The world's archives

2,113–2,160 of 12,291 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 [Gould can S-8: San Francisco Transportation Scenes] 1930 · Film · Subtitles San Francisco, California Street scenes, busses, Railway Express truck, cars, Also ship leaving port / funnels / crowd and cargo vans loading and on way to… Internet Archive Undersea Kingdom: Chapter 12 - Ascent to the Upperworld 1936 · Short · 16 min Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, travels with Professor Norton, his Son Billy, and plucky reporter Diana Compton to the Undersea Kingdom… Internet Archive Umi no Momotarô (1932) 1932 · Feature Momotaro and his friends are asked to help defeat a giant shark. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/umi-no-momotaro-1932/ Internet Archive [Home Movies: Landscape Forestry, aka Forestry and Roads] 1930 · Home movie · Subtitles First title on film reads: "Forestry and Roads." On can: "Landscape Forestry." Likely a reel showing company projects. Company name: Outdoor Service Bureau,… Internet Archive Lot in Sodom (1933) 1933 · Feature Lot in Sodom is a sensual depiction of the Sodom and Gomorrah story filled with sinewy and semi-clad bodies, delirious bacchanals devoted to physical… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Christmas in Vallejo, 1930-1943] 1930 · Home movie · Subtitles Filmed in Vallejo, California. Some good shots to log. Scenes from 1930, 1936, 1939-40, 1943 One sequence showing familiy visiting Golden Gate International… Internet Archive [Home Movies: New York World's Fair] 1939 · Home movie · Subtitles 13:37:19 1939 World's Fair 38479 Pavilions of different countries 13:41:03 People in line for Perisphere Gardens on parade Internet Archive Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936) 1936 · Feature At an orphanage, the children are sad because they received used defective toys as gifts. Professor Grampy sees the children while passing by in his sled and… Internet Archive President Reports To Nation On The Progress Of Recovery, 1934/06/27 1934 · Newsreel · Subtitles "Washington DC: The Chief Executive, through Universal Newsreel, makes another characteristic 'intimate' talk to the people of the United States, giving an… Internet Archive Brennendes Geheimnis 1933 (mit Alfred Abel, Hilde Wagener, Willi Forst) Regie Robert Siodmak 1933 · Feature Film aus dem deutschen dritten Reich von 1933 Brennendes Geheimnis mit Willi Forst Internet Archive I Yam What I Yam (1933) 1933 · Feature Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy are shipwrecked on an island of hostile Indians Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/i-yam-what-i-yam-1933/ Internet Archive A Dream Walking (1934) 1934 · Feature Popeye and Bluto each wants to save Olive as she sleepwalks onto a construction site. But most of their efforts go into preventing each other from being the… Internet Archive Chris Columbo (1938) 1938 · Feature A fun, tune-filled retelling of the legendary Christopher Columbus telling of the world being round, and going on his ocean voyage. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive Goopy Geer 1932 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising 1932 · Cartoon Goopy Geer 1932 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising Internet Archive [Home Movies: New York, Barstow, Mexico, Here & There] 1932 · Home movie · Subtitles container: "New York, Barstow, Mexico, Here & There & Mexico [of Dads?]" CU Canadian Pacific World War I memorial plaque / entrance gate for Oratoire… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Medicus Collection: Men's Fishing Trip] 1930 · Home movie · Subtitles Men on fishing trip; brief winter street scene in Manhattan, showing couple pushing a perambulator on the sidewalk Internet Archive [Home Movies: Laubscher Collection: Transcontinental Trip, 1930] 1930 · Home movie · Subtitles Ramona's Marriage Place POV driving through tunnel Sign: Coolidge Dam Cars parked on dam (near Globe, Arizona) VS pans over dam driving POVs driving over… Internet Archive [Installation of Books, Butler Library, Columbia University] 1932 · Film · Subtitles Butler Library at Columbia University in New York City. Books and other material being unloaded from library and shipped away to Low Library across the quad.… Internet Archive The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) 1936 · Feature After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865, during… Internet Archive What Stops Them 1935 · Film " A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF HYDRAULIC BRAKES AND OF THEIR USE ON THE MODERN MOTORCAR." Internet Archive Cashing In 1935 · Film · Subtitles The first reel appears to be R3, ending with a title that says "Farther Faster Safer with Pennzoil." A senior salesman or manager advises a younger salesman,… Internet Archive In Old Chicago (1938) 1938 · Feature The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire. Watch on… Internet Archive Poor Cinderella (1934) 1934 · Feature In the only Betty Boop color cartoon, Cinderella (Betty) goes to the ball thanks to her fairy godmother. Later, only her foot fits the glass slipper. Watch on… Internet Archive The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case (1932) 1932 · Feature A young woman turns to Holmes for protection when she's menaced by an escaped killer seeking missing treasure. However, when the woman is kidnapped, Holmes… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Golden Gate International Exposition] 1939 · Home movie · Subtitles To be logged. Home movies shot at Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939-40. ends with nice shot of woman approaching camera, walking down… Internet Archive Maniac (1934) 1934 · Feature An ex-vaudeville actor is working as the assistant to a doctor who has Frankenstein aspirations. The ex-vaudeville actor kills the doctor and decides to… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Ransohoff Collection: Summer Vacation, Lake Tahoe, 1939] 1939 · Home movie · Subtitles Fashion show / sheep going past camera / family scenes / woman reading San Francisco Chronicle with headling "Germany Rushes Army Trucks Into Danzig" /… Internet Archive Scrooge (1935) 1935 · Feature Ebenezer Scrooge, the ultimate Victorian miser, hasn't a good word for Christmas, though his impoverished clerk Cratchit and nephew Fred are full of holiday… Internet Archive 1938 1938 · Cartoon Public domain cartoons of 1938. Work in progress. Corrections on copyright status welcome. Internet Archive Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (1931) 1930 · Feature Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! is a 1931 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on September 5, 1931, and… Internet Archive A Chance to Lose 1937 · Film · Subtitles "Comparison of the chances taken by reckless drivers with those taken in gambling." - Educational Film/Video Locator, 3rd Edition "A 1937 release which won… Internet Archive Undersea Kingdom: Chapter 5 - Prisoners of Atlantis 1936 · Short · 17 min Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, travels with Professor Norton, his Son Billy, and plucky reporter Diana Compton to the Undersea Kingdom… Internet Archive Dick Tracy Movie Serial - Chapter 1 1937 · Short Chapter 1 of The 1937 Dick Tracy movie serial Internet Archive President Roosevelt Sails On 10,000 Mile Vacation Trip, 1934/07/02 1934 · Newsreel · Subtitles "Annapolis, MD: Accompanied by his two sons, Franklin, Jr., and john, the Chief Executive boards the USS Houston for a long cruise that will take him to the… Internet Archive Home Movie: 010174 (My Alaska Cruise, Reel 2) 1938 · Home movie "My Alaska Cruise" (R2) Coastal Alaska in 1938 from a shipboard perspective, with stops at Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka, glacier tourism, iceberg POVs, Indigenous… Internet Archive Customers Wanted (1939) 1939 · Feature Popeye and Bluto are running competing penny arcades, trying to bring in customer Wimpy. Of course, he would gladly pay Tuesday for a penny today. And of… Internet Archive Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931) 1931 · Feature Lady, Play Your Mandolin! is the first Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Rudolf Ising of Harman and Ising. The short was released in August… Internet Archive Manga: Sarumasamune (1931) 1931 · Feature Short movie from 1930 about a soldier traveling a great distance to deliver a letter. Along the way he receives a sword from a monkey. Watch on RetroFlix.org:… Internet Archive Beautiful Dresden before its destruction at the end of WWII in color: Watch and weep! 1935 · Feature This film shows the beautiful German city of Dresden not long before World War II around 1936. Watching this film becomes extremely emotional if one realizes… Internet Archive Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions (1933) 1933 · Feature In a circus tent, Betty, Bimbo and Koko demonstrate some gadgets reminiscent of TV ads; an animated sewing machine gets out of hand. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive 'QUAKE! Its effect on Long Beach and Compton California 1933 · Film · Subtitles Main title "Quake!" shakes in animation EXCELLENT FOOTAGE OF QUAKE DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION Map of quake area with arrow pointing out its periphery Various… Internet Archive Frankenstein ( Colorized, 1931) 720p 1931 · Feature Frankenstein (1931) colorized with HAVC Internet Archive The Greeks Had A Word For Them (1932) 1932 · 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 Hell-bound Train (1930) 1930 · Feature I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, as well as getting a head start on some 1930 films, so I'm uploading the best possible… Internet Archive Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) 1930 · Feature Dowdy Sylvia accepts her boss' marriage proposal, even though he only asked her to avoid marriage to another woman. As a wealthy wife, Sylvia changes from… Internet Archive The Cobweb Hotel (1936) 1936 · Feature A spider runs a hotel for flies where he keeps his guests captive. A pair of fly newlyweds arrive and check in. Fortunately, the husband is "flyweight… Internet Archive The Rains Came (1939) 1939 · Feature Indian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to the poor folk of Ranchipur. Lady Edwina and her drunken artist… Internet Archive Half Shot at Sunrise (1930) 1930 · Feature Two soldiers go absent without leave in Paris during World War I. Watch on RetroFlix: