The world's archives
1,297–1,344 of 1,669 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. |
Commons
The Magician (1900)
The Magician
Commons
1909. Leo Tolstoy in Moscow Л. Н. Толстой в Москве
1909. Лев Толстой едет из имения Чертковых в Крекшине в свой дом в Хамовниках.
Commons
Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse (1906)
Hand coloured French short.
Commons
King Edward VII opens his First Parliament
King Edward VII opens his First Parliament
Commons
Les Tulipes (Chomon, 1907)
Stencil colored French silent trick film..
Commons
What Happened in the Tunnel (1903)
What Happened in the Tunnel
Commons
The Taming of the Shrew (1908)
American silent short drama film based on Shakespeare's play of the same name.
Commons
The Country Doctor (1909)
American short silent drama film The Country Doctor (1909).
Commons
The Cardinal's conspiracy (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
The Necklace (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
The Slave (1909)
American silent short
Commons
The Mountaineer's Honor (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
The Light that came (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
Lines of white on a sullen sea (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
Comata the Sioux (1909)
American silent short.
Commons
Fate's turning (1911)
American silent short.
Commons
Les Illusions fantaisistes (Georges Méliès, 1909)
Whimsical Illusions
Commons
Le Locataire diabolique (Georges Méliès, 1909)
The Diabolic Tenant
Commons
Dog Factory (1904)
Dog Factory
Commons
Maniac Chase (Edwin S. Porter, 1904)
Maniac Chase
Commons
The Bank robbery (1908)
American silent short.
Commons
Les Aventures de Robinson Crusoé (1902)
Robinson Crusoe
Commons
La Fée Carabosse ou le Poignard fatal (Georges Méliès, 1906)
The Witch
Commons
Jack and the Beanstalk (Edwin S. Porter, 1902)
Jack and the Beanstalk
Commons
Le Royaume des fées (Georges Méliès, 1903)
The Kingdom of the Fairies
Commons
La Légende de Rip Van Winckle (Georges Méliès, 1905)
Rip's Dream
Commons
Jamestown Exposition (1907)
Jamestown Exposition
Commons
Rube and Mandy at Coney Island (1903)
Rube and Mandy at Coney Island
Commons
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
A Corner in Wheat, with English intertitles
Commons
The Lost Child (1904)
The Lost Child
Commons
The European Rest Cure (Edwin S. Porter, 1904)
The European Rest Cure
Commons
Les Quat'Cents Farces du diable (Georges Méliès, 1906)
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Library of Congress
The light that came
Grace, a disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters, Vivian and Daisy, falls in love with Carl Wagner, a blind violinist, and they become engaged.…
Open Images
Heimkehr des Reisenden, Die
Melodrama about a couple who are in love, but who are driven apart by poverty.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Treloar and Miss Marshall, prize winners at the Physical Culture Show in Madison Square Garden
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Japanese acrobats
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Gordon Sisters boxing
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Expert bag punching
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Fight of nations
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Commons
The Girls and Daddy
A short film from 1909 by David Wark Griffith
Commons
Everybody Gives Me Good Advice
Composite of sheet music cover and recording.
Commons
An Indian Washing the Baby, 1906
An Indian Washing the Baby, 1906.
Commons
Ching Ling Foo outdone (1900)
American silent short.
Commons
Artistic Creation (1901) - yt
1901 British silent film directed by Walter Booth and produced by Robert Paul.
Commons
Arrival of Prince Henry (of Prussia) and President Roosevelt at Shooters Island
Arrival of Prince Henry (of Prussia) and President Roosevelt at Shooters Island
Commons
Kansas Saloon Smashers (1901) - yt
1901 silent film Kansas Saloon Smashers (1901).
Commons
Excelsior! (1901)
Excelsior!
Commons
The Cheese Mites or Lilliputians in a London Restaurant (1901) - yt
1901 silent film produced by Robert W. Paul