Prelinger Archives

49–96 of 10,345 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 OnesFilms for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool.
KidsCartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature.
TweensDocumentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures.
TeensEverything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower.
AdultSexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage.
Internet Archive Lucky Strike Cigarette Commercial: Square Dance 1948 · Commercial · Subtitles Lucky Strike cigarette commercial with stop-motion animation of square-dancing cigarettes. Internet Archive Miracle on the Delaware 1955 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Mid-Fifties slices of life and landscape in Philadelphia and surrounding towns. With excellent color footage of downtown scenes, neighborhoods, the Mummers… Internet Archive Survival Under Atomic Attack 1951 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles "Explains" the dangers of the atomic bomb, the effects of radiation and how to protect oneself if caught in the open or in the home. Internet Archive Meet King Joe 1949 · Film · Subtitles Presents "King Joe" as the average American working man who, by virtue of his high wages and short hours, is king of the world's workers. Internet Archive Century 21 Calling 1964 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Romp through the futuristic landscape of the Seattle World's Fair, centered in the Bell System pavilion. Internet Archive What Makes Us Tick 1952 · Film · Subtitles The animated film explores the life of a typical American family, focusing on John Q Public, who manages his finances through investments and savings. It… Internet Archive To New Horizons 1940 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Definitive document of pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General Motors. Documents the "Futurama" exhibit in GM's "Highways and… Internet Archive Wartime Nutrition 1943 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Wartime work of public welfare agencies in the field of nutrition. Internet Archive Your Name Here 1960 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles The ultimate generic industrial film, built around every script and visual cliche. Internet Archive A is for Atom 1953 · Film · Subtitles Presents in lay terms what an atom is, how energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peace-time uses of atomic energy and the by-products of nuclear… Internet Archive 17 Days: The Story of Newspaper History in the Making 1945 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles How a New York City newspaper delivery drivers' strike in 1945 failed to divert readers' interest in their favorite newspapers. Shows the newspapers of the… Internet Archive Shake Hands With Danger 1970 · Short · 23 min · Subtitles Safety film about dangers associated with earthmoving equipment operation, showing many great simulated accidents on construction sites. CONTENT ADVISORY: May… Internet Archive General Health Habits 1928 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Personal hygiene, 1920s-style. Internet Archive Out of This World 1954 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Sales training film for duPont Film Division (cellophane), featuring an angel and devil monitoring the activities of bakery salesmen on earth, and explaining… Internet Archive Relaxed Wife, The 1957 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Remarkable, surreal industrial film promoting "Atarax," a tranquilizer, and asserting how "ataraxic medicines" can help us all to achieve the relaxed state we… Internet Archive Good Table Manners 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles A bad-mannered 14-year-old meets himself as a young man of 21, and learns the fundamentals of good table manners. Internet Archive [Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire, A] 1906 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles PLEASE NOTE: A much higher-quality DV version (2.3 GB) now available at http://www.archive.org/details/TripDownMarketStreetrBeforeTheFire Pictures San… Internet Archive Build Your Vocabulary 1948 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Dramatizes the story of a father, who, after finding himself at a loss for words at a public meeting, follows his son's lead and starts a campaign of… Internet Archive How a Watch Works 1949 · Cartoon · 18 min · Subtitles A simple demonstration of the basic design and operation of a watch, including stop-motion animation showing a watch being assembled from many parts. Internet Archive It's Everybody's Business 1954 · Cartoon · 19 min · Subtitles Corporate Cold War-era cartoon linking Bill of Rights to free-enterprise ideology. Internet Archive Lucky Strike Cigarette Commercial: Marching Cigarettes 1948 · Commercial · 1 min · Subtitles Lucky Strike cigarette commercial with stop-motion animation of marching cigarettes. Internet Archive Wonderful World 1959 · Film · Subtitles PA-2177 ìWonderful Worldî 08:01:14:28 - 08:45:06:23 Color Sound 1959 "Wonderful World" Broad documentary surveying global cultures, lifestyles, emphasizing… Internet Archive American Look (Part I) 1958 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles The definitive Populuxe film on 1950s automotive, industrial, interior and architectural design. (6383_American_Look_M04199_01_22_19_00) Internet Archive Preventing the Spread of Disease 1940 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Health film using unusual imagery and metaphors to impart lessons in hygiene. Internet Archive Touch of Magic, A 1961 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles General Motors 1961 Motorama film presenting new cars, appliances and futuristic ideas at their most banal. Internet Archive Tale of Two Cities, A 1946 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles How the atomic bomb destroyed the people and cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Internet Archive Cindy Goes to a Party 1955 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Cindy, a tomboy unsure of her social status, dreams of a party where her fairy godmother gives her etiquette lessons, and wakes up to receive her very own… Internet Archive Naturally - a Girl 1973 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Uses vignettes, animation and comments by girls and boys to explore the medical facts and some personal feelings about menstruation. Internet Archive Home Economics Story, The 1951 · Film · Subtitles This idealized story of four years in the life of Kay, Jean, Helen, and Louise evokes the lost world of Iowa State's Home Economics Division in the fifties.… Internet Archive Time Savers for House Makers 1936 · Film · Subtitles Screen ad for instant laundry starch. Internet Archive City, The (Part I) 1939 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles The Regional Planning Association of America's plea for community chaotic cities and urban sprawl. Directors: Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke. Script:… Internet Archive Exercise and Health 1949 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles How exercise will make you healthy and popular. Internet Archive Signal 30 (Part I) 1959 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Legendary "shock" driving safety film featuring numerous scenes of mutilated cars and injured/dead people and a voiceover lacking in compassion. Produced in… Internet Archive This Charming Couple 1950 · Short · 18 min · Subtitles Marriage training film dramatizing a partnership too fraught with conflicts to survive. Produced as part of a post-World War II initiative to make marriages… Internet Archive Once Upon a Honeymoon 1956 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Delightful musical made to promote color telephones as a decorator accessory in the home. Internet Archive [Knife-Thrower and Children] 1950 · Newsreel · 1 min · Subtitles Texas: Knife-thrower Louella Gallagher throws knives at her daughters Connie Ann, 5, and Colleena Sue, 2-1/2, missing them skillfully as the knives enter a… Internet Archive Symptoms in Schizophrenia 1940 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Shows masked mental patients enacting various schizophrenic symptoms as they were understood at the time. A disturbing film that raises questions about the… Internet Archive Around the Corner 1937 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles How the automobile differential allows a vehicle to turn a corner while keeping the wheels from skidding. Internet Archive Detroit: City on the Move 1965 · Short · 18 min · Subtitles Promotional film made for the City of Detroit, an unsuccessful bidder for the Olympic Games. With views of city highways, automobile manufacturing, a diverse… Internet Archive Classic Television Commercials (Part III) 1948 · Commercial · 9 min · Subtitles Collection of TV commercials significant to the history and development of TV as an advertising medium. Internet Archive Classic Television Commercials (Part V) 1948 · Commercial · 9 min · Subtitles Collection of TV commercials significant to the history and development of TV as an advertising medium. Internet Archive Atomic Alert (Elementary version) 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Frightening civil defense procedure film aimed at Cold War-era elementary school students. Internet Archive 6 1/2 Magic Hours 1958 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles The comfort and delight of transatlantic air travel at the beginning of the jet age. Internet Archive Finding his voice : an animated cartoon synchronized to voice & sound 1929 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Cartoon showing how sound motion pictures work, produced by a company that was an innovator in the field. Story by W.E. Erpi (pseudonym for Western Electric,… Internet Archive Mental Hospital 1953 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles A University of Oklahoma Production. Produced for the Oklahoma State Department of Health in cooperation with the State of Oklahoma Department of Mental… Internet Archive Classic Television Commercials (Part VIII) 1948 · Commercial · 10 min · Subtitles Collection of TV commercials significant to the history and development of TV as an advertising medium. Internet Archive Young Man's Fancy (Part I) 1952 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Astonishing sitcom-style sponsored film encouraging increased consumption of electricity by an ever-increasing number of appliances. The plot pits a… Internet Archive Just Imagine 1947 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Animated character "Tommy Telephone" produces a telephone by assembling 433 separate parts.