Prelinger Archives

2,065–2,112 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 Today -and Yesterday Newsreel (1929) 1929 · Newsreel · Subtitles New York in the pre-jazz era, Fifth Avenue now in the Age of Gasoline!, the long skirt returns - A Duff Gordon Creation c. 1914 vs fashion 15 yrs later ,… Internet Archive Immigration 1946 · Film · Subtitles Map-Chart technique surveys chronologically and compactly the history of immigration up to the restrictive law of 1924. Economic, political and religious… Internet Archive Modern Sweden (aka Traveling the Middle Way in Sweden) 1940 · Film · Subtitles Title: "Cooperating to educate - Educated to cooperate; the Swedes have set an example which America may well take to heart." Largely focuses on history and… Internet Archive Leave It to Roll-Oh 1940 · Film · Subtitles ROLL-OH, THE DOMESTIC ROBOT, IS CONSTRUCTED TO TAKE CARE OF MANY DISAGREEABLE HOUSEHOLD CHORES. SCARES THE MAILMAN. GOOD HUMOROUS GAG FILM. Internet Archive [Gould can 5161.1] 1915 · Film · Subtitles Marshal Joffre leaves for the front to take personal command of the Battle of the Somme (World War I, France vs. Germany) Great footage from 1916 WWI Battle… Internet Archive Missions of California 1920 · Film · Subtitles Static shots of the California missions, many of them in states of disrepair. LS Pueblo Church in Los Angeles at a busy street corner with auto traffic… Internet Archive Golden Horizons 1955 · Film · Subtitles Sponsored film about the industry and infrastructure of Northern and Central California. Features footage filmed in many San Francisco Bay Area cities, with… Internet Archive Ways to Settle Disputes 1950 · Film · Subtitles ALICE, JERRY & EDDIE LEARN THRU EVERYDAY INCIDENTS AT PLAY & AT SCHOOL HOW DISPUTES CAN BE SETTLED BY COMPROMISE, BY OBEYING RULES, BY FINDING FACTS, OR BY… Internet Archive Poultry on the Farm 1937 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Internet Archive Fit as a Fiddle 2026 · Film · Subtitles A Sid Davis film. The film emphasizes the importance of physical fitness for both individual well-being and national strength. It discusses how physical… Internet Archive Profile: Jamison Handy (Part II) 1961 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Interview with Jam Handy (1886-1983), pioneer producer of sponsored and industrial films. The program, hosted by WWJ-TV host Bob Leslie, has low sound level… Internet Archive Sky Billboards 1935 · Film · Subtitles AN EXPLANATION OF SKYWRITING, CLIMAXED IN THE WRITING IN THE SKY OF CHEVROLET SLOGANS. 01:35:16:07-01:35:20:26 LS 3 big airplanes flying towards camera… Internet Archive Teaching With Sound Films 1936 · Film · Subtitles Early sound film on techniques of using sound educational films in the classroom. With sound on film showing teacher showing films in classroom before… Internet Archive Greenwich Village Sunday 1960 · Film · Subtitles Synopsis from distributor's release sheet is as follows: Though somewhat removed in time from the day of the Indians and the separate Colonial Village it once… Internet Archive More Deadly Than War: The Communist Revolution in America Film · Subtitles Lecture delivered by G. Edward Griffin. "In spite of the widespread belief that Communism is dead, this lecture given in 1968 is far from outdated. Communism… Internet Archive Let's Go Bowling (Part I) 1955 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Culture and practice of bowling in 1950s America. Internet Archive Down at Our Pond: A Film Lesson in Nature Study 1926 · Film · Subtitles 12:19:29:19 CU hand pours glass of frog eggs into tumbler; hand lifts spotted jelly blob of frog eggs from tumbler. 12:20:45:09 VS frog embryos in eggs;… Internet Archive The Story of Television 1956 · Film · Subtitles Narrative and graphic description of the birth of television by RCA, featuring David Sarnoff. Shows efforts of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Beach vacation, c. 1930] 1930 · Home movie · Subtitles Summary: Beach vacation with the wealthy. 1. Pier sequences with some people in rowboats and others on the pier. (black and white). 2. (color): Family with… Internet Archive Social Seminar: Guy 1971 · Short · 18 min · Subtitles Presents the experiences of Guy, a 15-year-old Mexican-American who spends a great deal of time stoned on reds. Shows his flight into passivity and escape… Internet Archive Frank and his Dog 1952 · Film · Subtitles Tells the story of how Penny, Frank's dog, feels neglected when his master is too busy to play with him. Penny chases a cat up a tree, but Frank forgives him… Internet Archive Twenty-Four Hours of Progress (Part II) 1950 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles How the oil industry is central to the American economy. Internet Archive Plastics (A Supplementary Film) 1944 · Film · Subtitles Surveys the growth of the plastic industry, stressing the new materials developed during World War II. Shows the manufacture and fabrication of articles from… Internet Archive Seventeen Days! A Story of Newspaper History in the Making 1945 · Film · Subtitles During the seventeen days of the newspaper delivery strike in New York, the public waited in two hour lines on the streets outside of newspaper plants in… Internet Archive Synthetic Fibers: Nylon and Rayon 1949 · Film · Subtitles Reveals how modern science and technology have made possible the development of new artificial fibers for making textiles -- specifically rayon and nylon.… Internet Archive Letter From Bataan, A 1944 · Film · Subtitles In the jungles of Bataan, two American soldiers, unable to see enemy planes because of night blindness are hit by a Japanese bomb. Pete is killed outright,… Internet Archive Venice of the North 1936 · Film · Subtitles VS sailing ships Canal city City scenes could be Amsterdam, St Petersburg, Stockholm or Bruges Internet Archive One Step Behind - One Step Ahead: The New York State Identification and Intelligence System in Action 1965 · Film · Subtitles Stock shots to be logged New York City, nighttime: man and woman rob drugstore New York Police Department dispatch center Teletypes, computers, IBM cards,… Internet Archive Pathé News 1935 · Film · Subtitles Shots to be logged. Victor by a Whisker. Described by Clem McCarthy. Wrestling match. Winter Grips Nation. Snow scenes from different parts of country. Polar… Internet Archive Pages From an Open Book (Part II) 1947 · Short · 20 min · Subtitles Report on Metropolitan Insurance business operations for 1947. PA9071 Pages From an Open Book 16 Koda print Internet Archive Machinist and Tool Maker, The 1942 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Internet Archive [Panama Canal] 1912 · Film · Subtitles Panama Canal: Ship on the Atlantic Ocean side of the canal / ship coming through the channel / the first (lower) lock seen from the Atlantic side / gates open… Internet Archive Kingdom of Plastics, The 1945 · Film · Subtitles Illustrates the properties and uses of both thermoplastic and thermosetting compounds in the 'FOURTH KINGDOM' of plastics. Internet Archive [California State Fair Highlights] 1913 · Short · 6 min · Subtitles Includes stunt in which two railroad locomotives collide head-on. Internet Archive Birth of An Oilfield 1948 · Film · Subtitles Shows how an oil well is drilled and crude oil is brought up from the ground and started on its way to the refinery. While live action is used to show… Internet Archive Only A Farmer's Daughter (Leading Lizzie Astray) 1914 · Film · Subtitles Silent comedy short featuring Fatty Arbuckle. Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - A Farm Boy Minta Durfee - Lizzie, the Farm Boy's Fiancée Ed Brady - A City Slicker… Internet Archive Chevrolet Leader News (Vol. 5, No. 2) 1939 · Film · Subtitles PUMPING WATER IN ARKANSAS RICE FIELDS. BACKYARD FACTORY TURNS OUT MODEL YACHT FITTINGS. POLICE STUDY STREET TRAFFIC BY MOVIES TAKEN FROM BALLOON. FLORIDA… Internet Archive Answer, An (Part II) 1962 · Film · Subtitles John F. Kennedy and other dignitaries review the second fleet and second marine division in action. Superb material of combat aircraft, battleships, carriers,… Internet Archive Kingdom of Plastics, The 1945 · Film · Subtitles Illustrates the properties and uses of both thermoplastic and thermosetting compounds in the 'FOURTH KINGDOM' of plastics. Internet Archive Roads to Romance 1951 · Film · Subtitles Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island; Pennsylvania Turnpike: Highway of Tomorrow; By Cayuga's Waters, Finger Lakes, New York; Lakes of the Twin Cities, Northern… Internet Archive Man to Man 1947 · Film · Subtitles INSTRUCTION IN SALESMANSHIP, PRESENTED FROM THE STANDPOINT OF ONE MAN'S EXPERIENCE. Salesman points to easel with these signs: "Don't Sell the Steak; Sell the… Internet Archive Democracy at Work in Rural Puerto Rico 1940 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Life and development in rural Puerto Rico. Internet Archive [Amateur film: Medicus collection: New York World's Fair, 1939-40] (Reel 4) (Part I) 1939 · Home movie · 20 min · Subtitles Detailed documentation of the "World of Tomorrow" in beautiful Kodachrome. Internet Archive Elsie Presents: Borden's Cottage Cheese 1950 · Film · Subtitles dairy cows manufacturing, testing and packing of cottage cheese delivery trucks leave plant to store supermarket shopping cottage cheese cuisine Internet Archive Happy Motoring Ahead! 1945 · Film · Subtitles 15:01:51:01 VS bus and cars passing Esso gas station; cars pulling out of gas station. 15:03:49:08 Father in shirt and tie reading newspaper with young boy on… Internet Archive [Miscellaneous Color Shots] Film · Subtitles Silent footage Family at Gas Station (1956 Ford spot) Family in 1956 Ford Crown Victoria driving down country road, looks a bit like Central California.… Internet Archive Patty Garman, Teen-ager 1946 · Film · Subtitles Depicts the 4-H work of Patty Garman such as caring for animals, cooking and sewing. Internet Archive Live and Learn 1951 · Film · Subtitles ILLUSTRATES THAT ACCIDENTS THAT HAPPEN AT HOME at PLAY CAN BE AVOIDED BY TAKING TIME TO THINK. GREAT SIMULATED ACCIDENTS, SOME SICK. FILMED IN Los Angeles,…