Prelinger Archives

289–336 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 Mental Health: Keeping Mentally Fit 1952 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles The four steps in acquiring, maintaining and improving mental health: express emotions naturally, respect yourself, respect others, and solve problems as they… Internet Archive Atomic Alert 1951 · Film · Subtitles Instruction on care and behavior in case of radiation exposure and atomic attack. "Illustrates the basic methods by which each child can best protect himself… Internet Archive That Junior Miss Spirit 1970 · Film · Subtitles Shows contestants, contests and judging of America's Junior Miss Pageant. 03:01:01:26 VS Pan down blooming cherry tree to CU young woman looking at branch… Internet Archive What You Should Know About Biological Warfare 1952 · Short · 7 min · Subtitles How can we protect ourselves against the threats of germs and toxins? Cold War America gears up to fend off threats from unconventional bioweapons. Internet Archive American Engineer (Part I) 1956 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles A 1956s promotional and recruiting film about American engineering. It opens with radio-telescope "sounds of the sun and the stars" and issues a repeated… Internet Archive Living Stereo 1958 · Film · Subtitles 21:02:50:09 CU spinning RCA Victor record on record player. 21:03:06:07 Animation illustrates the basics of one-track recording; sound waves spread from… Internet Archive Sentinel in the Sky 1955 · Cartoon · 14 min · Subtitles Modern radar for passenger aircraft. Shows how man has always reached for vision of the things beyond his sight, beginning, perhaps, with the ancient sailor… Internet Archive Postwar Germany: 28 Months After V-E Day (Part II) 1947 · Home movie · 12 min · Subtitles Investigation of German industrial production capabilities after the devastation of World War II. With striking images of destroyed German cities and… Internet Archive Special Delivery 1946 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Airplanes and missions of the U.S. Army Air Forces, emphasizing Operation Crossroads (the Bikini Island atomic bomb tests). Internet Archive Combat America (Part I) 1945 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Follows the Flying Fortress crews of the 351st Bombardment Group from the end of their training at a Colorado training field to actual combat over Germany. Internet Archive As Others See Us 1953 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Etiquette for teenagers as demonstrated by well-dressed youth of Webster Groves (Missouri) High School. Internet Archive Movie Trailers: 1950 · Cartoon · Subtitles Tongue-in-cheek horror movie trailer. No narration, information conveyed by written words. Internet Archive Precisely So (Part II) 1937 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Surreal film on measurement of tiny quantities, made as soft-sell promotional piece for Chevrolet automobiles. Excellent stop-motion march of slide rules,… Internet Archive Valley Town 1940 · Short · 24 min · Subtitles Social documentary showing the damage visited on the people of a Pennsylvania steel town by the deployment of new technology. Director: Willard Van Dyke.… Internet Archive [Amateur film: Medicus collection: New York World's Fair, 1939-40] (Reel 5) (Part III) 1939 · Home movie · 15 min · Subtitles Detailed documentation of the "World of Tomorrow" in beautiful Kodachrome. From 0165_HM_Medicus_collection_New_York_Worlds_Fair_1939-40_Reel_4_06_00_39_00 Internet Archive Behind the Lens 1940 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles Scientific and special-purpose cinematography helps reveal what would otherwise be invisible. Internet Archive Frigidaire Finale 1957 1957 · Short · 3 min · Subtitles Couple dances through an array of new "Sheer Look" washers, dryers, ranges and refrigerators. Internet Archive Threads of Technology 1970 · Film · Subtitles 09:12:30:04 CU parabolic lines morphing in and out of each other on an oscilloscope screen, lines begin to accelerate and morph into a sine-wave-like pattern;… Internet Archive This Is My Railroad (Part II) 1940 · Short · 11 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 In Our Hands, Part 3: How To Lose What We Have 1950 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Drama of an authoritarian (probably Communist-type) coup in the U.S., assisted by apathy, an indifference to federal intervention in community affairs, and… Internet Archive Teddy 1971 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles Presents the experiences of a teenage African American, who relates his views of the System, war, revolution, the Watts community of Los Angeles, the Black… Internet Archive [Petaluma Chicken Promotional Film] 1932 · Short · 3 min · Subtitles Early promotional film for Sonoma County poultry industry featuring young women making an extremely large omelet. Internet Archive Auto-Lite on Parade 1940 · Cartoon · 22 min · Subtitles Tour of an auto parts and accessories factory climaxing with a stop-motion product parade. Internet Archive Hair Dress Through the Ages 1950 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Tongue-in-cheek survey of the evolution of hair design, using footage from an old German novelty short subject. Internet Archive Journey to Banana Land 1950 · Film · Subtitles This film shows through animated diagrams and photography the more important phases of banana culture. The journey begins by leaving the United States and… Internet Archive How the Eye Functions 1941 · Cartoon · 11 min · Subtitles Beautifully animated explication of human eye and eyesight. Internet Archive D-Day Minus One 1945 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles Record of the operations of the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions in the 1944 invasion of France. Internet Archive All-American Soap Box Derby, The (1936) 1936 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Tribute to the American boy as inventor, engineer and sportsman. Shows contestants building their vehicles and the final competition at Derby Downs in Akron,… Internet Archive Shopping Can Be Fun: A New Concept in Merchandising 1957 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles How the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California increased traffic with a sophisticated program of advertising and promotion. Excellent footage of… Internet Archive How to Use the Dial Phone 1927 · Short · 7 min · Subtitles Training film for users of the new dial telephones. Internet Archive Look to the Land 1953 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Plea for sustainable land and resource use. Internet Archive How Textile Mills Are Modernizing 1948 · Short · 25 min · Subtitles How electricity can modernize textile mills. Great shots of cotton mills, processing and textile manufacturing; technical narration laced with industry… Internet Archive Growing Things: A Film Lesson in "Nature Study" 1928 · Film · Subtitles How to plant and maintain a small garden. Timelapse cinematography of bean sprouting and growing upward; shoots growing and other plant growth. Internet Archive Brazil at War 1943 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Praising Brazil for joining the Allies and declaring war against Germany, this film attempts to show Brazil's similarities to America. Internet Archive Star-Spangled Banner, The (Version II) 1940 · Short · 1 min · Subtitles Technicolor image of American flag flying accompanied by words and music of U.S. national anthem. Internet Archive Foundation Foods 1951 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Internet Archive Man and His Culture 1954 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Shows, in the imaginative form of a "report from outer space," how the ways of mankind might appear to visitors from another planet. Internet Archive Hare and the Tortoise, The 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Dramatized version of Aesop's fable starring farm animals, including an owl, a fox, a goose, a rooster, a raccoon and a hare. Internet Archive Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness 1972 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Traces the history of opium and how it has led to the present day usage of heroin. Examines the methods and procedures of organized crime in transporting the… Internet Archive City, The 1939 · Short · 32 min · Subtitles Contents. A plea for community planning, which contrasts the awesome conditions of human living in a modern industrial city with (1) the serenity of life in… Internet Archive [Lindbergh's Flight and Return] 1927 · Short · 7 min · Subtitles Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh takes off from New York on his solo transatlantic flight between America and Europe and arrives in Paris; newsreels conclude with… Internet Archive Flying with Arthur Godfrey (Part I) 1953 · Commercial · 23 min · Subtitles TV host Arthur Godfrey takes controls of a passenger plane to demonstrate airline operations. Internet Archive Dinner Party 1945 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Dramatized presentation of proper table etiquette for teenagers, heavy on criticism and guilt. Internet Archive Divide and Conquer (Part II) 1943 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles Shows the German invasion of Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France, including the evacuation of the British forces at Dunkirk. From the "Why We Fight"… Internet Archive Remember These Faces 1945 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles Intense view of American soldiers in combat, produced to sell World War II bonds. Internet Archive Up In Smoke 1960 · Short · 20 min · Subtitles Dramatized portrait of greedy tobacco company executives who put money over health concerns. Internet Archive Three to Get Ready: A Progress Report from BART 1967 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Shows stages in the construction of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Internet Archive At the End of the Rainbow (Part II) 1946 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Sponsored film promoting ultraviolet light: its history, physics and health-giving properties.