiola]

My favorite was when, back in the 1970's, Leo Gutman acquired the Sherlock Holmes library and he "enhanced" the four public domain titles. This he did by inserting his own voice (he used to dress up in costume for trade ads as both Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan) into the soundtracks. For instance, in the last scene of SECRET WEAPON, Gutman's offscreen voice declares in a penny-dreadful cockney accent "Gee, it's great to see our boys' planes in the sky again!"

Ah, Leo, we hardly knew ya!

[Spiny Norman]

Some people want to write their name on something. Borrowed feathers. The more modern equivalent is people who upload a TV program on youtube / elsewhere but with a burnt-in text to brand it with their name.
Which seems silly to me because if you're going to sin against the copyrights I wouldn't make myself more identifiable.

[FrankFay]

Somewhere I have a VHS set of the 1932 "Last of the Mohicans" serial which dubs 1970's-ish easy listening instrumentals over the music track