Prelinger Archives

3,169–3,216 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 Behavior Therapy: An Introduction 1978 · Film · Subtitles Educational film about basics of behavior therapy and the three ways behaviors are developed in humans. Internet Archive Data Processing Division 2026 · Film · Subtitles 22:01:45:13 1970s women in office working at keyboards on machines printing envelopes. 22:02:00:22 Moving camera behind women working at desks in large… Internet Archive [News Magazine of the Screen, January 1951] 1951 · Newsreel · 18 min · Subtitles Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use. Internet Archive [Home movie: 098388: Alaska-Canada Highway c1970] 1970 · Home movie 17 min., color: Road trip through the Northwest Territories and Yukon on the ALCAN Highway, with landscape and wildlife scenery including rivers, a car ferry… Internet Archive Garden Wise (Pt 1) Film · Subtitles About the benefits of fertilizing and putting chemicals made by the Monsanto Company on your lawn and garden. Internet Archive Your Chance to Live: Technological Failures Short · 11 min · Subtitles 0739 PA8862 Your Chance to Live: Technological Failures Internet Archive America's Safest Tire 1940 · Film Stunt driving footage Montage of a few Hollywood scenes How Fisk tires allow safe stopping at shorter distances. Internet Archive Moral Leadership: The Whole Man 1963 · Short · 21 min · Subtitles An Air Force sergeant faces moral and psychological dilemmas. Internet Archive Cable Car Ride on Market Street 1905-1906, Before and After Earthquake, A Film · Subtitles Great perspective shot from front of cable car riding down Market Street in San Francisco before 1906 earthquake and after. Footage of San Francisco… Internet Archive Home Movie: 98627: Hand Ball Home movie To come. Internet Archive The Green City 1963 · Film · Subtitles "Shows how green space and open space is being thoughtlessly gobbled up by the urbanizing process. Demonstrates how development can take place without… Internet Archive Film Research and Learning 1956 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles Presentation of research studies on the value of motion pictures in teaching. Internet Archive Economy Twins Cigar Ernie (60-339) (Ford TV Spot 1960) 1960 · Film · Subtitles TV commercial with Tennessee Ernie Ford. Includes peanuts cartoon. Internet Archive Brooklyn Goes to San Francisco 1956 · Film · Subtitles A native of Brooklyn tours San Francisco and comments on the cable cars, the hilly terrain, the Golden Gate Bridge, Nob Hill, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf,… Internet Archive Fire! Patty Learns What to Do 1951 · Film · Subtitles ACTUAL HAPPENINGS AT THE GARMAN'S FARM WHERE A TERRIBLE FIRE, WHICH BURNED 50 HOMES, WAS STOPPED AT THEIR DOOR. THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON IN THE FILM IS THE… Internet Archive [Pathe News: Goodman Lumber Fire] 1949 · Newsreel · 5 min · Subtitles Newsreel featuring a conflagration at the famous San Francisco lumberyard. Internet Archive Best Made Plans, The 1956 · Film · Subtitles Uses the setting of a young child's birthday party to show how Saran Wrap can be used both for food preservation in the refrigerator and freezer and as an… Internet Archive No Ghosts 1935 · Film " A DRAMATIZATION OF THE Y-K FRAME, WITH ESPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE RIGIDITY OF THE FRAME & THE ELIMINATION OF SQUEAKS & RATTLES." Nice "haunted house" imagery… Internet Archive [Mt. Tamalpais Air Force Station, Marin County, California] 1950 · Film · Subtitles MT. TAMALPAIS: Air Force allows a glimpse at its aircraft radar warning center atop mountain. Internet Archive Manners in School 1959 · Film · Subtitles CHALKY, A CARTOON CHARACTER, TEACHES LARRY ABOUT GOOD MANNERS IN SCHOOL. Internet Archive Home Movie: 97483: St. Louis Area Family, Reel 15 1967 · Home movie Screening notes state: Baby boy wears earrings wedding birthday Mom is now a blonde boy with hose boy cries when hose is shut off slide / swing Grandma is 78… Internet Archive News Magazine of the Screen, The 1951 · Film · Subtitles President Auriol of France visits the United States. Inside the Chalk River atomic plant. General Douglas McArthur returns to the United States, visiting San… Internet Archive Soundie - A Jazz Etude 1941 · Short · 2 min · Subtitles danced by Billy Burt Internet Archive Tippy, Our Town Dog 1951 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Shows Tippy, a Terrier, who runs away and acquires a new master. Internet Archive Partners in Prosperity 1948 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS HOW PLANT DESIGN, SALES PROMOTION & TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES AID PURINA DEALERS IN DEVELOPING A PROSPEROUS BUSINESS IN A TEXAS FARMING COMMUNITY. Trade… Internet Archive Art of Spinning and Weaving, The Film · Subtitles Women in period costumes demonstrate spinning and weaving as done throughout history Internet Archive [Amateur Film: Sanford Collection: Return] 1930 · Film · Subtitles Brief dramatic amateur film. Further information and credts to be transcribed from log sheet. With shots of Los Angeles street traffic and superimposed images… Internet Archive Time Out for Trouble Film · Subtitles "Illustrates the most common accidents causing serious in the home and explains that mental attitudes are the real cause of the trouble. Suggests a course of… Internet Archive [Dole Air Race, 1927] 1927 · Film · Subtitles Dole race, 1927. With noted aviators and pilots, including Emory Bronte, Ernie Smith, Hegenberger, Maitland, Arthur Goebel and Lieutenant William Davis,… Internet Archive Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot: Black Beauty Dam 1952 · Newsreel · Subtitles Dedication ceremony for a reservoir built to supply water for Hawthorne Ammunition Depot, an isolated naval base in the Nevada desert. Newsreel story.… Internet Archive California's Golden Beginning Film · Subtitles Historical reenactments, including discovery of gold at Sutter's Fort. 06:29:43:04 LS California State Capitol building in Sacramento. 06:31:31:21 VS scenic… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Fishing, 1954] 1954 · Home movie · Subtitles Man and boy fishing, boy playing in snow, boy and older woman; color: woman in kitchen, boys in cowboy outfits, train year, birthday, child with toys` Internet Archive [Home Movies: Levy collection: Norway, Sweden, Soviet Union] 1931 · Home movie · Subtitles Title cards: "Bergen - Quaint streets of a busy fishing port" "Oslo - Stavekirke - Built without nails" "Old Norwegian Village" "Stockholm, Sweeden [sic]. The… Internet Archive Jersey City: A Blueprint for Opportunity Film · Subtitles The film highlights the revitalization efforts in Jersey City, showcasing the collaboration between local government and businesses to address urban… Internet Archive Dateline Tomorrow 1946 · Film · Subtitles Points out the various finishes for aluminum and shows their application to aluminum products. Internet Archive Consumers Want to Know (Part II) 1960 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Inside the testing labs of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. Internet Archive KPIX Teletrips, Roll B Educational · Subtitles Visit to a schoolroom; "man-on-the-street" interviews asking San Franciscans "What is the most important problem facing us today?"; visit to a police station… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Unidentified] 1932 · Home movie · Subtitles Pan New York City / Manhattan skyline tiles with letters rotate, form title: "Broadway at Night" VS nighttime neon signs, Manhattan, Times Square marquee for… Internet Archive Borrowed Power 1951 · Film · Subtitles hit and run accident: squealing of brakes; police pull over speeding car; man denies guilt; testing stopping distances and reaction time of cars and drivers;… Internet Archive Last of the Log Drives 1981 · Film · Subtitles Film about the last great log drive on the Clearwater River in Idaho in 1971. Titles in film: "Log drive scenes used in this film were photographed along the… Internet Archive ask me don't tell me 1961 · Film · Subtitles Explores the problems of juvenile delinquency, showing what happened in San Francisco with restless, unemployed teenagers and showing their world of… Internet Archive Mr. Johnson Goes to School 1930 · Film · Subtitles "School never stops for the alert Negro pastor of today, For him Schools of Practical Methods have been established by the Bureau of Negro work directed by… Internet Archive [News Magazine of the Screen, November 1950] 1950 · Newsreel · 17 min · Subtitles Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use. Internet Archive Forty Billion Enemies 1941 · Film · Subtitles On the importance of refrigeration in the battle against disease. The title refers to the speed with which bacteria multiply if their reproduction is not… Internet Archive [Gould can 5423.4] 1914 · Film · Subtitles Interior of a Black dance hall with band and dancers. Internet Archive Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen 1949 · Film · Subtitles A corruption of "The Nutcracker"; sync-sound with adult actors. Internet Archive Looking Back Through the Ages 1930 · Film · Subtitles About archaeological work at Mesa Verde National Monument and Canyon de Chelly. . Internet Archive What's Happened to Sugar? Film · Subtitles Images of end of World War II; newspaper headlines, crowds cheering. Ration stamps Animated maps Sugar cane harvesting Much World War II combat imagery VS in…