Prelinger Archives
4,465–4,512 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 Ones | Films for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool. |
|---|---|
| Kids | Cartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature. |
| Tweens | Documentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures. |
| Teens | Everything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower. |
| Adult | Sexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage. |
Internet Archive
Let's See Yosemite
Silent. Looks at Yosemite National Park
Internet Archive
Posture
Educational film promoting proper foot, standing, and sitting posture. Demonstrates exercises to strengthen good posture habits. "A Film Lesson in Health and…
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Reinders Collection, Reel 1]
scenes shot along a divided freeway gardens and plants pan down old-style oil well Candle-Lite motel, various shots, including pan down vertical sign Los…
Internet Archive
[Home movies: 098260: PA rail fan 1: Three railway accidents in winter, 1964]
14 min., color: From a midwestern rail fan, three train accidents from December, 1963 and February, 1964: two rural derailments and one railyard accident. At…
Internet Archive
Florida
12:23:39 Florida 50018 CU Jellyfish on beach 12:23:54 MCU Crocodiles - approximately ten lying on top of each other ** 12:26:22 More crocodiles 12:66:44…
Internet Archive
Thru Traffic
Internet Archive
Somewhere In Europe - Immigration Pt 1
Silent. Fictionalized account of a family immigrating to the United States.
Internet Archive
Northwestern Bell in War
Many good stock shots to be logged.
Internet Archive
Operation Correction
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 97264: Spring, Summer and Fall 1927
Reel marked Spring, Summer and Fall 1927; Yale-Princeton Game; Tennis; Wilmington.
Internet Archive
Garden For Victory
"Every step in planning and cultivation of home vegetable garden 20x50 clearly shown. Timetable is based on north central zone, but allowance factor is…
Internet Archive
Playtown USA
Skeletal Entry
Internet Archive
Growth of Cities
"Explains factors which determine the location and growth of cities. Shows the general trend toward organization throughout the United States. Various types…
Internet Archive
The School Bus and You
"Correct procedures for boarding and leaving school and public buses, when and where to cross the street, the password game of safety slogans and many other…
Internet Archive
Don't Get Angry
Internet Archive
[Home movie: 098283: LA family to Mexico and Beverly Hills]
8 min., color: An LA family with friends visit Mexico in 1961, with Mexico town street scenes and open air market scenes, including Mexican women making…
Internet Archive
The Red Trap
Short film about a father who struggles to get through to his son before the FBI convicts him for his involvement with communist groups. Can notes: "The Red…
Internet Archive
Pledge Commercial
PA8542
Internet Archive
[Home Movies: Sealtest Film 1]
Shots of computers and data processing equipment. Card sorter. Console lights blinking.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 97412: Washington, Louisiana, Texas and California
Notes in can state: Washington New Orleans Kelly Field San Antonio (Brook Park) Ft Sam Houston Uvalde, Texas Carlsbad Cavern San Jacinto Riverside Mt Roudeaux…
Internet Archive
California Highways: Planning for Progress
Great California highway footage.
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 003796
American family enjoying leisure activities in the late 1940s or early 1950s. notes on can:"Vilencia // Home Movies // "Lynn" // UNKNOWN // 2 - Rolls // RUSS…
Internet Archive
Vista Stock Shots: San Francisco Cable Cars I
Internet Archive
Moral Leadership: The Whole Man
Internet Archive
Dining Together
Internet Archive
Sensation Seekers, The
great shipwreck sequence
Internet Archive
Kitchen Magic
Good shots of cooking, food preparation and cleaning activities, many in CU.
Internet Archive
Stillman Fires Collection: Five Fires
from Stillman Fires Collection.
Internet Archive
The Sun's Family
Introduces solar system basics: stars, planets, the profession and practice of astronomy. Contains stock footage of airplanes, observatories, and sunsets and…
Internet Archive
Sunbeam Bread Commercial #4
Internet Archive
Seeing London
Burton Holmes Film Reels of Travel
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 10831: Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco]
Rough markings on can bottom state: 1. San F. Fair 2. Gay Way Peep Show 3. China town Black W. [i.e., black and white]
Internet Archive
The Little Knight
"A story of how a tiny boy under the spell of a wicked witch conquers a kingdom."(https://archive.org/details/catalogof16mmsil00mogu/page/32/mode/2up?q=knight.…
Internet Archive
Communist Blueprint for Conquest
Anti-communist film, partly animated, with memorable sequences including a typewriter typing hammer and sickles, a piano player playing a score of hammer and…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: Jay Hansell Collection: 003626
Footage of a couple getting married in Gottingen, Germany and going on a European honeymoon. Includes footage shot in Germany, France, Italy, England. Also…
Internet Archive
[Mixed outs]
Piglets feeding from sow. Brown pigs, pink pigs spotted pigs. Excellent color stock shots: Dairy; testing milk, transporting milk. Cows. Dairy barn.…
Internet Archive
Electronics at Work
Internet Archive
The Lady and the Stock Exchange
A promotional short film that invites American housewives to become part of the stock exchange and make a place for themselves in the world of business and…
Internet Archive
[Untitled: Pathe News: Death of Major Crissy]
death of Major Crissy killed during tran-continental race, San Francisco Funeral
Internet Archive
Fiesta Soundie
Internet Archive
[Home movie: 098945: Michigan scenes and Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 on TV]
Michigan family scenes from 1969, including lakeshore recreation, picnicking, a Catholic wedding, train watching, and capturing the Apollo 10 and Apollo 11…
Internet Archive
Inside San Quentin
Silent workprint copy of a film about San Quentin State Prison. Leader: A-4 70k W.P. B Roll From The Argus newspaper Sunday March 1 1970: "Channel Four will…
Internet Archive
[Home movie: 098992: Home movie from an Arkansas family in the 1950s that had a large farm (Ullrich Recreation Place and Fun Farm) and traveled regionally]
Home movie from a white Arkansas family in the 1940s that had a large farm (Ullrich Recreation Place and Fun Farm) and traveled regionally; this reel features…
Internet Archive
Code of the Sea, Reel 5
Feature excerpt: Code of the Sea, Part 5. "Bruce McDow, son of a skipper, believes he has inherited the cowardice of his father and loses the respect of his…
Internet Archive
Home Movie: 97508: San Francisco Fair 1939, San Diego
To come.
Internet Archive
Two Ways About It
Safety film for inside and outside telephone workers. Sponsored by Pacific Telephone and directed by noted amateur/professional maker Arthur H. Smith.
Internet Archive
Sea Elephants and Sea Lions
Elephant Seals on Guadalupe and San Benitos Islands off Baja California, Mexico
Internet Archive
[Unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture film]
On fire prevention and the problems caused by forest fires.