The world's archives

817–864 of 7,264 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 [Home Movies: Sport fishing off Fire Island] 1925 · Home movie · Subtitles c. 1925-1930 Summary: Twelve minutes of recreational fishing sequences, on the ocean, featuring a large family in a small boat, and dozens of fish caught and… Internet Archive Four Sons (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. Even though director John… Internet Archive Pampered Youth 1925 · Feature Internet Archive Two Pay Days (Part I) 1927 · Short · 13 min · Subtitles Motivational film for 1920s Chevrolet salesmen. Internet Archive What Price Glory? (1926) 1926 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, along with other pictures of the era that I find interesting, so I'm uploading the best… Internet Archive Ways to Strength and Beauty 1925 · Feature Internet Archive Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) 1928 · Feature The just-out-of-college, effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was a child. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive The Perfect Clown 1925 · Feature Internet Archive [Redwood Estates Promotional Film] 1927 · Film · Subtitles Redwood Estates near Santa Cruz, California: Real estate promotional film showing scenes of downtown Los Gatos, California / car arriving at the "estates" and… Internet Archive The Iron Mask (1929) 1929 · 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. As one of the few films… Internet Archive The Three Musketeers 1921 · Feature Internet Archive The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1921 · Feature Internet Archive Digging Into the Past: Egyptian Excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1920 · Film · Subtitles excellent footage of Egyptian workers working on archaeological dig Internet Archive Nevada 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Mutt and Jeff: On Strike 1920 · Cartoon Mutt and Jeff cartoon featuring live-action shots of Bud Fisher, creator of the original comic strip. Preserved with the collaboration of the National Film… Internet Archive The Viking 1928 · Feature Internet Archive The Kid Brother (1927) 1927 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, along with other pictures of the era that I find interesting, so I'm uploading the best… Internet Archive Salamander 1928 · Feature Internet Archive Sherlock Jr. 1924 · Feature Internet Archive Unique footage of the Kingdom of The Netherlands before 1930 in color! [AI enhanced & colorized] 1928 · Feature This film shows the Northern provinces: Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe as well as the two Western provinces: North and South Holland, as it was over 90… Internet Archive Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness 1927 · Feature Internet Archive The Swan 1925 · Feature Internet Archive Battleship Potemkin 1925 · Feature Internet Archive Kinken chochiku Shiobara Tasuke (1925) 1925 · Feature Industrious farmer Tasuke makes the necessary sacrifices to advance his station in life from a farmer to a store-owner. Based on a well-known kabuki tale… Internet Archive Trolley Troubles (1927) 1927 · Feature Oswald, the trolley conductor gets stopped in the tracks by a cow who refuses to move. He then faces a steep hill, which the trolley has trouble with. When it… Internet Archive Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Neck 'n' Neck (1928) 1928 · Feature Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Neck 'n' Neck is an Oswald cartoon directed by Walt Disney. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-neck-n-ne… Internet Archive How the Telephone Talks 1920 · Film · Subtitles To be logged. With animation. Internet Archive In the Land of Morning Calm 1925 · Feature Internet Archive [California Cotton Mills] 1924 · Short · 6 min · Subtitles Workers and machines at the California Cotton Mills in Oakland. Internet Archive The Adventures of Tarzan 1921 · Feature Internet Archive Upstream 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Black Cyclone 1925 · Feature Internet Archive The Second 100 Years 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Somewhere in Wrong 1925 · Feature Internet Archive Bulldog Drummond (1929) 1929 · 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. Bulldog Drummond is an… Internet Archive Food 1928 · Film · Subtitles Silent hygiene film about the importance of good nutrition. Internet Archive Leaves From Satan's Book 1921 · Feature Internet Archive Disraeli (1929) 1929 · 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. George Arliss was the first… Internet Archive [Gould can 1020.1] 1922 · Film · Subtitles San Francisco, California street scenes, including pans and tilts of streets and buildings. Great architectural footage of San Francisco pre-1920. VS San… Internet Archive Twelve Miles Out (1927) 1927 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, along with other pictures of the era that I find interesting, so I'm uploading the best… Internet Archive [San Francisco Scenes] 1929 · Film · Subtitles San Francisco scenes. Aerials; Pacific Telephone Building; looking down Market Street, shot from around 8th Street; Ferry Building; Goat Island, ferry in… Internet Archive [Gould can 5115: San Francisco Bay Area Newsreel Stories] 1922 · Newsreel · Subtitles Assembly of newsreel stories relating to the San Francisco Bay Area, as follows: Slide at Selby, California misses passenger train (1928); Santa Claus wishes… Internet Archive Cave of the Silken Web (1927) 1927 · 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 partially lost picture… Internet Archive Barbed Wire 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Sensation Seekers, The 1926 · Film · Subtitles great shipwreck sequence Internet Archive Zweigroschenzauber AKA Two Pence Magic 1929 · Feature Internet Archive Industrial Uses of "Caterpillar" Tractors 1920 · Film · Subtitles Caterpillar tractors and equipment used on many construction and extractive projects. Much good footage to log. Internet Archive Alice's Wonderland 1923 · Feature