The world's archives

2,449–2,496 of 18,388 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 The Bat (1959) 1959 · Feature Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a country house called "The Oaks", which not long ago was the scene of some murders committed by a strange and… Internet Archive 50's Music: "Standing at the Corner", June 2 1956 1956 · TV · 2 min · Subtitles The June 2 1956 version of Snooky Lanson's performance of "Standing at the Corner" on the TV series Your Hit Parade. Also features "Design for Dreaming" star… Internet Archive The Big Hands 1953 · TV · Subtitles Internet Archive ''The Frankie Laine Show'' - 1954 episode 1954 · TV · 26 min · Subtitles An episode (I don't know the exact date) of the 1954 version of "The Frankie Laine Show". While most 1950s variety series were live with an audience, this one… Internet Archive 'Love of Life' - May 22, 1953 1953 · TV · 15 min · Subtitles Kinescope of an episode of the soap opera "Love of Life" from May 22, 1953. Complete with original commercials. Internet Archive Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot: Black Beauty Dam 1952 · Newsreel · Subtitles Dedication ceremony for a reservoir built to supply water for Hawthorne Ammunition Depot, an isolated naval base in the Nevada desert. Newsreel story.… Internet Archive Sherlock Holmes: The Christmas Pudding 1955 · TV · Subtitles A serial killer threatens to kill Holmes before his execution. Episode 23 Internet Archive Rocky Jones, Space Ranger 1954 · TV The show was based on the exploits of clean-cut, square-jawed Rocky Jones, the best known of the Space Rangers. These were Earth-based space policemen who… Internet Archive ''It Pays to be Ignorant'' - 5 July 1951 1951 · TV · 29 min · Subtitles An episode of "It Pays to be Ignorant", a spoof of game shows. Based on a popular radio series, the television version proved short-lived. Picture quality is… Internet Archive The Tijuana Story (1957) Rodolfo Acosta, James Darren, Eddie March, Jean Willes 1957 · Feature The Tijuana Story is a 1957 American film NOlR crime film directed by Leslie Kardos. A Mexican newspaperman wages a one-man war against a powerful crime… Internet Archive [Home Movies: Fishing, 1954] 1954 · Home movie · Subtitles Man and boy fishing, boy playing in snow, boy and older woman; color: woman in kitchen, boys in cowboy outfits, train year, birthday, child with toys` Internet Archive Garden of Evil (1954) 1954 · Feature A trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband from Apaches. Watch on RetroFlix:… Internet Archive ''The Perry Como Show'' - 18 February 1956 1956 · TV · 52 min · Subtitles An episode of "The Perry Como Show", featuring Henry Fonda, Anne Francis, Vera-Ellen, Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney, The Platters (who sing "The Great… Internet Archive The Caddy (1953) 1953 · Feature Although the son of a skilled golfer and an outstanding player in his own right, Harvey Miller is too nervous to play in front of a gallery, so he acts as… Internet Archive Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) 1953 · Feature A woman takes her four beautiful daughters to Alaska during the Gold Rush to find their fortune. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/those-redheads-from-… Internet Archive 13 Demon Street (The Vine of Death) 1959 · TV · Subtitles 13 Demon Street (The Vine of Death) Atmospheric and slightly bizarre horror series made in Sweden. Introduced by Lon Chaney Jr. The film version ‘The Devil’s… Internet Archive The Big September Man 1952 · TV · Subtitles Internet Archive Borrowed Power 1951 · Film · Subtitles hit and run accident: squealing of brakes; police pull over speeding car; man denies guilt; testing stopping distances and reaction time of cars and drivers;… Internet Archive [News Magazine of the Screen, November 1950] 1950 · Newsreel · 17 min · Subtitles Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use. Internet Archive ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' - The Bachelor 1958 · TV · 29 min · Subtitles An episode of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", originally broadcast 16 April 1958. Contains the original commercials for Kodak. Internet Archive 1955 - Female on the Beach - Una mujer en la playa - Joseph Pevney - VOSE 1955 · Feature For Academic / Educational Use Only derechonoir.wordpress.com Internet Archive The Big Picture: Wherever They Go 1959 · TV · 28 min · Subtitles In this episode, The Big Picture tells the story of the United Service Organization (USO) Internet Archive ''The Perry Como Show'' - 17 January 1959(?) 1959 · TV · 58 min · Subtitles An episode of popular variety series "The Perry Como Show", with guests Nat King Cole, Dick Van Dyke, The McGuire Sisters, and Rosemary June. I might be wrong… Internet Archive Electric Eel 1954 · Short · 11 min Irwin Moon shows us the electric eel and demonstrates its amazing abilities to shock fish for food and to use "radar" to find the fish. To license this film… Internet Archive Working Dollars 1957 · Cartoon · 10 min Mr. Finchly has just gotten a 60 dollar raise and wants to figure out the best way to invest it. Produced by John Sutherland for the New York Stock Exchange Internet Archive ''The Big Record'' - 27th November 1957 1957 · TV · 58 min · Subtitles An episode of the 1957-1958 CBS variety series "The Big Record", starring Patti Page, and guest-starring Georgia Gibbs, Walter Slezak, The Shepherd Sisters,… Internet Archive The Key to Dairy-Farm Sanitation 1957 · Film · Subtitles Promotes chemical sanitation for dairy farm operations. Depicts dairy farm operations and chemical sanitation procedures. Includes brief healthy children… Internet Archive Episode of 'Quick as a Flash' from 1952 1952 · TV · 23 min · Subtitles Episode of the 50's "panal" game show called "Quick as a Flash", with guest Boris Karloff. This episode is from 1952, and is somewhat incomplete, although the… Internet Archive Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) 1950 · Feature The story of a little boy who would only talk in sound effects. Watch on RetroFlix: https://retroflix.org/gerald-mcboing-boing-1950/ Internet Archive Community Development with Gunnison Homes 1950 · Film · Subtitles Gunnison Homes was a subsidiary of US Steel. Warehouse where prefabricated house parts are built. Great shots of tract housing suburban development.… Internet Archive ''The Ed Wynn Show'' - 14 January 1950 1950 · TV · 29 min · Subtitles An episode of "The Ed Wynn Show", an early television comedy-variety series. This episode features special guests Olga San Juan and Howard Duff. Includes the… Internet Archive The Big Show 1953 · TV · Subtitles Internet Archive Borderline (1950) 1950 · Feature Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal… Internet Archive [Nixons Arrive and Depart San Francisco on Asian Trip] 1950 · Newsreel · Subtitles Vice-President Richard Nixon and First Lady Patricia Nixon arrive in San Francisco and embark on plane for their fact-finding trip to Asia. Newsreel story. Internet Archive U.S. Jet Planes Go To Airforce of The Netherlands, 1955/12/19 1955 · Newsreel · Subtitles (1) "New wings for NATO" - 200 Thunderstreaks to go to Dutch - "American planes, Dutch pilots, flying for freedom." (2) Estes Kefauver announces candidacy for… Internet Archive Quatermass and the Pit (1958) 1958 · TV Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third… Internet Archive ''The Jack Benny Program'' - Jack Gets Robbed 1952 · TV · 29 min · Subtitles An early episode of "The Jack Benny Program", telecast 30 November 1952 on CBS. This episode is complete with the original commercials for Lucky Strike… Internet Archive Fifties Television - Bev's Boyfriend - ''I Married Joan'' (1953) 1953 · TV · 24 min · Subtitles Fifties Television: Episode called "Bev's Boyfriend" of the notorious 1950's sitcom "I Married Joan". In this episode, Joan tries to get a guy to like her… Internet Archive In a Lonely Place ( Colorized, 1950) 720p 1950 · Feature In a Lonely Place (1950) colorized with HAVC Internet Archive Mystery of Time 1957 · Educational · 27 min On the surface, this film may seem like an average science film about time and space, but like most of films from the Moody Institute of Science, there is an… Internet Archive Freedom Highway 1956 · Short · 33 min A Greyhound bus transports us through the landscape of American mythology. Part travelogue, part Greyhound advertisement. Internet Archive The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) 1958 · Feature All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary, Gladys works as a… Internet Archive ''Life with Elizabeth'' - Misc episode No. 3 1953 · TV · 25 min · Subtitles Episode of the syndicated 50's TV series "Life With Elizabeth", starring Betty White (Best known for her role in "The Golden Girls"). Internet Archive 1951 Episode of ''The Alan Young Show'' 1951 · TV · 27 min · Subtitles A 1951 episode of the Emmy-winning variety series "The Alan Young Show". This episode includes a sketch about two people who meet at their doors, and a sketch… Internet Archive 1955 1955 · Cartoon Public domain cartoons of 1955. Work in progress. Corrections on copyright status welcome. Internet Archive The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957) 1957 · Feature The singing, rhyming citizens of Hamelin hope to win a competition with rival towns for royal recognition. To this end, the mayor outlaws play (which is a bit… Internet Archive [Home Movies: "Oklahoma Kin" and Southwest] 1958 · Home movie · Subtitles Driving POVs in Southwest US, a little shaky A newish (1957 or 1958) vehicle parked outside the house bears California plates; presuming this roll was shot by… Internet Archive News Magazine of the Screen, The (Vol. 4, Issue 4) 1953 · Newsreel · 23 min · Subtitles Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use.