The world's archives

1,585–1,632 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 How Jones Lost His Roll - yt 1905 · Short · 7 min Silent film Commons Le voyage sur Jupiter (1909) 1909 · Short · 8 min French silent trick film. Commons The Sealed Room (1909) 1909 · Short · 11 min American short silent film. Commons An Awful Moment (1908) 1908 · Short · 8 min American silent short drama film. Commons San Francisco Earthquake footage 1906 · Short · 9 min · Low resolution San Francisco Earthquake footage Commons The Last Days of Pompeii (1908) 1908 · Short · 16 min Italian silent short. Commons Les chapeaux des belles dames (1909) 1909 · Short · 3 min French silent short. Commons A Winter Straw Ride (1906) 1906 · Short · 6 min · Low resolution A Winter Straw Ride (1906) Commons "Am Sklavenmarkt", a.k.a. "The Slave Market" (1906 or 1907) 1907 · Short · 2 min Sklavenmarkt AKA The Slave Market Commons Les Invisibles (incomplete, 1905) - yt 1905 · Short · 8 min Silent film directed by Gaston Velle and filmed by Segundo de Chomón Commons The Black Viper 1908 · Short · 10 min American silent short film Commons Betrayed by a Handprint 1908 · Short · 10 min Silent film distributed by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company Commons The Sculptor's Nightmare (1908) 1908 · Short · 9 min American silent short comedy film. Commons The Suburbanite (1904) 1904 · Short · 9 min American silent short comedy film. Commons What Drink Did (1909) 1909 · Short · 10 min American silent short film Commons How a British Bulldog Saved the Union Jack (1906) 1906 · Short · 9 min British silent short film. Fictional drama from the Zulu Wars. Commons TheViolinMakerOfCremona1909 1909 · Short · 12 min · Low resolution The Violin Maker of Cremona Commons The Voice of the Violin 1909 · Short · 12 min · Low resolution Full copy of the film Commons Blue Beard (1901) 1901 · Short · 10 min Blue Beard (1901) Commons The Watermelon Patch (1905) - yt 1905 · Short · 10 min Silent film by Edwin S. Porter Commons The Kleptomaniac (1905) - yt 1905 · Short · 10 min Silent film by Edwin S. Porter Commons Resurrection (1909) 1909 · Short · 12 min Silent film distributed by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company Commons The Black Hand (1906) 1906 · Short · 10 min American silent short Mafia film. Commons The Violin Maker of Cremona (1909) 1909 · Short · 12 min American short silent drama film. Commons A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909 film) 1909 · Short · 11 min American silent short film Commons Corner in Wheat 1909 · Short · 13 min American silent short film Commons L'Assassinat du duc de Guise (1908) 1908 · Short · 13 min Silent French film. Commons A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus (1907) 1907 · Short · 13 min American silent short film Commons Mazeppa (1909) 1909 · Short · 15 min Mazepa. Russian silent short film. Commons Fireside Reminiscences (1908) 1908 · Short · 8 min Fireside Reminiscences (1908) Commons La legende du fantome (1908) - yt 1908 · Short · 13 min · Low resolution Directed and filmed by Segundo de Chomón. With Juliette Mathieu. Commons The European Rest Cure (1904) 1904 · Short · 13 min American silent film Commons The Terrible Kids (1906) 1906 · Short · 7 min The Terrible Kids (1906) Commons A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm (1908) 1908 · Short · 7 min A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm (1908) Commons Une noce en Bretagne - production Pathé, 1908 1907 · Short · 7 min Célébration de mariages groupés à Landévant en Bretagne en 1908 Commons Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse(1906) 1906 · Short · 11 min Directed by Albert Capellani. Image by Segundo de Chomón Commons Getting Evidence (1906) 1906 · Short · 14 min American silent short film Commons Mariage du roi d'espagne (1906) 1906 · Short · 8 min French silent short film Commons Les dés magiques-Segundo de Chomon-1908 1908 · Short · 6 min Les dés magiques Commons Les Bulles de savon animées (1906) 1906 · Short · 3 min Soap Bubbles Commons Life of an American Policeman (1905) 1905 · Short · 14 min Life of an American Policeman (1905) Commons The Sealed Room (1909), Original version 1909 · Short · 11 min The Sealed Room (1909) Commons Edison - Electrocuting an Elephant 1903 · Short · 1 min · Low resolution Execution of Topsy Commons Scarecrow Pump (1904) - yt 1904 · Short · 1 min · Low resolution Silent film by Edwin S. Porter Commons What Happened in the Tunnel (1903) - yt 1903 · Short · 1 min · Low resolution Silent film of 1903 Commons Expert bag punching (1903) 1903 · Short · 1 min · Low resolution American short silent film. Performer: Gus Keller. Commons Auto Boat Race on the Hudson (1904) 1904 · Short · 2 min · Low resolution A film Commons An artist's dream 1900 1900 · Short · 1 min · Low resolution A 1900 silent film by Edwin S. Porter