Prelinger Archives

3,361–3,408 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 Place to Live, A 1948 · Short · 24 min · Subtitles Problem of housing for senior citizens. Internet Archive Home Movie: 97469: St. Louis Area Family, Reel 2 1955 · Home movie Viewing notes state: Boys fight Girl dances Girl with bike Grandparents 75th wedding anniversary Girl with baton and rides a tree trunk Girls put on a show… Internet Archive Littlest Puppy Grows Up, The 1954 · Film · Subtitles IMPORTANT POINTS ARE GIVEN REGARDING THE CARE, FEEDING & EARLY TRAINING OF A PUPPY. Internet Archive Cashing In 1935 · Film · Subtitles The first reel appears to be R3, ending with a title that says "Farther Faster Safer with Pennzoil." A senior salesman or manager advises a younger salesman,… Internet Archive Keep It In the Family Film · Subtitles An original television episode of "Keep It In The Family," featuring a suburban family of two daughters, a mother, and father. After sentencing his social… Internet Archive Adelie Penguins of the Antarctic 1956 · Film · Subtitles Content warning: contains interspecies violence An early naturalist film detailing the lifecycle of the Adelie Penguin. As shown on title in the film "This is… Internet Archive Abolene Cream Commercial Commercial · 1 min · Subtitles Abolene skin cream commercial Internet Archive Chants Populaires No. 3 1943 · Film · Subtitles Hand-drawn still and moving images depict scenes from popular songs with text of the lyrics on-screen, accompanied by sound recordings of French songs. Songs… Internet Archive Armies of Health and Disease: A Film Lesson in Health and Hygiene 1928 · Film · Subtitles Microscopic footage of bacteria; Pasteur; anthrax; dramatization of Pasteur's experiments; rabies treatment. Injectable vaccines are "armies of health." Internet Archive Unid. Soundie "Shanty Town"? (Juvenile Jubilee) 1940 · Film · Subtitles 00:21:12:08 - 00:23:37:27 B/W Sound 1940s Male bandleader conducts formally dressed jazz band on bandstand. Saxophone section solos, then other horns.… Internet Archive Holiday From Rules 1961 · Film · Subtitles Social guidance film promoting the general value of social norms. Four child actors are permitted to try out living without any rules on an invented isolated… Internet Archive [Home Movies: New York Vacation, September 1979"] 1979 · Home movie · Subtitles Internet Archive Seeing Paris: Part Four: Up and Around The Eiffel Tower 1920 · Film · Subtitles Avenue du Bois VS Eiffel Tower Shots from elevator ascending Ferris wheel Internet Archive Trojan Souvenirs 1930 · Film · Subtitles Scenes at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., early 1930s. Internet Archive [Home Movies: Grand Canyon, Boulder Dam, Las Vegas, Los Angeles] 1939 · Home movie · Subtitles Good roll, including Grand Canyon; Boulder (Hoover) Dam; Las Vegas neon signs night scenes; entrance to Walt Disney Studios; Los Angeles Farmers Market; brief… Internet Archive Check . . . And Let Me Know 1962 · Film · Subtitles Goof on the process of industrial filmmaking. The film depicts a conversation among company executives regarding potential promotional opportunities and… Internet Archive [San Francisco Earthquake Aftermath] 1906 · Film · Subtitles Aftermath of San Francisco earthquake, April 18, 1906:More views of destruction taken from a vehicle moving east down Market Street Internet Archive News Magazine of the Screen, The (Vol. 7, Issue 5) 1957 · Newsreel · 21 min · Subtitles Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom presentation. Internet Archive 20 Years After September 1937 1937 · Film · Subtitles Silent. American Legionnaires invade New York for its biggest convention. The veterans of '17 are in town from every state. Broadway surrenders to the… Internet Archive Oldsmobile Presents the "Custom 8 Cruiser" B-44 (1942 Oldsmobile Playlets) 1941 · Film · Subtitles Theatrical screen ad for one of the last pre-World War II automobiles. Internet Archive Industry on Parade Film · Subtitles Pasadena: "To give us more miles!" -AAA mobile gas economy run; A Message from Industry to You... Quality of Life; Academy for Artists - Correspondence… Internet Archive Hoofs and Horns Film · Subtitles "Intimate portraits of and facts concerning the Salient Types of the Ungulates, or Hoofed Mammals of the World. Recorded at The Philadelphia and Washington… Internet Archive Far Western States (2nd edition) 1955 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Resources and growth of the Far West. Internet Archive Chinook's Children 1940 · Short · 11 min · Subtitles Champion sled dogs raised and trained in New Hampshire. Internet Archive Golden Harvest...Fifty Years of Calpak Progress 1950 · Film · Subtitles Includes OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF '49, produced by California Packing Corp. in 1933. Internet Archive County Fair Bread Commercial Commercial · Subtitles County Fair Bread Commercial Internet Archive Army 1969 · Newsreel · Subtitles newsreel - circa 1969 Internet Archive Live and Let Live 1947 · Film · Subtitles Demonstrates causes and effects of such unsafe driving practices as passing on a curve, driving after drinking, following too closely, and speeding. Lots of… Internet Archive Seabiscuit Film · Subtitles About famous racehorse Seabiscuit Internet Archive Trik Trak Commercial Commercial · 1 min · Subtitles Internet Archive [Gould Can 5392.8] 1932 · Film · Subtitles Steamship "Resolute" presents their world cruise of 1932: Hong Kong / Shanghai. Includes street scenes and daily life. Shots of boats, fishermen,… Internet Archive [Snake Strikes, High Speed Cinematography] Film · Subtitles 13:14:38:24 VS CU stick with black sphere attached to its end teases a rattlesnake. Rattler bits down on black ball on end of stick. Internet Archive Cashing In 1935 · Film · Subtitles The first reel appears to be R3, ending with a title that says "Farther Faster Safer with Pennzoil." A senior salesman or manager advises a younger salesman,… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Richmond, Virginia and Cape May, New Jersey] 1941 · Home movie · Subtitles container: "1941 Richmond, Virginia-Cape May 1941 / Richmond, Va. Memorial Day 1941 / Cape May July 4, 1941" Int. tour bus / main street in downtown Richmond,… Internet Archive O'Mara's Chain Miracle 1951 · Film · Subtitles A short-tempered policeman, played by Victor McLaghlan, acts nice to a new Chevy owner and starts a kindness chain reaction in small town. Internet Archive Unid. Soundie Yodeling Number "Chime Bells are Ringing"? (Juvenile Jubilee) 1940 · Film · Subtitles She yodels, he doesn't (she yodels very well!), sailor & girl at home. 00:42:50:17 - 00:45:21:29 B/W Sound 1940s Church bell tower. WS Young woman holds hands… Internet Archive Treasures for the Making 1951 · Film · Subtitles Demonstrates the making of jam and jelly by the shortboil (pectin) and long-boil methods. Includes sequences on the use of fresh, frozen, canned and dried… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Vacation #3] 2026 · Home movie · Subtitles 22:47:18:21 Middle-aged man in 1930s attire, wearing cap and smoking a pipe sit on bench, dog seated next to him; cabins mountain and forest behind man.… Internet Archive Soundie - Jiveroo Short · 2 min · Subtitles with Harry Day and Della and the June Taylor Girls Internet Archive [Gould can 5230.1] 1929 · Film · Subtitles KINOGRAMS NEWSREEL: In St. Louis, six nations compete in International Balloon Race / balloons / crews getting ready / take off; also contains outstanding… Internet Archive Brownie's Victory Garden Film · Subtitles "Brownie's Victory Garden" is a propaganda cartoon created to promote the idea of victory gardens during World War II, particularly targeting children. The… Internet Archive [Gould can 5365.3: Panama-Pacific International Exposition] 1915 · Film · Subtitles Panama-Pacific International Exposition - WOW (Industrial Workers of the World) Parade / marching units of women / fancy marching / head of organization on… Internet Archive [Television Commercials Not Made By Me] Commercial · Subtitles [The following titles and shotlists may be elsewhere on PA-0649; this description may therefore need revision after viewing.] Tape 0649 [New Film] [Untitled]… Internet Archive Insects on Flowers Film · Subtitles Shows insects (including bees) pollinating flowers. Internet Archive Carnegie Hall: New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts Film · Subtitles Concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein for children, Bernstein talks about music and composers to audience. Part I Part II: "What Does music mean? skeletal… Internet Archive How We Breathe Film · Subtitles Includes animation of cells, cellular structure, circulatory and respiratory systems. Some shots to be logged. Internet Archive Housing in Our Time 1930 · Film The film discusses the issue of slum housing in the United States, highlighting that many families live in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, which negatively… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Honeymoon Trip, June 1941] 1941 · Home movie · Subtitles horseshoes, quoits, outdoor meal with extended family, people lining up with trays for food tourists near glaciers High mountains, waterfalls Bryce Canyon…