Prelinger Archives
6,673–6,720 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
Younger Years
Internet Archive
Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair, The
Skeletal Record
Internet Archive
The Dan Smoot Report: Darkness Is Descending on the Land (#422)
Content warning: this film contains an outdated and derogatory term for African American people. Report from conservative political activist Dan Smoot on…
Internet Archive
[Dances of the World by Children]
Internet Archive
Forest Fun: Forest Weather (Part seven of a series)
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 11068: Winter and Spring Waterfront
To come.
Internet Archive
Calvin 0306
Outtakes from the Calvin Workshop series production, "J.C. Spots." New York State Junior Chamber of Commerce commercial spots that include footage of a group…
Internet Archive
[Universal Newsreel: Modern Venus Contest]
"Modern Venus Chosen" Beauty Contest at Steeplechase Park
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 011707
White tourists vacation in Venezuela, Haiti, and Jamaica. Also includes footage of birthday and Christmas celebrations. From note on top of can: Feb. 11 - 24,…
Internet Archive
Mode-Art Can 1257
Outtake footage taken at an HK Porter and Co. manufacturing plant. Leader notes: "Canada plant aerials / mullite prentis air original" "Tiesler Prod" Can…
Internet Archive
Mode-Art Can 1254
Outtakes from a film showing saw production in what is likely a DeWalt saw manufacturing plant. Can: prod. # 879- H.K. Porter Old Orig. K.C.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 10498: Unidentified
To come.
Internet Archive
Molly Grows Up
Menstruation education film for young teenage girls, redolent with dated detail.
Internet Archive
The Effects of Atomic Bomb Explosions
Content warning: Graphic documentation of the effects of atomic bomb blast on the human body filmed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Army-produced informational…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 004173
Travels from Reno, Nevada to Los Angeles, California, alternating with scenes of San Francisco, including Chinatown. Includes visits to several bottling,…
Internet Archive
A Shirt Finishing Method
Full title: A Shirt Finishing Method by R.E. Smith and W.A. Reinhard / Old Method Second title, later in film: A Shirt Finishing Method developed by Walter A.…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Jesus Villareal Collection: 000412
A warm convivial gathering in a lush backyard garden in Los Angeles, apparently celebrating an elder. Marked on can: "Villareal party" and "Jesus Villareal #3."
Internet Archive
Mode-Art Can 2282
Footage of the Westinghouse Transit Expressway prototype, also known as the Skybus, in South Park, PA. Additional information about this transit line can be…
Internet Archive
Behind the Trophy
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Can 10519: "21st Ave"]
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 010592
A Colorado family camps and fishes in the Rocky Mountains; rides bicycles around their home; visits family in both suburban and agricultural locations; and…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 97166: Vacation 1963, Yellowstone
Vacation 1963, Kodachrome
Internet Archive
Mode-Art Can 2269
Outtakes from an industrial film on transportation and construction featuring scenes of pouring concrete into deep holes with rebar framing. Mode-Art…
Internet Archive
[Flea Market Rough Cut]
Roughcut footage of the Berkeley flea market made for a short documentary film. Head leader states: "FLEA MARKET Rough Cut"
Internet Archive
[Untitled: Miscellaneous Waterbirds]
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 001501
A Black family travels through Europe on a tour bus with sightseeing highlights including Gothic cathedrals in Germany, feeding pigeons in an Italian piazza,…
Internet Archive
Calvin 0329
Outtakes from Annual Sales Meeting Film (PR Movie — 1967). Overs memo dated 7/22/67.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Janet Dill Collection: 004040
Early family years documenting three young boys in winter and summer with parents still young-looking. Can notes: "A1 / 1943, Seth -- 9 months at Turner Lane…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Nicholson Collection: 004278
Two young brothers play together; featuring birthday parties, present opening, and a Christmas feast. Note in can: VI 1949 1950 Craig, Alan Alans 1st Birthday…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 002405
Scenes of San Francisco, including Bernal Heights, Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Park, and Lake Merced. A Black man and a white woman, possibly a couple,…
Internet Archive
[Grand National Radio Cow Palace]
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Reiswig Collection: San Francisco, ca. 1938]
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 098771
Early 1930s farm life of a multigenerational family with love for the game of horseshoes. Ends with a polo game and a surreal sequence of a man sleeping in a…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 98319: Miscellaneous
To come.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 10023: Scenes at California Pacific International Exposition, San Diego, ca. 1935-36
Scenes at the California Pacific International Exposition, held 1935 and 1936 at Balboa Park, San Diego.
Internet Archive
Around the World in California (aka Foreign Tour USA)
Probably an amateur film.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Janet Dill Collection: 004334
Family holidays and travel within the Northeastern U.S. Can notes: "E2 / 1961-Pool / Pointless Pointer / Trip to Lehigh + Farm / Christmas / 1962 January-…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 98891: New Orleans, Natchez, Bellingrath Gardens
New Orleans, Natchez, Bellingrath Gardens, April 1953
Internet Archive
Safety at Sea
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Galante Collection: 004331
Children, animals, and labor on a farm in rural California. Can #71 Can notes (likely in the wrong can): "Snow 4ft at Hidden Home on New Years 1935 / No III.…
Internet Archive
[Unidentified Interview]
Several unidentified interviews filmed from a television screen, concluding with Edwin Meese. Can notes: "This is California Newsreel box 11 can 1. Contains:…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 011004
A warehouse fire, airplanes, a visit to a Mary A. Siegel's grave site, and the Liberty Memorial in Saint Louis, Missouri in the 1930s. On can: Groeber
Internet Archive
[Home movie: 098480: Home improvement projects in Ohio]
7 min., BW: Home improvement, building an awning, gardening, flower and cactus display, Ohio late 1940s or early 1950s
Internet Archive
When the White Man Came And After
Very static film. Some historical recreations of white conquest.
Internet Archive
Famous Tales: The Snow Man In July
Content notice: product of Nazi Germany. In this odd animated short for children, an Alpine snowman yearns to see summer and accomplishes this wish using…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 12075: Unidentified Detroit Family Collection 4
To come.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 11776: New Orleans LA Trips
to come
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Judith Uncle Louie Elk, 1948]
Notes in logbook.