The world's archives
1,633–1,669 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
Les Elkes champions du cake-walk (1903)
Lumière silent short.
Commons
Emile Cohl - Fantasmagorie 1908 - YouTube.theora
Entire film
Commons
1902 Babies Rolling Eggs
Silent film by Edwin S. Porter
Commons
The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903) - yt
Silent film of 1903
Commons
Uncle Josh's Nightmare (1900)
American short silent film.
Commons
Mitre visita museo historia 1901
President of Argentine, Bartolomé Mitre, visiting the Museum of History.
Commons
The Artist's Dilemma (1901) - yt
Silent movie by Edwin S. Porter
Commons
Willie's Magic Wand (1907)
British short silent film produced by Charles Urban.
Commons
Gordon Sisters Boxing 1901
Gordon Sisters Boxing, movie from 1901
Commons
Les Illusions fantaisistes (1909)
French silent short.
Commons
Liliputian dances (1907)
Produced by Pathé Frères in 1907.
Commons
Bradford, 1902
Bradford 1902.
Commons
Circular panoramic view of the Place de L'Opera
From Edison films catalog: The busiest square in all Paris.
Commons
Rip Van Winkle (1903)
American silent film. Compilation of short films from 1897.
Commons
Luftnummer
"Luftnummer" zeigt zwei von Neubronners Söhnen am Trapez.
Commons
Danses cosmopolites a transformation (1902)
Stencil colorized by Segundo de Chomón in Barcelona
Commons
Pruska kultura (1908)
Oldest preserved Polish silent film.
Commons
Getting Even (1909)
American short silent drama film.
Commons
The Hessian Renegades (1909)
American short silent drama film The Hessian Renegades (1909).
Commons
The Curtain Pole
American silent short film
Commons
The Son's Return (1909)
American short silent drama film The Son's Return (1909).
Commons
The Colon Theater of Buenos Aires - Tenor Enrico Caruso(360p H.264-AAC)
Primer registro de una obra en el Teatro Colón
Commons
Romance of a Jewess
American silent short film
Commons
The Renunciation (1909)
American short silent drama film The Renunciation (1909).
Commons
San Francisco Earthquake Damage
Amateur footage.
Commons
Hydrothérapie fantastique (1909)
French silent short.
Open Images
The society raffles
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Spirit of '76
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Latina, dislocation act
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Sandow
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Open Images
Latina, contortionist
Film from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
Open Images is not answering just now
Library of Congress
Nathan E. Cook Collection
Chief Boatswain, Navy, World War, 1914-1918 - Europe; China; Philippines. Lieutenant, Navy, World War, 1939-1945 - Haiti; Panama; Atlantic Ocean; South America.
Commons
Moscow clad in snow - Moscou sur la neige - Москва в снежном убранстве - Москва в снегу (1908), noaudio
Moscow clad in snow
Commons
Tracked by Bloodhounds or A Lynching at Cripple Creek
Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek directed by Harry Buckwalter.
Commons
Terrible Teddy, the grizzly king (1901)
American short silent film. From Edison films catalog: "A burlesque on Theodore Roosevelt hunting mountain lions in Colorado and taken from the New York…
Commons
The Burlesque Suicide No. 2 (1902)
The Burlesque Suicide, No. 2 (1902)
Library of Congress
[Berliner family. Home movie]