The world's archives

385–432 of 1,846 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.
Internet Archive Automated Hat Maker And Sausage Grinder (1900) Directed By Alice Guy Blaché 1900 · Feature Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder (1900) 'Chapellerie et charcuterie mécanique' Director: Alice Guy-Blaché A machine churns out sausages on one side and… Internet Archive The Spring Fairy 1906 · Feature Internet Archive The Story of the Kelly Gang 1906 · Feature Internet Archive Ballet des sylphides AKA Dance of the Sylphs 1902 · Feature Internet Archive Cinderella 1907 · Feature Internet Archive Jeanne d'Arc AKA Joan of Arc 1900 · Feature Internet Archive The Miller's Daughter 1905 · Feature Internet Archive What Happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City 1901 · Feature Internet Archive The Haunted Curiosity Shop (1901) Directed By Walter R. Booth 1901 · Feature The Haunted Curiosity Shop (1901) Director: Walter R. Booth The Haunted Curiosity Shop is a 1901 British silent horror trick film directed by Walter R. Booth,… Internet Archive Fire! (1901) Directed By James Williamson 1901 · Feature Fire! (1901) Director: James Williamson Fire! is a 1901 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, showing the occupants of a house in… Internet Archive Capture Of Boer Battery By British (1900) 1900 · Feature Capture Of Boer Battery By British (1900) Capture of Boer Battery by British is a black-and-white silent short docu-fiction film produced by James H. White… Internet Archive La vie et la passion de Jsus Christ AKA The Passion Play 1903 · Feature Internet Archive The Red Spectre 1907 · Feature Internet Archive Three American Beauties 1906 · Feature Internet Archive Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Palace 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Let Me Dream Again (1900) Directed By George Albert Smith 1900 · Feature Let Me Dream Again 1900 Director: George Albert Smith Let Me Dream Again is a 1900 British short silent drama film, directed by George Albert Smith, featuring… Internet Archive The Enchanted Drawing (1900) Directed By J. Stuart Blackton 1900 · Feature The Enchanted Drawing (1900) Director: J. Stuart Blackton The Enchanted Drawing is a 1900 silent trick film directed by J. Stuart Blackton. It is best known… Internet Archive The Landlady (1900) Directed By Alice Guy Blaché 1900 · Feature The Landlady 1900 'La concierge' Director: Alice Guy-Blaché A landlady is taunted by neighborhood kids. Internet Archive The Big Swallow AKA A Photographic Contortion 1901 · Feature Internet Archive Alice Guy Films a 'Phonoscène' in the Studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris 1907 · Feature Internet Archive A Storm at Sea 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Dance Of Ouled Nail (1902) Directed By Segundo De Chomón 1902 · Feature Dance of Ouled Nail (1902) 'Danse des Ouléd-Naïd' Director: Segundo de Chomón A short film featuring several dancers from different countries: first an… Internet Archive Coney Island at Night 1905 · Feature Internet Archive The Doctor And The Monkey (1900) Directed By Georges Méliès 1900 · Feature The Doctor and the Monkey (1900) 'Le Savant et le Chimpanzé' Director: Georges Méliès The Doctor and the Monkey (French: Le Savant et le Chimpanzé) is a 1900… Internet Archive President Theodore Roosevelt's turbulent life between 1901 and 1919 in color! [A.I. enhanced] 1901 · Feature Watch Theodore Roosevelt's rich and active life during his presidency from 1901 to 1909 and thereafter until his death in 1919. The film consists of many… Internet Archive La Revolucion De Mayo(1909) 1909 · Feature La Revolución de Mayo es una película de Argentina sin sonido y en blanco y negro, dirigida por Mario Gallo sobre su propio guion que se estrenó el 22 de mayo… Internet Archive The Enchanted Drawing 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Dream of a Rarebit Fiend 1906 · Feature Internet Archive Lightning Sketches 1907 · Feature Internet Archive Two Sisters 1907 · Feature Internet Archive La grenouille AKA The Frog 1908 · Feature Internet Archive Star Theatre (1901) Directed By Frederick S. Armitage 1901 · Feature Star Theatre (1901) Director: Frederick S. Armitage Star Theatre (also known as Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre) is a 1901 short documentary film… Internet Archive Au bal de Flore 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Fantasmagorie AKA A Fantasy 1908 · Feature Internet Archive Palace of Electricity 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Lands End train ride 1900 · Film Sped-up trip eastward along the old Sutro Steam railroad from Cliff house back towards the then-empty Golden Gate. Internet Archive Alice in Wonderland 1903 · Feature Internet Archive A Corner in Wheat 1909 · Feature Internet Archive Why Mrs. Jones Got A Divorce (1900) Directed By James H. White 1900 · Feature Why Mrs. Jones Got A Divorce (1900) Director: James H. White This scene opens by showing a pretty cook mixing bread in the kitchen. Jones comes in… Internet Archive A Railway Collision 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903) Directed By George Albert Smith 1903 · Feature Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903) Director: George Albert Smith Mary Jane's Mishap; or, Don't Fool with the Paraffin is a 1903 British silent comic trick film,… Internet Archive A Midsummer Night's Dream 1909 · Feature Internet Archive Rescued by Rover 1905 · Feature Internet Archive Attack on a China Mission 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower 1900 · Feature Internet Archive Loie Fuller 1902 · Feature Internet Archive Serpentine Dance (1900) Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché 1900 · Feature Serpentine Dance (1900) 'Dansa Serpentina' Director: Alice Guy-Blaché Internet Archive A Funny Shave 1906 · Feature