The world's archives

2,113–2,160 of 42,240 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 House I Live In, The 1945 · Film · Subtitles The tense racial climate in American cities during World War II led to rioting, suspicion and reduced industrial production. Especially after the Detroit race… Internet Archive Manpower 1943 · Short · 8 min · Subtitles The battle for industrial production in World War II. Internet Archive Twelve O'Clock High (1949) 1949 · Feature In the early days of daylight bombing raids over Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a 'hard luck' bomber group. Much of the story deals with… Internet Archive Secrets of the Underground 1942 · Feature Title: Secrets of the Underground Summary: With the help of a WAAC group, Mr. District Attorny smashes a Nazi spy-ring that is selling counterfeit War Stamps… Internet Archive The Battle of Britain (1943) 1943 · Feature The fourth of Frank Capra's Why We Fight series of seven propaganda films, which made the case for fighting and winning the Second World War. It was released… Internet Archive Operator Toll Dialing: Teamwork 1949 · Short · 3 min · Subtitles Instructional film for telephone operators emphasizing on-the-job cooperation. Internet Archive Arranging the Buffet Supper 1946 · Film · Subtitles The American tradition of the buffet supper is shown in its simple preparation. A "must" for the homemaker or hostess. Internet Archive Sign of Dependable Credit, The 1941 · Film · Subtitles On the Production Credit Association. some good shots to be logged shots of Chicago (Lake Shore Drive?) industrial city, smoking plants signs: The Peoples… Internet Archive Lucky Strike Cigarette Commercial: Marching Cigarettes 1948 · Commercial · Subtitles Lucky Strike cigarette commercial with stop-motion animation of marching cigarettes. Internet Archive To Each Other 1943 · Film · Subtitles About stepping up wartime steel production. Locations of mills across the country are pictured. Production of steel, armor plate, tank armor, shell casings,… Internet Archive The Shanghai Gesture (1941) 1941 · Feature The Shanghai Gesture is a 1941 American film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gene Tierney , Walter Huston , Victor Mature , and Ona Munson .… Internet Archive Transportation: Bus, Truck, and Taxi 1946 · Short · 10 min · Subtitles Jobs moving people. Internet Archive Pin Up Girl (1944) 1944 · Feature Glamorous Lorry Jones, the toast of a Missouri military canteen, has become "engaged" to almost every serviceman she's signed her pin-up photo for. Now she's… Internet Archive Our Bill of Rights 1940 · Film · Subtitles PRESENTS THE ARGUMENTS PRO AND CON & THE ACCEPTANCE ON THE PART OF OUR FOUNDERS FOR SUPPLEMENTING THE CONSTITUTION BY THE ADDITION OF THE first ten… Internet Archive The Suspect (1944) Charles Laughton, Ella Raines | Dir. Robert Siodmak 1944 · Feature The Suspect is a 1944 American gothic FILM NOlR directed by Robert Siodmak, set in London in 1902, in Edwardian times. It is based on the 1939 novel This Way… Internet Archive William Comes to Town 1948 · Feature Title: William Comes to Town Summary: William Brown attempts to secure more pay and shorter hours for schoolboys. Directed by: Val Guest Actors: William… Internet Archive Adventures of Smilin' Jack - Chapter 1 1943 · Short · 25 min American Flyer Smilin' Jack Martin, works with Chinese government to stop the Black Samurai, a Japanese covert spy ring, lead by the German operative Fraulein… Internet Archive World We Want to Live in, The 1942 · Film · Subtitles Dictatorships have developed a religious intolerance which has spread alarmingly throughout the United States in spite of efforts of influential groups and… Internet Archive [United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, 1945] 1945 · Talk · Subtitles Portraits of the motion picture industry reps at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, April 25, 1945. Official… Internet Archive Jungle Book (1942) 1942 · Feature Mowgli, lost in the jungle when a toddler, raised by wolves, years later happens upon his human village and reconnects with its inhabitants, including his… Internet Archive More Dangerous Than Dynamite 1941 · Film · Subtitles Presents an object lesson in fire safety, showing fires starting from the use of an electric iron, a lamp cord under a rug, cigar and cigarette stubs, turning… Internet Archive Porky's Prize Pony (1941) 1941 · Feature Porky’s Prize Pony is a 1941 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/porkys-prize-pony-1941/ Internet Archive Your Social Security 1940 · Film · Subtitles Explains how SS, survivors' insurance and other benefit systems work, focuses on the helpful SS workers, strongly encourages workers to file for their SS… Internet Archive Film Tactics 1945 · Film · Subtitles EXPLAINS THROUGH DRAMATIZED EPISODES HOW TRAINING FILMS SHOULD & SHOULD NOT BE USED BY INSTRUCTORS & DEMONSTRATES SOME RESULTS OF GOOD & POOR TEACHING. Internet Archive Bus Driver, The 1946 · Film · Subtitles DEPICTS A TRIP TAKEN BY A YOUNG BOY & HIS FATHER FROM NEW YORK TO PITTSBURGH. SHOWS HOW THE BUS DRIVER MEETS DRIVING HAZARDS, SERVES HIS PASSENGERS & KEEPS… Internet Archive White Ammunition 1942 · Short · 24 min · Subtitles How milk is made, transported and processed. Internet Archive Lumberjack 1944 · Feature · Subtitles Internet Archive Blast Berlin By Daylight, 1944/03/20 1944 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) "We accompany one of the 2,000 American plane formations that are bringing ruin and panic to Berlin. Miles of vapor-streaks are trailing after the huge… Internet Archive MUMMY' S CURSE 1944 colorized 1944 · Feature An irrigation project in the rural bayous of Louisiana unearths living mummy Kharis, who was buried in quicksand twenty-five years earlier. Internet Archive Birth Of The Soil 1948 · Film · Subtitles Explains how topsoil is produced from rock, water, air and sunlight over a period of many centuries. Contrasts the productivity of topsoil with subsoil. Internet Archive This Nations Power 1940 · Film · Subtitles Shows marvelous precision tools & machines in Chevrolet plants used in making that automobiles. Further shows ingenious design of Chevrolet. Internet Archive Law of the Lash 1947 · Feature · 52 min Title: Law of the Lash Summary: U.S. marshal goes undercover to clean up a town run by bandits. Directed by: Ray Taylor Actors: Lash La Rue, Al St. John, Lee… Internet Archive Eyes and Their Care (An Introduction), The 1941 · Cartoon · 10 min · Subtitles Animated drawings explain physiology of sight; how eyeglasses work. Internet Archive Kiss of Death (1947) 1947 · Feature An ex-con trying to go straight must face a crazed criminal out for revenge. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/kiss-of-death-1947/ Internet Archive This is Robert: A Study of Personality Growth in a Preschool Child 1942 · Film · Subtitles Traces the development of Robert, an aggressive, "difficult", yet appealing child, from his arrival in nursery school at two up through his first year in a… Internet Archive Raymond Chandler's THE UNSEEN 1945 · Feature · 2 h 1 min A woman takes a job as a nanny and housekeeper for a strange and distant father. As days pass she finds strange goings ons about the house, the house next… Internet Archive Technicolor for Industrial Films 1949 · Film · Subtitles A promotional film for Technicolor, a company that produces high-quality color prints for use in industrial motion pictures and advertising. The film… Internet Archive The House on 92nd Street (1945) 1945 · Feature The US Government tries to track down embedded Nazi agents in the States. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/the-house-on-92nd-street-1945/ Internet Archive Pipe of Plenty, The 1948 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS NEED FOR, AND CONSTRUCTION OF PIPELINE FROM BIG RAPIDS TO DETROIT, MICHIGAN. GOOD OUTDOOR CONSTRUCTION FOOTAGE, ALSO SHOTS OF GAS USERS. • 9:50:54:21-… Internet Archive Ceiling Hero 1940 · Cartoon Ceiling Hero is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery. Through the medium of the motion picture screen are brought the latest developments in the… Internet Archive Target for Tonight 1941 · Feature · 47 min Title: Target for Tonight Summary: The planning and implementation of an RAF night raid on Germany in World War II, concentrating on a low level mission by a… Internet Archive Queen of the Amazons (1946) 1946 · Feature Jean Preston is determined to find her fiancée, Greg Jones, who went on a safari and didn’t come back when expected. She travels to Akbar, India with Greg’s… Internet Archive More Dangerous Than Dynamite 1941 · Film · Subtitles Presents an object lesson in fire safety, showing fires starting from the use of an electric iron, a lamp cord under a rug, cigar and cigarette stubs, turning… Internet Archive Alias the Champ 1949 · Feature Title: Alias the Champ Summary: New York gangsters trying to muscle in on the California wrestling scene come up against a wrestler who won't knuckle under.… Internet Archive Happy Motoring Ahead! 1945 · Film · Subtitles 15:01:51:01 VS bus and cars passing Esso gas station; cars pulling out of gas station. 15:03:49:08 Father in shirt and tie reading newspaper with young boy on… Internet Archive Jacare 1942 · Feature · 57 min · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive [Home Movies: Air Travel, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New York City] 1940 · Home movie · Subtitles 11:00:52VS Airport scenes, unknown airport: tower, parking lot with 1940s cars, TWA baggage carts, Western Airlines plane; B&W CUs of people inside airport;… Internet Archive The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) 1946 · Feature Celestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is…