Prelinger Archives

337–384 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 War We Are In, Part Two: Communism vs. Capitalism, The 1962 · Short · 23 min · Subtitles Lecture given by Dr. George S. Benson, President of Harding College in Searcy, Arkansas. Internet Archive Why Study Science? 1955 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Family discusses how the study of science can help son and daughter make intelligent decisions on problems they will confront in the world. Internet Archive Don't Be a Sucker 1947 · Film · Subtitles Like The House I Live In, this film warns that Americans will lose their country if they let themselves be turned into "suckers" by the forces of fanaticism… Internet Archive Seeing Paris: Part One: On the Boulevards 1920 · Film · Subtitles Burton Holmes looking out over Paris square. VS square and traffic Avenue de l'Opera Sidewalk Cafe de la Paix Scenes on Boulevard; pedestrians Porte St. Denis… Internet Archive Chevrolet Leader News (Vol. 2, No. 3) 1936 · Newsreel · 9 min · Subtitles Promotional newsreels featuring a variety of Chevrolet-centric stories. Contents include: bathing girls dive from top of Chevrolet automobile; owner of 1913… Internet Archive Ant City 1949 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Depicts ants as social creatures living in complex societies. Shows ways they control their environment. Ken Smith sez: This is probably the most genuinely… Internet Archive What Is Money? 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Following the journey of a five-dollar bill through many transactions, the film shows how money functions as a standard of value and future payment, a… Internet Archive Frontiers of the Future (A Screen Editorial With Lowell Thomas) 1937 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Produced to convince Depression-weary Americans that new frontiers still lay ahead. Excellent compilation of stock shots of 1930s-era manufacturing, research… Internet Archive Boy in Court 1940 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Juvenile court labors to provide a humane alternative for rehabilitating at-risk youth offenders. Internet Archive Troop Train 1943 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Evocative World War II-era film following a troop train: the coordination of effort; its staging and assembly of cars, cargo and passengers; its heavily… Internet Archive March of Progress, The 1945 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Tour of the modern interurban trolley system of San Francisco's East Bay and over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Predicts the bright postwar future of… Internet Archive How Quiet Helps at School 1953 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Social guidance film for young children suggesting that they take their noise out to the playground. Internet Archive What About Juvenile Delinquency? 1955 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Jim leaves the gang after it attacks his father, and joins other teenagers at City Hall to argue against the imposition of a curfew. Drama filmed in Lawrence,… Internet Archive Typesetting: Linotype (Part II) 1960 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles How mechanical typesetting works. The film explores the intricate workings of mechanical typesetting machines, particularly the linotype and intertype… Internet Archive Corvair in Action, The 1960 · Short · 6 min · Subtitles Promotional film for the controversial Chevrolet Corvair. Internet Archive 1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads 1955 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles Ten short theatrical "screen ads" promoting the 1955 Chevrolet models. Internet Archive Mother Goose Stories 1946 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Mother Goose steps out of the nursery rhyme book and brings to life some of the favorite characters of Mother Goose Land, including Little Miss Muffet, Old… Internet Archive Postwar Germany: 28 Months After V-E Day (Part III) 1947 · Home movie · 9 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 American Engineer (Part IV) 1956 · Short · 3 min · Subtitles Tribute to engineers and their role in improving American life through technology. Internet Archive Girls Beware 1961 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Like its precursor Name Unknown (1951), Girls Beware is a trilogy of tragedies brought about by teenage girls' attempts at independent behavior. Covers do's… Internet Archive Visit to Wurlitzer, A (Part II) 1950 · Short · 20 min · Subtitles Tour of the Wurlitzer factory located at North Tonawanda, N.Y., showing the manufacture of "coin-operated phonographs." A color sequence introducing the… Internet Archive Your Chance to Live: Earthwatch 1972 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles Presents the story of a teenage couple caught in the tragic path of a Tsunami as a means of explaining the nature of earthquakes and the consequences of their… Internet Archive Crystals Go to War 1943 · Film · Subtitles "A story in pictures of the preparation and manufacture of quartz crystals for radio communication." Internet Archive According to Plan: The Story of Modern Sidewalls for the Homes of America 1952 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles The beauty and functionality of asbestos sidewalls. With a visit to Levittown, N.Y. and an interview with Norman Denny, vice president of materials for Levitt… Internet Archive Story Without End 1950 · Short · 18 min · Subtitles Postwar expansion of telephone service made possible by development of microwave radio transmission and the transistor. Internet Archive [San Francisco General Strike] (Part I) 1934 · Short · 1 min · Subtitles Union workers in San Francisco stage a general strike, shutting down the city to support striking longshoremen. Internet Archive Wild at the Wheel 2026 · Film · Subtitles 00:21:11:04 Great title sequence shot of suburban house from across street, audio track energetic 1970s rock music builds up to Ford Mustang speeding into… Internet Archive Highlights 1965: A Progress Report (Part III) 1965 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles 1965 NASA Progress Report, from the Office of Space Science and Application. Produced by Norwood Studios, Inc. for the National Aeronautics and Space… Internet Archive Color it Clean 1966 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Shows the detailed steps necessary to achieve a high standard of cleanliness in a public restroom and presents the opinions, attitudes and personal feelings… Internet Archive Green Pastures 1926 · Cartoon · 5 min · Subtitles Mud animation by pioneer San Francisco Chinese American animator Joseph Sunn. From the "Ralph Wolfe's Mud Stuff" series. Internet Archive All-American Soap Box Derby (1936) 1936 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Official film of early Soap Box Derby competition in Akron, Ohio; tribute to ingenuity of the American Boy. Internet Archive Crime of Korea, The 1950 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Korea in the tumultuous period between the end of World War II and the start of the Korean War. Internet Archive Wonderful New World of Fords, A (1960 Ford Spot) 1960 · Commercial · 3 min · Subtitles Ford commercial linking new compact cars to futurism and the space frontier. Internet Archive When You Are a Pedestrian 1948 · Cartoon · 9 min · Subtitles Pedestrians and motorists share the responsibility for accident prevention. Filmed on the streets and sidewalks of Oakland, California, and on a tabletop with… Internet Archive Electrician, The 1942 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Work of the electrician in three major fields: power and lighting, communication, and transportation. Internet Archive Information Machine, The 1958 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Applies graphic sensitivity to medium in cartoon form, and traces the history of storing and analyzing information from the days of the cavemen to today's age… Internet Archive Communication 1928 · Short · 19 min · Subtitles Interested animated instructional film detailing electronic communications in the early part of the century. Interestingly enough, the popular vocational… Internet Archive Social Seminar: Changing 1971 · Short · 27 min · Subtitles "Demonstrates the quality of life as its impact is felt by a young family trying to reorient themselves in a society of conflicting standards and values.… Internet Archive Speech: Stage Fright and What to Do About It 1949 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Expressionistic film on dealing with fear of public speaking, filmed in Lawrence, Kansas. Internet Archive Our Shrinking World 1946 · Film · Subtitles Shows the development of transportation and communication, and the resultant bringing together of the world. Great footage of technological developments in… Internet Archive Master Hands (Part IV) 1936 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Classic "capitalist realist" drama showing the manufacture of Chevrolets from foundry to finished vehicles. Though ostensibly a tribute to the "master hands"… Internet Archive Alchemist In Hollywood, The (Part I) 1940 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Explains chemical processes used in the motion picture laboratory. Diagrams and demonstrations of exposure, photochemical reactions, development, and… Internet Archive Benefits of Looking Ahead, The 1950 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Nick cannot plan ahead, but is convinced to do so after imagining himself as a drifter or a bum. Internet Archive Sailing Along Film · Subtitles Plymouth Division, Chrystler Corporation presents Sailing Along, produced by Wilding Picture Productions, Inc. Internet Archive Date With Your Family, A (outtakes) 1950 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Outtakes from the well-known "mental hygiene" film, offering today's viewers a window on how these oft-mythologized films were actually produced and… Internet Archive Poverty in Rural America 1965 · Film · Subtitles Shows Americans living in mountain hollows, at the end of rutted dirt roads, and in bypassed communities as they tell about their problems, privations, and… Internet Archive Civil War, The 1954 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Dramatization of important military events and imagery of the places where they occurred. Internet Archive [Amateur film: "Saga of the Happy Wanderers"] 1957 · Home movie · 15 min · Subtitles Kodachrome home movie of a 1950s family's trailer travels to key U.S. tourist destinations.