Prelinger Archives

2,017–2,064 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 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 San Francisco Earthquake Aftermath, Part 5 1906 · Film · Subtitles Scenes from an early newsreel of the fire and earthquake destruction of San Francisco in 1906 Internet Archive What About Drinking? 1954 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Open-ended discussion on teenage drinking. Internet Archive Maintenance of Roads 1920 · Film · Subtitles Some shots to be logged. Boy lies down on mother's lap while she sews up a tear in his pants. 08:15:24:15 Woman sits on coach sewing. Boy in with… Internet Archive Our Texas Heritage 1963 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles Depicts important historical events, from the establishment of Franciscan missions to the early 1900's. Illustrates the arrival of immigrants with their… Internet Archive Rhythm of Production: Automatic Mass Production with Progress Through Machinery, The 1957 · Film · Subtitles PA-1238 Rhythm of Production: Automatic Mass Production w/ Progress Through Machinery 00:20:18:23 - 00:28:51:11 Color Silent 1957 Title credits: "The Rhythm… Internet Archive American Look 1958 · Film · Subtitles A "tribute to the American stylist," American Look shows families at leisure, children dressed in cowboy and cowgirl outfits watching television, a father… Internet Archive 500,000 to One 1954 · Film · Subtitles Did you know that if a pair of flies was left to breed unhindered for six months, the contiguous U.S. would be buried beneath a stratum of files 4 1/2 feet… Internet Archive Tomorrow Always Comes (Part I) 1941 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Time-travel story promoting rayon lingerie. Internet Archive Threading the RCA Projector 1950 · Film · Subtitles The film provides a detailed guide on how to thread an RCA 400 projector. It explains the steps to properly place the film on the feed arm, check the winding,… Internet Archive The Ducktators 1942 · Film · Subtitles Content warning: contains harmful ethnic and cultural stereotypes. "A wartime cartoon that satirizes the Axis leaders of World War II."… Internet Archive Movie Trailers ("Independence Day, 1940" Promotion) 1940 · Film · Subtitles Patriotic trailer shown in theaters prior to the fourth of July, 1940. Internet Archive Day in America, A (Part I) 1968 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Patriotic mosaic of American scenes at the height of the Vietnam War. Internet Archive Law and Social Controls 1949 · Film · Subtitles EXAMINES THE 3 AREAS OF SOCIAL CONTROL--CUSTOMS, MORAL CODES & LAWS. EXPLAINS SOME OF THE LEVELS OF LAW, SUCH AS LOCAL & NATIONAL. Internet Archive Day of Thanksgiving, A 1951 · Film · Subtitles [Educational Screen, Oct 1951] This film relates the experiences of a middle-class American family when they are stimulated to review the things for which… Internet Archive Man and His Culture 1954 · Film · Subtitles Shows, in the imaginative form of a 'REPORT FROM OUTER SPACE,' how the ways of mankind might appear to visitors from another planet. Considers the things most… Internet Archive Angry Boy 1950 · Film · Subtitles This simple and affecting story tells how Tommy Randall comes to understand the anger that has led him to steal money from his teacher's purse. It shows how… Internet Archive Vision in the Forest 1957 · Film · Subtitles A family camps in a beautiful forest, and Smokey Bear teaches them to prevent forest fires. Internet Archive The Earth Belongs to the People 1971 · Film · Subtitles Newsreel #57. From the Newsreel catalog, 1971-72: "A radical analysis of the ecology crisis, the film dispels the myths that big business and big government… Internet Archive Introduction to Foreign Trade 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Cold War-era treatise on globalization. Internet Archive American Look 1958 · Film · Subtitles A "tribute to the American stylist," American Look shows families at leisure, children dressed in cowboy and cowgirl outfits watching television, a father… Internet Archive Self Preservation In An Atomic Attack 1950 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles Soldiers prepare themselves, just in case the big one hits. Internet Archive Our Living Constitution 1949 · Film · Subtitles Shows how the Constitution operates in our society. Points out the various elements written into the Constitution and the changes and additions made by our… Internet Archive Your Chance of a Lifetime! 1941 · Film · Subtitles In 1941, the United States is experiencing an unprecedented industrial boom fueled by government investments exceeding $44 billion. This surge in production… Internet Archive Waves of Green 1950 · Film · Subtitles TRIBUTE TO AMERICA'S LAND-GRANT COLLEGES. GOOD AGRICULTURE and FARM MATERIAL. SHIPS, MARINE, SEA SHOTS. SAILORS DISCUSS GREATNESS OF AMERICA. Internet Archive Building a Highway 1948 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Major steps in the construction of a two-lane (pre-Interstate) highway. Internet Archive Poultry on the Farm 1937 · Film · Subtitles Appraisal. Reported very good for (1) giving information about various types of poultry and (2) showing the incubation and hatching of an egg. Found useful in… Internet Archive Five Mile Dream, The 1958 · Film · Subtitles building of the Mackinac Bridge, Michigan Internet Archive Kentucky Pioneers 1941 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Follows pioneer families along wilderness road to Kentucky. Shows their schools, recreation and everyday tasks, such as weaving, soap-making, cooking,… Internet Archive Detroit: City on the Move 1965 · Film · Subtitles worth noting: Nice nighttime aerial shots of Detroit in the beginning. • 3:08:72- 3:17:45 Aerial view of complex highway system (comprised largely of… Internet Archive Children Must Learn, The 1940 · Film · Subtitles "This film is an authentic record of real people, living their usual lives. It documents one of several experiments carried on by various state universities… Internet Archive Table Manners 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Emily Post narrates this traditionally minded film. Internet Archive Unid. Soundie (Juvenile Jubilee) 1940 · Film · Subtitles All girl xylophone band. 00:13:51:10 - 00:16:14:08 B/W Sound 1940s Vibraphone jazz band performs instrumental song on Greek-themed set. Male bandleader plays… Internet Archive Midwest Holiday 1952 · Film · Subtitles PRESENTS THE MICHIGAN DUNES TO THE GRAND TETONS OF WYOMING. SHOWS MOUNT RUSHMORE IN S. DAK'S BLACK HILLS, MINNESOTA'S IRON RANGE, LINCOLN'S HOME, TOM SAWYER'S… Internet Archive Columbia Revolt (Part II) 1969 · Short · 24 min · Subtitles Documentary on the Columbia University student strike and takeover in 1969. Internet Archive America for Me (Part II) 1950 · Short · 15 min · 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. Internet Archive Thought for Food 1933 · Film · Subtitles MEAL PLANNING; FOOD SCIENCE. WORK OF KROGER FOOD FOUNDATION. HUSBAND & WIFE ARGUE AT BREAKFAST TABLE RE: MEAL PLANNING. WIFE TURNS ON EARLY TELEVISION SET… Internet Archive [Amateur film: Medicus collection: New York World's Fair, 1939-40] (Reel 6) (Part III) 1939 · Home movie · 19 min · Subtitles Detailed documentation of the "World of Tomorrow" in beautiful Kodachrome. Internet Archive Soundie - Sweet Sue (Just You) Film · Subtitles Features Six Hits & A Miss and the all-women Lorraine Page Orchestra. The song's words & music by Will Harris & Victor Young Internet Archive Swingin' Six Short · 14 min · Subtitles 0574 PA8278 Swingin' Six Internet Archive Freedom to Learn 1954 · Short · 26 min · Subtitles When, due to the well-meaning fears of parents, a high school social studies teacher is charged with teaching communism, she explains why she teaches about… Internet Archive Emergency School Bus Evacuation 1976 · Film · Subtitles Teaches youngsters basic understanding of all procedures for evacuating a school bus under emergency conditions. Shot in Carlsbad, California, there are some… Internet Archive Navajo Canyon Country 1954 · Film · Subtitles Shows Navajo people in their native country and gives a brief description of their way of life today. Internet Archive The Airport in the Jet Age 1962 · Film · Subtitles Revised edition of 'THE AIRPORT.' Explores a large metropolitan jet airport, from the traffic control tower to the baggage-processing center. Shows glimpses… Internet Archive Day Called X, The 1955 · Film · Subtitles Documents the well-oiled atomic evacuation plan of Portland, Oregon, in the heyday of nuclear preparedness. Nothing to fear here! Internet Archive I Am a Doctor 1959 · Film · Subtitles This film is a reflective and didactic exploration of the medical profession, presented through a series of recorded introspective monologues by a doctor.… Internet Archive Quacks and Nostrums 1959 · Film · Subtitles Shows the ways in which medical quacks dupe the consumer and the steps taken by local and federal agencies to protect the public. A young man grows concerned… Internet Archive New Oregon Trail 1938 · Film · Subtitles Lots of scenic images of diverse reaches of Oregon’s natural landscape 02:00:19:13 Man on row boat pulls large salmon out of Rogue River, Oregon. 02:00:54:07… Internet Archive All Out for Victory 1943 · Film · Subtitles "We know that victory is won only through the sweat of workers and the blood of soldiers. Out there, there isn't one unimportant soldier, back here there…