The world's archives

2,449–2,496 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 Captain America: Chapter 9 - Triple Tragedy 1944 · Short · 15 min Taken from IMDB : Superhero Captain America battles the evil forces of the arch-villain called The Scarab, who poisons his enemies and steals a secret device… Internet Archive A Yank In Libya 1942 · Feature Internet Archive Angel and the Badman (1947) 1947 · Feature Notorious shootist and womanizer Quirt Evans' horse collapses as he passes a Quaker family's home. Quirt has been wounded, and the kindly family takes him in… Internet Archive Tin Pan Alley Cats (1943) 1943 · Feature A jazz cartoon involving a "Fats Waller"-like cat who leaves the "Uncle Tomcat Mission" for the local jazz club. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive It Happens Every Spring (1949) 1949 · Feature A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive Strange Illusion (1945) 1945 · Feature An adolescent believes that his widowed mother's suitor may have murdered his father. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/strange-illusion-1945/ Internet Archive Angel Puss (1944) 1944 · Feature A little black boy is hired to kill a cat, but the feline escapes and proceeds to play tricks on the kid, pretending he's a ghost come back to haunt his… Internet Archive Communications and Our Town 1947 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS A VARIETY OF TYPES OF COMMUNICATION, DIVIDED INTO THOSE SEEN & THOSE HEARD. THIS WEB OF COMMUNICATIONS IS EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF ITS SOCIAL EFFECT ASA… Internet Archive 1942 - Eyes In The Night - Fred Zinnemann 1942 · Feature · Subtitles 1942 - Eyes In The Night - Fred Zinnemann Internet Archive America's Safest Tire 1940 · Film Stunt driving footage Montage of a few Hollywood scenes How Fisk tires allow safe stopping at shorter distances. Internet Archive The Perils of Pauline (1947) 1947 · Feature Funloving Pearl White, working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic vaudeville… Internet Archive Zorro's Black Whip: Chapter 1 - The Masked Avenger 1944 · Short Barbara Meredith takes on the guise of "The Black Whip" to avenger her brother's murder, in this 12 part Republic serial. Zorro's Black Whip: Chapter 1 - The… Internet Archive Holt of the Secret Service Part 1: Chaotic Greek 1941 · Short · 27 min In this 15 part serial Secret Service agent Jack Holt, along with his partner, agent R49, are sent to stop a gang of counterfeiters that have kidnapped the… Internet Archive How Green Was My Valley (1941) 1941 · Feature A man in his fifties reminisces about his childhood growing up in a Welsh mining village at the turn of the 20th century. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive Atom Test Nears, 1946/06/13 1946 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) Personalities in the News - "General Walter Smith, U. S. Ambassador to Russia, presents his credentials at the Kremlin . . . Marlene Dietrich arrives in… Internet Archive [Pathe News: Goodman Lumber Fire] 1949 · Newsreel · 5 min · Subtitles Newsreel featuring a conflagration at the famous San Francisco lumberyard. Internet Archive Inner Sanctum (1948) 1948 · Feature A killer hides out in a small-town boarding house. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/inner-sanctum-1948/ Internet Archive Don't Spread Germs (Jet Propelled Germs) 1948 · Short · 1 min Amusing health propaganda trailer on the dangers of sneezing. NHS in 1948. Public health. Public Health Campaign Films. Post War era. Humorous cartoon… Internet Archive Your Show Time - S1E4 - The Mummy's Foot 1949 · TV · Subtitles Episode 4 of the first season of "Your Show Time", an anthology TV series from 1949. Internet Archive German Rocket Bomb, 1944/06/29 1944 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) "Germany's 'Secret' Weapon England: Here are the first motion pictures of the Nazi robot bomb, launched from the French coast and scattering death and… Internet Archive Soundie - A Jazz Etude 1941 · Short · 2 min · Subtitles danced by Billy Burt Internet Archive The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) 1944 · Feature The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) is a drama film adapted from A.J. Cronin's novel. The story follows Father Francis Chisholm, a dedicated and compassionate… Internet Archive Partners in Prosperity 1948 · Film · Subtitles SHOWS HOW PLANT DESIGN, SALES PROMOTION & TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES AID PURINA DEALERS IN DEVELOPING A PROSPEROUS BUSINESS IN A TEXAS FARMING COMMUNITY. Trade… Internet Archive Een verhaal met een baard 1948 · Cartoon · 9 min This puppet-animation is from 1948 and created by the Dutch puppet-animation factory "Dollywood", raised by Joop Geesink. It is in techni-color with a… Internet Archive TOKYO JOE (BOGART) 1949 · Feature An early Bogart classic about a post war smuggling operation during American occupied Japan (we should have never left). Internet Archive A Wolf's Tale (1944) 1944 · Feature Terrytoons animated short with voice of Jo Miller as Red and Grandma. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/a-wolfs-tale-1944/ Internet Archive That Lady in Ermine (1948) 1948 · Feature Circa 1861, Angelina, ruling countess of an Italian principality, is at a loss when invaded by a Hungarian army. Her lookalike ancestress Francesca, who saved… Internet Archive Harald Handfaste (1946) 1946 · Feature · Subtitles Ett romantiskt äventyrsdrama om Harald Handfaste, en slags svensk Robin Hood på 1400-talet. Utländska inkräktare, med den förhatlige fogden von Dotzen i… Internet Archive Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) 1943 · Feature In World War II, a British secret agent carrying a vitally important document is kidnapped en route to Washington. The British government calls on Sherlock… Internet Archive The Paradine Case (1947) 1947 · Feature Attorney Anthony Keane agrees to represent Londonite Mrs. Paradine, who has been fingered in her husband's murder. From the start, the married lawyer is drawn… Internet Archive Private SNAFU - The Home Front 1943 · Cartoon · 4 min Private Snafu imagines the good times his family is having back home while he's stationed in the Arctic. Technical Fairy First Class shows that even his… Internet Archive Dateline Tomorrow 1946 · Film · Subtitles Points out the various finishes for aluminum and shows their application to aluminum products. Internet Archive Apology for Murder (1945) 1945 · Feature Head over heels in love with a stern and cold older businessman's young wife, a reporter is seduced into conspiring to murder him so she can inherit his… Internet Archive Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands in exile Londen 1943 · Feature Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands in exile in Londen during WW-II. She was not the only royal in exile in London when these royals visited King George VI… Internet Archive MALA MUJER - (1945) [VOSE] 1945 · Feature Título original: Scarlet Street Se estrenó en los Estados Unidos el 28 de diciembre de 1945. En México el 30 de mayo de 1946, en el cine Alameda del D.F. (de… Internet Archive Lend-Lease Bill Passed, 1941/03/11 1941 · Newsreel · Subtitles "Washington, DC: Epochal scenes in the Senate chamber, following passage of the much-debated bill to aid England. Spokesmen of opposing factions comment on… Internet Archive Guns, Girls And Gangsters (1947) Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr, Lee Van Cleef, Grant Richards 1947 · Feature Guns, Girls and Gangsters is a 1959 American FILM NOlR crime film directed by Edward L. Cahn starring Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr, Lee Van Cleef, and Grant… Internet Archive Forty Billion Enemies 1941 · Film · Subtitles On the importance of refrigeration in the battle against disease. The title refers to the speed with which bacteria multiply if their reproduction is not… Internet Archive Air Forces Come Home Via Bomber, 1945/05/28 1945 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) "Bradley Field, Conn.: 65 U.S. bombers return over 1,000 U.S. Airforce personnel for furlough and specialized training, prior to duty in the Pacific." (2)… Internet Archive The Spiral Staircase (1946) 1946 · Feature On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/the-spiral-staircase-1946/ Internet Archive Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen 1949 · Film · Subtitles A corruption of "The Nutcracker"; sync-sound with adult actors. Internet Archive Larceny (1948) 1948 · Feature John Payne is the no-good lowdown rat who tries to capitalize on postwar patriotism and grief. He finagles a war widow into giving up her savings for a… Internet Archive Gung Ho!: The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943) 1943 · Feature A true-life epic that revolves around an exclusive bataillon of the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, "Carlson's Raiders," whose assignment is to take… Internet Archive 1941 - Lady Scarface - Frank Woodruff - VO - Versión Original 1941 · Feature · Subtitles For Academic / Educational Use Only Internet Archive The Early Worm Gets the Bird (1940) 1940 · Feature The Early Worm Gets the Bird is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was released on January 13, 1940. The name is a… Internet Archive The Mechanical Monsters (1941) 1941 · Feature Superman battles a criminal mastermind and his robot army. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/the-mechanical-monsters-1941/ Internet Archive The Arsenal For D-Day, 1944/05/08 1944 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) The Arsenal For D-Day "Equipment for Invasion In a U.S.A. port we see the materials of war being feverishly loaded into vessels. Planes are lifted to the… Internet Archive The Strange Woman (1946) 1946 · Feature Isaiah, a 19th-century businessman, has his eye on the beautiful and very young Jenny. Finally of age, she accepts his marriage proposal, but their love…