Prelinger Archives

1,441–1,488 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 Jealousy 1954 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Dramatizes the origin and nature of a wife's jealousy. Internet Archive About Bananas 1935 · Film · Subtitles This film takes the place of an earlier one titled "Banana Land." Complete presentation of the banana industry from the clearing of the jungle and the… Internet Archive Living Past (Part 3) 1953 · Newsreel · 12 min · Subtitles The Living Past, produced by Charles H. Tarbox, written and edited by Monroe Manning. 0634 PA8733 Living Past (Part 3) Internet Archive Radiological Defense 1961 · Short · 26 min · Subtitles Nuclear fallout menaces Americans. Internet Archive Arranging a Buffet Supper 1946 · Short · 5 min · Subtitles The American tradition of the buffet supper is shown in its simple preparation. A "must" for the homemaker or hostess. One of the satellite films that… Internet Archive American Maker 1960 · Film · Subtitles Relates how Americans build, from youth throughout life, by using their ingenuity not only in technological advancement but in everyday efforts by everyone.… Internet Archive Long Way Home, The 1956 · Film · Subtitles 1950s documentary in the neorealist style. Film reminiscent of Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D. Old man is evicted from his apartment, tired and alone, visits… Internet Archive From Trees to Tribunes (Part II) 1931 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Everything that happens to produce an issue of the Chicago Tribune, from logging to newswriting and cartooning. Internet Archive Safety: Harm Hides at Home Short · 16 min · Subtitles Uses a story about children who are rescued from accidents at home to create an awareness of home safety and provides examples for accident prevention. Internet Archive Lucky Junior 1948 · Film · Subtitles Shows how babies born in Michigan enjoy better health and freedom from disease due to excellent medical care in Michigan. Includes shots of babies, children… Internet Archive Snob, The 1958 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Why is a high-school girl such a snob? Internet Archive Rain for the Earth (Part I) 1937 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Drought in the Dust Bowl and efforts to combat it. Internet Archive Mainline U.S.A. 1957 · Film · Subtitles Railroad film with many images with shots of the American landscape. Internet Archive Work of the Stock Exchange 1941 · Film · Subtitles Examines each step of incorporation and listing of stock. Illustrates the details of buying and selling operations on the exchange floor and in the broker's… Internet Archive [Norman Goddard and His Glider] 1929 · Short · 6 min · Subtitles Stanford, California: Norman Goddard photographed with his glider and in the air; scenes with wife. Internet Archive Developing Self-Reliance 1951 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS HOW DEPENDENCY GROWS & YET HOW NECESSARY SELF-RELIANCE IS TO ALL SUCCESSFUL ENDEAVOR & HAPPINESS. ANALYZES THE STEPS IN DEVELOPING SELF-RELIANCE-ASSUME… Internet Archive Beef Rings the Bell 2026 · Film · Subtitles MOS EXCELLENT shots (in beautiful color) of cattle ranches, cowboys herding cattle, cattle auction. Butcher cutting sides of beef. SUPERB early 1960s backyard… Internet Archive Ship Ahoy! 1928 · Film · Subtitles On old sailing vessels that are still in use. Seems to segue into a travelogue about Navy sailors in Hawaii. Internet Archive Birds of Prey 1938 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Study of owls, vultures, hawks and eagles. Internet Archive Fears of Children 1951 · Film · Subtitles FEARS OF CHILDREN, the third in a series of mental health films entitled "Emotions of Everyday Living," is a film about Paul, a normal five-year-old, and his… Internet Archive American Girl, An - the Problems of Prejudice (Part II) 1958 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles An adolescent girl in a small town tests her democratic heritage when she pretends to be Jewish and encounters prejudice. She explores the problem of… Internet Archive Something to Be Proud Of 1951 · Film · Subtitles Great weird shot of man opening door.Color wedding scene at the end.18:23:08:06 Camera slowly moves in on businessman behind desk passing beneath sign for… Internet Archive Anyone at All: Safety in the Community 1954 · Film · Subtitles 01:35:13:26 CU shadow of kid on tricycle; boy on tricycle rides past camera; POV shot from tricycle, car enters frame with headlight at eye level; cuts to… Internet Archive Journey Into Light 1973 · Film · Subtitles on Kitt Peak National Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona VS observatory activity Shots of solar flares young man typing at console of Control Data CDC6400… Internet Archive [Bongo Boards] Newsreel · Subtitles Palo Alto, California: Models in swimsuits gyrate on Bongo Boards. Newsreel story. ca. 1950s Internet Archive Sudden Birth (Outs) 1966 · Film · Subtitles Filmed in Berkeley, Calif., with Berkeley police officers and emergency personnel. Childbirth outtakes Internet Archive School Rules: How They Help Us 1953 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS EVERYDAY SCENES IN WHICH RULES INFLUENCE OUR BEHAVIOR. SHOWS WAYS NEW STUDENT CAN LEARN RULES, WHY EXCEPTIONS CAN'T BE GRANTED. Internet Archive Baby's Day at 12 Weeks, A 1935 · Film · Subtitles "In this picture the infant is followed through his domestic day from the time of his waking at six o'clock in the morning until the final breast feeding at… Internet Archive It Happens Every Noon 1966 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Describes the National School Lunch Program, which is designed to provide from a third to one-half of the student's daily nutritional needs. Explains the… Internet Archive Play In The Snow 1945 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Shows children enjoying winter sports, making a snow man, playing fox and geese, sledding and skiing. Internet Archive Children of Japan 1941 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Shows home, work and school activities of a middle-class Japanese family. Internet Archive Passenger Train, The 1940 · Film · Subtitles Contents. An account of a train journey. Passengers arrive by cabs at the station. After they purchase their tickets, they pass through the gates to the track… Internet Archive Remote Control 1941 · Film · Subtitles "MANY OF THE NECESSARY DEVICES OF OUR MODERN WORLD ARE OPERATED BY REMOTE CONTROL. EARLY ILLUSTRATION OF THE MARIONETTE DANCERS IS USED, THEN ACTION… Internet Archive Folgers Coffee Commercial 1960 · Commercial · Subtitles Folgers Coffee TV Commercial Internet Archive Electronic Computers Improve Management Control 1957 · Film · Subtitles Shows how a solution to a specific management control problem may be provided by electronic data processing methods. Describes a variety of new business… Internet Archive Roads to Romance (Part II) Film · Subtitles Travelogue, made for theatrical showing and commissioned by Cheverolet, promoting tourism by car in several Natural Parks, including Cayuga Lake in New York,… Internet Archive Life Cycle of the Mosquito, The Educational · 11 min · Subtitles Distributed by Young America Films, Presented by Emerson Yorke Studios in New York City, with cooperation and contributions from the US Public Health Service,… Internet Archive Hare and the Tortoise, The 1947 · Film · Subtitles PRESENTS THE FABLE BY AESOP IN WHICH THE STEADY TORTOISE DEFEATS THE HARE IN A RACE. USES REAL ANIMALS AS CHARACTERS IN THE FABLE. An all-star cast of real… Internet Archive Where the Sun Reigns! 1955 · Film · Subtitles Great shot of Dade County and Greater Miami Florida in 1950s. Great aerials of Miami and Dade County Florida. 06:00:57:08 Couple on water skis pulled by speed… Internet Archive Pearl of the Orient 1955 · Short · 21 min · Subtitles Coca-Cola's presence in Philippine culture. Internet Archive [Previews of Coming Attractions trailer] 1940 · Short · Subtitles Old movie trailer with fanfare, opening door, animation and title: Previews of Coming Attractions. Internet Archive "Your Name Here" Story, The (Outtakes) 1964 · Film · Subtitles Outtakes and unused footage from "The 'Your Name Here' Story. PA-0815 / Rolls 9097; 9073; 9074; 9080; 9076; 9072; 9075 (unknown in which order) 04:00:53:17 CU… Internet Archive News Digest No. 4 1938 · Film · Subtitles Crisis: Hitler Alarms Nervous Europe map showing German incursions into Central and Eastern Europe VS 10 Downing Street Neville Chamberlain, Anthony Eden… Internet Archive Washington in War Time 1942 · Film · Subtitles "Washington in Wartime" depicts the bustling activity in the U.S. capital during World War II, showcasing the determination of its citizens and leaders to… Internet Archive X Marks the Spot 1944 · Film · Subtitles 22:31:27:02 - 22:52:36:02 B/W Sound 1944 "X Marks the Spot" by the State of New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles. Prologue delivered by Commissioner Arthur… Internet Archive Twins Are Individuals: From Infancy to Adolescence 1946 · Film · Subtitles Uses animation to consider lives of two identical twins who develop completely different personalities. Comments on leveling power of American Society. In… Internet Archive Case Against Lincoln Center, The 1968 · Film · Subtitles On the Lincoln Center redevelopment project and the destruction of community on New York City's Upper West Side. With many shots of Puerto Ricans and their… Internet Archive When Work Is Done 1943 · Film · Subtitles How the town of Sylacauga, Alabama extended a welcome to war plant workers. Community building between towns and workers from out of town in 1940s. Footage of…