The world's archives

1,441–1,488 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 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.
Commons Un Malheur n'arrive jamais seul (1903) 1903 · Short · 2 min Silent French short Commons La Cascade de feu (1904) 1904 · Short · 2 min The Firefall Commons Le Tripot clandestin (1905) 1905 · Short · 3 min The Scheming Gambler's Paradise Commons Salon de coiffure (1908) 1908 · Short · 2 min In the Barber Shop Commons Les Mésadventures d'un photographe (1908) 1908 · Short · 3 min The Mischances of a Photographer Commons Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N. Hornby (1901) 1901 · Short · 8 min Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N. Hornby Commons The Broken Locket (1909) 1909 · Short · 12 min The Broken Locket (1909) Commons How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the 'New York Herald' Personal Columns (1904) - yt 1904 · Short · 10 min Directed by Edwin S. Porter, produced by Edison. Commons Cohen's Fire Sale (1907) 1907 · Short · 13 min American short silent film. Commons La Fantasmagorie (1908) 1908 · Cartoon · 1 min Fantasmagorie – short silent French animated cartoon. Commons Nerone (1909) 1909 · Short · 12 min Italian silent short. Commons L'Eventail animé (1909) 1909 · Cartoon · 4 min French silent short. Commons Monsieur Clown chez les lilliputiens (1909) 1909 · Short · 4 min French silent short Commons Le Monstre (1903) 1903 · Short · 2 min Silent French short Commons Le Merveilleux Éventail vivant (1904) 1904 · Short · 3 min The Wonderful Living Fan Commons L'Hôtel des voyageurs de commerce (1906) 1906 · Short · 3 min A Roadside Inn Commons La Chaise à porteurs enchantée (1905) 1905 · Short · 3 min The Enchanted Sedan Chair Commons Le Diable noir (1905) 1905 · Short · 3 min The Black Imp Commons Les Affiches en goguette (1906) 1906 · Short · 3 min The Hilarious Posters Commons Il y a un dieu pour les ivrognes (1907) excerpt 1907 · Short · 3 min Fragment of The Good Luck of a "Souse" Commons Excursion To The Moon (1908) 1908 · Short · 6 min Excursion To The Moon (1908) Commons The Train Wreckers (1905) - yt 1905 · Short · 11 min Silent film by Edwin S. Porter Commons Westinghouse Works (1904) 1904 · Short · 5 min American silent documentary. Commons Un drame chez les fantoches (1908) 1908 · Cartoon · 3 min French silent short Commons Le Chaudron infernal (1903) 1903 · Short · 1 min The Infernal Cauldron is a 1903 hand-colored trick film by Georges Méliès. Commons En avant la musique (fragment, 1907) 1907 · Short · 1 min French silent short. Commons La Danseuse microscopique (1902) 1902 · Short · 2 min Silent French short Commons Les Trésors de Satan (1902) 1902 · Short · 2 min Silent French short Commons Una excursion incoherente (1909) 1909 · Short · 8 min Spanish silent film Una excursion incoherente (1909) Commons La Lanterne magique (1903) 1903 · Short · 4 min The Magic Lantern Commons Le Thaumaturge chinois (1904) 1904 · Short · 3 min Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer Commons La Cardeuse de matelas (1906) 1906 · Short · 4 min The Tramp and the Mattress Makers Commons A Tricky Painter's Fate (1908) 1908 · Short · 3 min A Tricky Painter's Fate Commons Le Fakir de Singapour (1908) 1908 · Short · 5 min The Indian Sorcerer Commons La Douche d'eau bouillante (1907) 1907 · Short · 4 min Rogues' Tricks Commons Chasse à la panthère (1909) 1909 · Short · 7 min Hand coloured Belgian silent short film. Commons C'est Papa qui prend la purge -fragment- (1907) 1907 · Short · 2 min Fragment of a shot French silent comedy film. Commons Calino bureaucrate (1909) 1909 · Short · 2 min French silent short Commons Porcelaines tendres (1909) 1909 · Short · 3 min French silent short Commons Le Plongeur fantastique (1905) 1905 · Short · 1 min French silent short film Commons Ah ! La Barbe (1905) 1905 · Short · 1 min Silent movie produced in 1905 by Segundo de Chomón Commons Le Puits fantastique (1903) 1903 · Short · 3 min Silent French short Commons Damnation du docteur Faust (1904) excerpt 1904 · Short · 4 min Fragment of Faust and Marguerite Commons La Sirène (1904) 1904 · Short · 4 min The Mermaid Commons Sorcellerie culinaire (1904) 1904 · Short · 4 min The Cook in Trouble Commons L'Avare (1908) excerpt 1908 · Short · 4 min Fragment of The Miser Commons Le Rêve d'un fumeur d'opium (1908) 1908 · Short · 5 min The Dream of an Opium Fiend Commons Le Génie du feu (1908) 1908 · Short · 4 min The Genii of Fire