The world's archives

433–480 of 8,179 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 Woman in the Moon 1929 (Fritz Lang) colorized launch sequence 1929 · Feature A tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there. Launch Sequence excerpt (8 minutes) Originally: Frau im Mond (silent… Internet Archive Today -and Yesterday Newsreel (1929) 1929 · Newsreel · Subtitles New York in the pre-jazz era, Fifth Avenue now in the Age of Gasoline!, the long skirt returns - A Duff Gordon Creation c. 1914 vs fashion 15 yrs later ,… Internet Archive Missions of California 1920 · Film · Subtitles Static shots of the California missions, many of them in states of disrepair. LS Pueblo Church in Los Angeles at a busy street corner with auto traffic… Internet Archive Betty's Bath 1928 · Feature Internet Archive The Trespasser 1929 · Feature Title: The Trespasser Summary: The trial and tribulations of a strong-willed woman who elopes and gives birth out of wedlock without telling her ex-husband.… Internet Archive Steamboat Bill, Jr. 1928 · Feature · 1 h 9 min Title: Steamboat Bill, Jr. Summary: The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew. Directed by: Charles Reisner, Buster… Internet Archive "Huckleberry Finn" (1920) 1920 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Down at Our Pond: A Film Lesson in Nature Study 1926 · Film · Subtitles 12:19:29:19 CU hand pours glass of frog eggs into tumbler; hand lifts spotted jelly blob of frog eggs from tumbler. 12:20:45:09 VS frog embryos in eggs;… Internet Archive The Navigator 1924 · Feature Rollo decides to marry his sweetheart Betsy and sail to Honolulu. When she rejects him he decides to go alone but boards the wrong ship, the "Navigator" owned… Internet Archive "Detectives" (1928) starring Karl Dane, George Arthur and Marceline Day - a trailer 1928 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive The Man Who Laughs (1928) 1928 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. While The Man Who Laughs… Internet Archive Story Of Asbestos 1922 · Film · Subtitles A detailed silent film account of the production and manufacture of this most useful material. Operations are carried on at the Johns-Manville Co. plant.… Internet Archive Superstition 1926 · Film · Subtitles Silent drama. Released as "THOSE WHO DARE" Captain Martin Manning retires from the sea and buys a little home near the harbor where he can be in sight of his… Internet Archive Mud and Sand 1922 · Feature · 46 min Title: Mud and Sand Summary: Rhubarb Vaselino lives in a small village, when he and his friend, Sapo, enter a bullfighting contest, Sapo dies, but Rhubarb… Internet Archive The Blacksmith 1922 · Short · 18 min Title: The Blacksmith Summary: Buster Keaton shoes horses and repairs cars, with mixed results. Directed by: Buster Keaton, Malcolm St. Clair Actors:… Internet Archive The Ten Commandments / Cecil B. DeMille / Blu-ray / BD50 / m2ts 1923 · Feature No description Internet Archive "Molly O'" (1921) starring Mabel Normand 1921 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Waxworks 1929 · Feature Internet Archive Wise Girls 1929 · Feature Internet Archive The Shock 1923 · Feature · 1 h 3 min Title: The Shock Summary: A gang of blackmailers sends a cripple to San Francisco to expose a banker they have been blackmailing. However, the cripple meets… Internet Archive "White Tiger" (1923) director Tod Browning 1923 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Haldane of the Secret Service 1923 · Feature · 1 h 23 min Title: Haldane of the Secret Service Summary: Heath Haldane (Houdini) tracks down a vicious gang of counterfeiters, narrowly missing death several times. He… Internet Archive "The Drums of Love" (1928) director D. W. Griffith 1928 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive [Berkeley, California Fire] 1923 · Film · Subtitles Berkeley, California Fire. [Newsreel: Extra !! Berkeley Burns! Entire city threatened by flames] Great footage of 1923 Berkeley fire; buildings on fire;… Internet Archive "The Monastery Of Sendomir" (1920) director Victor Sjöström (Seastrom) 1920 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Making the Synchrophase in Grebeland 1925 · Film · Subtitles Summary: early radio-building factory industrial film. Sequences of machine parts being manufactured, both factory floor long views and close-ups of hands… Internet Archive Buster Keatons Shorts 2 1926 · Short Buster Keatons Shorts collection (2) Internet Archive Messalina 1924 · Feature Internet Archive Gow The Head Hunter 1928 Documentary ★★★★ CC: [1:00:55] HD 1922 · Feature · 1 h 10 min · Subtitles Documentary producer Edward A. Salisbury headed a cinematic expedition into the south seas of the Pacific Ocean from October 1920 through February 1922.… Internet Archive The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928) 1928 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. This experimental French… Internet Archive Day at the River: A Film Lesson in Nature Study, A 1928 · Film · Subtitles Tale of a fish hatchery and fish life cycle complete with microcinematography of fish eggs. Silent film with title cards. STOCK SHOTS: Huckleberry Finn-like… Internet Archive "The Light on Lookout Mountain" (1924) starring Nell Shipman 1924 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Rosita / Unknown / XviD / AVI / 640x480 / Russian Print 1923 · Feature · Subtitles Internet Archive [Cornwall, N.Y., Memorial Day Celebration 1920] 1920 · Short · 15 min · Subtitles [Cornwall, N.Y., Memorial Day Celebration 1920] Internet Archive Trip to the Moon, A 1920 · Film · Subtitles animated journey from Earth to Moon Internet Archive Air: A Film Lesson in "General Science" 1928 · Film · Subtitles Great animated tornado coming into camera and animated tornado moving over map of town. Internet Archive Battleship Potemkin (1925) 1925 · Feature Battleship Potemkin, sometimes rendered as Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 Soviet silent epic film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by Sergei… Internet Archive Disease Carriers: A Film Lesson in "Health and Hygiene" 1928 · Film · Subtitles About flies as carriers of disease, clean streets; sewage treatment; rat and rodent control; malaria mosquitoes. Internet Archive Fire Fighters 1922 · Film · Subtitles Comedy starring domestic ducks and other animals dressed in miniature human costumes. African Americans play stereotypical and degrading comedy roles. The… Internet Archive Sightseeing in Newark, N.J. 1926 · Film · Subtitles Some shots to be logged. Hudson Terminal (or Penn Station), Newark. Pan over city as seen from tall downtown building Historical landmarks Branch Brook Park… Internet Archive No Man's Law 1927 Colorized 1927 · Feature From IMDB: Two thugs plot to kill an old miner to get his claim, but one of them lusts after his beautiful daughter and wants her first.… Internet Archive Nosferatu (1922) 1922 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. One of the most iconic… Internet Archive "The Road to Ruin" (1928) 1928 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive The Love Nest / Blu-ray / x264 / MKV / 1080p / Extras / Buster Keaton Short Films Collection (2011) 1923 · Feature Buster bids goodbye to Virginia and all women, sailing away in his "Cupid." Later, without food or water, he is taken on board "The Love Nest" which has a… Internet Archive Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Lights Of New York 1928 Colorized 1928 · Feature This movie became Public Domain on 1 January 2024. Lights Of New York was the first 'Talkie' movie. The Jazz Singer, 1927, was part talkie, part silent, but… Internet Archive O Encouraçado Potemkin (1925) 1925 · Feature Bronenosets Potyomkin é um filme mudo soviético dirigido por Serguei Eisenstein, produzido pela Mosfilm e lançado em 1925. Ele apresenta uma versão… Internet Archive Robin Hood (1922) 1922 · Feature Amid big-budget medieval pageantry, King Richard goes on the Crusades leaving his brother Prince John as regent, who promptly emerges as a cruel, grasping,…