Prelinger Archives
5,425–5,472 of 10,346 films, free to watch, from the world's open archives.
Where these films come from, and who sees what
Every film here plays from the archive that keeps it: the Internet Archive, Wikimedia Commons, the NASA Image and Video Library, the Library of Congress and Open Images (the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision). Nothing is copied to this site. Each film's page names its archive, links to its page there, and states its licence or status as the archive does.
Archive films carry no age ratings, so each is placed from the collections it sits in and the subjects the archive gives it, cautiously. Sexual content and nudity are left out altogether.
| Little Ones | Films for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool. |
|---|---|
| Kids | Cartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature. |
| Tweens | Documentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures. |
| Teens | Everything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower. |
| Adult | Sexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage. |
Internet Archive
Princeton (part 1)
Portrays the life and spirit of Princeton University, its 200 years of history, its rich associations and the opportunities it offers to those seeking higher…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Philip W. Sanford Collection: 010012
Made by a student at the University of Southern California. Shows early cross-country air travel; a visit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor…
Internet Archive
Voice from the Screen, The
Skeletal Entry
Internet Archive
New York Is a Christmas Wonderland
Christmas lights at night, parade, show window displays
Internet Archive
Bits of China
Skeletal Entry
Internet Archive
Horse Shoers
Internet Archive
Piping Pointers for Industrial Maintenance Men
Sponsored film about Crane Company piping products. Educates industrial maintenance workers about piping jargon, best practices for piping handling, and the…
Internet Archive
Vista Stock Shots: San Francisco Cable Cars II
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Stern Collection: 003902
An elder couple spends time with their dogs in the sun and the snow around Palmdale in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. Also includes a trip to New…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 004690
Jumbled assembly reel of different years from the life of a family with a young boy including yard games, playground activities, home interiors, and two NASA…
Internet Archive
Books: From Manuscript to Classroom
An overview of book production at John C. Winston publishing company, an established publishing house located in Philadelphia. This film features a…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Dill Collection: 004075
Dill family visiting Florida. Includes footage of fishing, boat trips, Christmas celebrations, and sunsets. Can notes: "C12 / 1967 / Florida and Xmas"
Internet Archive
[Untitled: Sealtest Ice Cream]
Shoppers browsing Ice cream in grocery store, man taking survey/interviewing shoppers about best ice-cream for sealtest sound on PA-0712, no sound on PA-0671
Internet Archive
[Black Sheep]
Orphaned quadruplets of black sheep cared for
Internet Archive
Calvin 0315
Documents the manufacturing of pipe sections for oil pipeline, possibly in Quebec and also Alberta. Compiled from two reels of outtakes from "North of 59."
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: H.O. Johnson Collection, ca. 1941]
[Home Movies: H.O. Johnson Collection, ca. 1941]
Internet Archive
Military Courtesies 1 B
AMEDD Office Basic Course, LP # 44 150 100 00 Military Courtesies (1 of 2)
Internet Archive
Impact '66 (Part II)
Internet Archive
Rinse Away Commercial
PA8542
Internet Archive
Sand on the Slippery Sidewalks of Sales
0682 PA8498 Sand on the Slippery Sidewalks of Sales 16 silent pix
Internet Archive
[Unidentified: New York City]
About NYC
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Northwest]
Internet Archive
Transportation Of Prisoners outtakes
Outtakes from film presumed to have same title. Includes footage of Hayward Police, Alameda County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, and Livermore Police;…
Internet Archive
Calvin 0326
Outtakes from "Pump Station Movie". Documents several sites around Lawrence and Topeka Kansas, where water treatment tanks are being built and installed;…
Internet Archive
Robinson Crusoe
Internet Archive
Zoo in Manhattan
On the Central Park Zoo, New York, N.Y.
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: The Empire City, Part 1]
Skeletal entry. Info in logbook.
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Tarpon Fishing]
Internet Archive
M-57 Rocket Motor Igniter Assembly (Training Film)
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Latinx Family in San Francisco, early 1950s
Home movie showing Latinx family in Portola district of San Francisco. Please help us find them so that we can return these images to the family!
Internet Archive
It Happened in Mayfair
Skeletal Entry
Internet Archive
Heart of a Hero, The
Biography of Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale.
Internet Archive
Stillman Fires Collection: SS Normandie Fires
From Stillman Fires Collection.
Internet Archive
[San Francisco Bay Stock Scenes]
Kodachrome stock shots of San Francisco and vicinity, late 1950s.
Internet Archive
[Television Public Service Announcements and Program Promos]
Skeletal entry tv spots in order: - National Safety Council: Winter Driving Safety tips with Julie Bishop (4 spots) - Women's Army Corps - National Guard (2…
Internet Archive
[Salute to Farmer Television Spot Outtakes]
Silent print of a sound film relating to food and agriculture around the world. Scenes include various shots of people eating, farms around the world, aerials…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Tuohino Collection: 003508
Content warning: racist lawn jockey object pictured at 14:26. Christmas morning with presents and family dinner and other recreational activities. can notes:…
Internet Archive
Science in Action: Drilling for Oil
Internet Archive
Movietone News: "Monster Victory Parade Cheered by 2,500,000 in New York"
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Can 10611: Southern California]
Internet Archive
Wild Beauty R5
Part 5 (last part) of a silent feature. Features a prominent supporting role for the African American actor Hayes Robinson. "Art Hemming, a young American…
Internet Archive
Forefathers of History
Explores the historical significance of Provincetown, where the Pilgrims first landed in America in 1620. It highlights the Pilgrim Monument, the town's…
Internet Archive
Strohm 0042
Footage shot in the Soviet Union of people inspecting grain fields and other crops. Also includes footage of a group of young adults in a suburban yard.
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: New Orleans Carnival Week, February 22, 1941]
Parade of Nor (Children's).
Internet Archive
Studebaker Sales Training Film
Studebaker sales training film. Includes footage of an automobile test drive through California scenery with many oil derricks visible, a spirited discussion…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Janet Dill Collection: 004062
Residential gardens and greenhouses, and the processes of excavation, construction, and completion of a backyard swimming pool featuring a montage with…
Internet Archive
Fighting Bulls
Skeletal Entry Bull fighting
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Mauger Collection: 004287
A family with five young children celebrates birthdays, summer and winter time together, and Catholic worship and ritual. Note on can: "CONN 1962 IOWA" Lab…