Prelinger Archives

385–432 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 ESS 1965 · Film · Subtitles Title refers to: Electronic Switching System. Great footage of 1960s technological breakthroughs with silicon semiconductors; early microscopic manufacturing;… Internet Archive Divide and Conquer (Part III) 1943 · Short · 14 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 Psychological Operations in Support of Internal Defense and Development Assistance Programs (Part I) 1968 · Short · 12 min · Subtitles Military training film showing psychological operations in "Hostland," a mythical (probably Latin American) country, designed to aid the host government in… Internet Archive Getting Ready Physically 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Korean War-era film encouraging high school boys to use the physical training, health and recreational resources of their communities so as to be ready for… Internet Archive Capitalism 1948 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles A group of teenagers on a high-school radio program discuss just what capitalism is, seizing onto the example of the butcher who supplies the weenies for… Internet Archive Master Hands (Part II) 1936 · Short · 6 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 Making Books 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Writing, editing and mass production of books. Internet Archive Free Air 1937 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Dramatic depiction of how gasoline and air mix to provide power in the automobile engine. Internet Archive Powers of Congress, The 1947 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Mr. Williams drops off to sleep for a few minutes to find himself confronted with a world in which Congress has been suspended and federal authority dissolved. Internet Archive [Babies on Parade] 1950 · Newsreel · 1 min · Subtitles Scenes at Ladera Park Baby Show, Los Angeles and Antioch (California) Diaper Derby. Newsreel story. Internet Archive Our Cities Must Fight 1951 · Short · 9 min · Subtitles Civil defense film admonishing U.S. city dwellers to stay and fight in case of enemy invasion, rather than evacuate. Filmed in New York and other cities. Internet Archive Our Shrinking World 1946 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles How developments in transportation and communication are hastening globalization. Internet Archive Captain John Smith: Founder of Virginia 1955 · Film · Subtitles Dramatizes the struggles of the men who founded Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America. Explains how Captain John Smith held the colony… Internet Archive Tip-Tops in Peppyland, The 1934 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Animated and live-action film for children showing the beneficial effects of milk. Internet Archive Mind Your Manners 1953 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles How teenagers can cultivate good manners by manifesting a real desire to get along with others. Internet Archive Johnny Learns His Manners 1946 · Short · 17 min · Subtitles An ill-mannered, selfish and untidy little boy is turned into a pig until his "good self" conquers his "bad self." Internet Archive Human Growth 1947 · Film · Subtitles Shows a seventh-grade class as they view and discuss an animated film which traces human growth from conception to adulthood. Differences in male and female… Internet Archive Time Out for Trouble 1961 · Film · Subtitles Illustrates the most common accidents causing serious injury in the home and explains that mental attitudes are the real cause of the trouble. Suggests a… Internet Archive Revolutionary New Triumph in Tape!, A 1958 · Film · Subtitles fade in to dramatically lit plastic model of "Nipper," the RCA dog A film demonstrating the advantages of the new tape cartridge, its precision, compact… Internet Archive From Dawn to Sunset (Part II) 1937 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles This classic example of "capitalist realism" depicts a day in the life of Chevrolet workers in the U.S., while attempting to convince them that their own… Internet Archive Operation Crossroads (Part II) 1946 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Documents Able Day and Baker Day blasts of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Island in the Pacific. Contains footage from many of the ground and aerial cameras… Internet Archive Halloween Party 1953 · Film · Subtitles 18:35:37:07 Shot looking into living room of house from outside, disembodied arm enters frame and knocks on window, dog stands by window, mother inside… Internet Archive Look to Lockheed for Leadership (Part II) 1940 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Innovations in aviation history and technology. Producer and director: Shirley Burden. Photography: Floyd Crosby, Al Wetzel. Internet Archive Your Permit to Drive 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Talking driver's license narrates this hymn to the beneficial effects of highways, cars, and driving. Internet Archive Story of Television, The 1956 · Film · Subtitles Shows efforts of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the creation, development and introduction of the all-electronic TV system; explains how science… Internet Archive Airport, The 1948 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Functions of the modern airport, showing all aspects of airline passenger service. Internet Archive Let's Be Good Citizens at School 1953 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles Shows the importance of being neat and careful and of helping in such ways as picking up another's coat and making a new child feel he belongs to the group. Internet Archive News Parade: Bombing of Pearl Harbor 1942 · Newsreel · 9 min · Subtitles Attack on Pearl Harbor; the S.S. Normandie fire at a New York pier. Internet Archive Hillsborough with New Hideaway Styling, The 1959 · Short · 2 min · Subtitles Promotes a new console television that folds into a piece of furniture so as to conceal the all-seeing picture tube. We have the picture, but not the… Internet Archive Midwest Holiday (Part II) 1952 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Auto travelogue through the sights, monuments and mythologies of America's heartland. A jaded newspaper reporter returns from a long stint in Europe, takes to… Internet Archive Assignment: Venezuela 1956 · Short · 24 min · Subtitles Tells the story of an American oil company executive who relocates with his family to Venezuela. Internet Archive Dynamic American City, The (Part II) 1956 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Advocates urban redevelopment and renewal, 1950s-style. Supports many planning strategies which are criticized today: the destruction of "blighted"… Internet Archive Fashion Horizons 1940 · Commercial · 19 min · Subtitles Southwestern U.S. travelogue flies around in modern 1930s airplanes, stopping off at Albuquerque and an Arizona dude ranch, all the time focusing on fashions… Internet Archive Experiments in the Revival of Organisms 1940 · Film · Subtitles [Educational Screen] "The film records the successful experiments in the resuscitation of life to dead animals, as conducted by Dr. S.S. Bryukhonenko at the… Internet Archive All The King's Horses 1926 · Film This is a recent discovery -- a 16mm print of a rare Jam Handy silent film. It's a bit title-heavy, but interesting to compare to later Handy productions. Internet Archive Live and Let Live 1947 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Set in a toy tabletop town, this film uses brightly colored model cars and trucks to demonstrate a range of driving safety scenarios. The number of… Internet Archive Movietone News: "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Version I) 1942 · Newsreel · 1 min · Subtitles Patriotic montage of scenes accompanying performance of U.S. national anthem as sung by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. Internet Archive Speeding Speech 1950 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Automation in the telephone industry dispenses with operator long distance dialing to complete calls faster. Internet Archive Self-Conscious Guy 1951 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Shows how feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his classwork well or making friends easily. Internet Archive Operation Cue (1955) 1955 · Short · 14 min · Subtitles Eerie nuclear tests on houses and dummies at the Nevada Test Site. Internet Archive Work Pays America (Part I) 1937 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles How the WPA's program of public works benefits both unemployed workers and American society. Internet Archive Penwiper, The 1926 · Cartoon · 3 min · Subtitles Mud animation by pioneer San Francisco Chinese American animator Joseph Sunn. From the "Ralph Wolfe's Mud Stuff" series. Internet Archive South Dakota Saga (Part I) 1940 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles Gold mining and the life of gold miners in South Dakota, as seen by the mining company. Internet Archive Divide and Conquer (Part IV) 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 [Amateur film: "Frisco Fair / Pacific Northwest"] 1939 · Home movie · 17 min · Subtitles Kodachrome home movies from San Francisco's Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-40); views along the coast and highways of California and Oregon. Internet Archive Ways to Settle Disputes 1950 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Everyday incidents at school and at play teach Alice, Jerry and Eddie to resolve conflicts by compromise, by obeying rules, by finding facts, or finding… Internet Archive Shock Troops of Disaster: The Story of the New England Hurricane 1938 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles WPA workers mobilize to help New England recover from the effects of the disastrous 1938 hurricane. Internet Archive This Is Automation 1955 · Film · Subtitles a bunch of promising stock shots workers walking into factory cookies on mass production line much more three executives examining large plant model