Prelinger Archives

145–192 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 Booked for Safekeeping (Part I) 1960 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Fascinating documentary made to train police officers in the assistance and management of mentally ill and confused persons, produced in New Orleans by… Internet Archive Supervising Women Workers 1944 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Management addresses the special problems of women workers with concern and a heavy dose of sexism. Internet Archive Truth About Taxes, The 1940 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Republican party campaign film on behalf of Wendell Willkie for U.S. president in the 1940 elections. Internet Archive City, The (Part II) 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 [San Francisco Earthquake Aftermath, Part 3 1906 · Short · 7 min · Subtitles Chilling post-earthquake footage, shot in the Western Addition and on Market Street in San Francisco. The first sequence (Western Addition) shows a great deal… Internet Archive Young Man's Fancy (Part II) 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 Challenge of Ideas, The (Part I) 1961 · Short · 25 min · Subtitles John Wayne, Edward R. Murrow and others discuss the ideological battle between U.S. and Soviet Union. Internet Archive Leave It to Roll-Oh 1940 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles Tongue-in-cheek film showing a domestic robot freeing housewives of their chores (and intimating that their work is hardly necessary); actually a promo… Internet Archive Printing 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Printing occupations, opportunities and technologies before electronics and computers changed the world. Internet Archive Wonderful World of Wash 'n' Wear, The 1958 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Synthetic fabrics plus electric laundry equipment make washday a pleasure. Host: Jeffrey Lynn. Internet Archive How Do You Know It's Love? 1950 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles Gives students a basis for thinking clearly about real love and shows that mere conviction of love is not enough to insure lasting happiness. A drama. Internet Archive Report on Puerto Rico, U.S.A. 1955 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Promotes the social and economic benefits of commonwealth status for Puerto Rico. Internet Archive Beginning to Date 1953 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles An insecure young teen boy who has just reached dating age learns how to plan and enjoy a date (with a girl at least one foot taller than him). With Studs… Internet Archive Road Runners 1952 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Outlaw hotrodders become law-abiding gearheads after a community organizes supervised racing clubs and timing associations. Internet Archive Immigration 1946 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Reviews the history of immigration to the United States up to the restrictive law passed in 1924. A dramatized scene in a European steamship office is used to… Internet Archive [Amateur film: Summers collection: San Francisco, California, 1941] (Part I) 1941 · Home movie · 13 min · Subtitles Evocative silent Kodachrome compendium of San Francisco scenes just before the U.S. entered World War II, concentrating on aerials, Chinatown, Market Street,… Internet Archive Going Steady? 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Attempts to provoke teens into discussion on the complex issue of going steady. Provides little support for the practice. Internet Archive Nature of Sound, The 1948 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Boy uses his radio equipment to demonstrate how sound is produced and transmitted. Internet Archive Operation Correction (Part I) 1961 · Short · 21 min · Subtitles In May 1960, students and progressive activists opposed to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) demonstrated when HUAC held hearings in San… Internet Archive Master Hands (Part I) 1936 · Short · 4 min · Subtitles Classic "capitalist realist" drama showing the manufacture of Chevrolets from foundry to finished vehicles. Though ostensibly a tribute to the "master hands"… Internet Archive Control Your Emotions 1950 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Well-balanced emotions help to create a well-rounded personality, especially in teenagers. Internet Archive At the End of the Rainbow (Part I) 1946 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Sponsored film promoting ultraviolet light: its history, physics and health-giving properties. Internet Archive Revolutionary New Triumph in Tape, A 1958 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Introducing the giant four-track tape cartridge, an obsolete consumer recording format that survived for eight years. Internet Archive Brink of Disaster 1972 · Film · Subtitles Film opens with montage of scenes of student protest. Credits occur over this sequence. Loosely structured as a narrative in which John Smith (a college… Internet Archive Out of This World 1964 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles This 1964 vintage promotional film by Frigidaire, a division of General Motors, presents a visionary glimpse into the future through a blend of futuristic… Internet Archive Marriage Is a Partnership 1951 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Flashback on the problems, adjustments and transformations occurring in the first year of a couple's married life. Internet Archive Town and the Telephone, The 1950 · Short · 27 min · Subtitles Employee orientation film for telephone company workers explaining structure and corporate values of the Bell System. With excellent footage of communications… Internet Archive Operation Correction (Part II) 1961 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles In May 1960, students and progressive activists opposed to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) demonstrated when HUAC held hearings in San… Internet Archive Radio and Television 1940 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles View of the radio industry as it existed in 1940, showing potential occupations at every level. Introduces the new industry of television, emphasizing its… Internet Archive Soundie - Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens 1940 · Film · Subtitles An amazing short by an "orchestra" of vibraphone players. Some viewers have noted that this film seems to be a mirror image of how things are supposed to be.… Internet Archive Conquer by the Clock 1943 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Encourages American workers to make the best possible use of their time in a war where industrial production and combat are synchronized on an international… Internet Archive More Power to You 1930 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles How oil is drilled, transported, refined, reformulated, and consumed. Narrator: Lowell Thomas. Internet Archive This Is My Railroad (Part I) 1940 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles Operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with many images of the territory that it serves. With excellent footage of snow management and removal… Internet Archive Television Commercials (1950s-1960s) 1950 · Commercial · 24 min · Subtitles Examples of broadcast advertising from the 1950s and 1960s. Internet Archive Office Etiquette 1950 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Do's and don'ts film portraying ways in which office etiquette contributes to success in office relationships. Follows a young woman who is seeking her first… Internet Archive Age 13 (Part I) 1955 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles The inner life of an "at-risk" teenager, told in an idiosyncratic and often surreal manner. A key film by Sid Davis, who is beginning to emerge as one of the… Internet Archive Plane Talk 1965 · Commercial · 21 min · Subtitles Shows the varied forms of communications used by commercial air carriers in confirming reservations, preparing aircraft for flight, monitoring aircraft in… Internet Archive Nation at Your Fingertips, The 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles How direct long distance dialing made the U.S. a smaller place, and how instantaneous direct communication between Americans without operator assistance… Internet Archive White Wonder 1958 · Short · 27 min · Subtitles Salt, its extraction and uses in national defense, industry, agriculture, and the home. A feast of late-1950s imagery of everyday life, culture and industry. Internet Archive Cancer Educational · Subtitles Produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films, in collaboration with William B. Wartman, M.D., School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Producer: Warren P.… Internet Archive Down the Gasoline Trail 1935 · Cartoon · 7 min · Subtitles Cartoon showing what happens to a drop of gasoline from the time it flows into the gas tank to when it is exploded in the engine cylinder. This "fantastic… Internet Archive Match Your Mood 1968 · Short · 6 min · Subtitles Promotional film for Westinghouse refrigerator line featuring a system of sticker-like decorations enabling purchasers to style their appliances as they… Internet Archive Act Your Age 1949 · Film · Subtitles High school boy who has scratched his desk is lectured by principal on acting his age. Teen girls and boys turn into 5-year-olds, illustrating infantile… Internet Archive Body Care and Grooming 1948 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles Exhaustive (and sexist) explanation of personal care and daily habits of cleanliness, demonstrating how to keep the skin, hair, nails, and teeth clean and… Internet Archive Seduction of the Innocent 1966 · Film · Subtitles Sid's remake of The Terrible Truth is, in many ways, superior to it, if only because by the mid-sixties there were a lot more ways for kids to get themselves… Internet Archive America For Me 2026 · Film · Subtitles Two young women take a Greyhound Bus tour across America. Includes a love story and a great song at the end - the whole bus breaks into song. 14:24:51:14 VS… Internet Archive Child Went Forth, A 1942 · Educational · 19 min · Subtitles Poetic exposition of a child's day at a modern (progressive education-minded) summer camp. Produced by John Ferno and Joseph Losey. Internet Archive Army Nurse, The 1945 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles Shows the daily life and work of the Army nurse, including training and off-duty activities.