Comedy from the world's archives

97–144 of 10,478 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 Naughty Cheerleader.1970.TVRIP.x264-CG 1970 · Feature How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get Into This Business? (German: Mir hat es immer Spaß gemacht (also: Wie kommt ein so reizendes Mädchen zu diesem Gewerbe? ) and… Internet Archive Steamboat Bill Jr. 1928 · Feature · 1 h 9 min Steamboat Bill, Jr. is the story of a naive, college-educated dandy who must prove himself to his working-class father, a hot-headed riverboat captain, while… Internet Archive Charlie Chaplin's "Making A Living" 1914 · Short · 8 min Charlie Chaplin's 1st Film Released Feb. 02 1914 Making a Living is the first film appearance of Charlie Chaplin, which premiered on February 2, 1914. Chaplin… Internet Archive Dr Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964 · Feature Stanley Kubrick’s painfully funny take on Cold War anxiety is one of the fiercest satires of human folly ever to come out of Hollywood. The matchless… Internet Archive No, No, Nanette 1940 · Feature · 1 h 26 min · Subtitles Taken from IMDB : Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring… Internet Archive Girl O' My Dreams 1934 · Feature · 1 h 2 min · Subtitles Taken from IMDB: A conceited college track star, used to being "big man on campus", gets a jolt when he loses an election to see who is the most popular man… Internet Archive The Admiral Was A Lady 1950 · Feature · 1 h 26 min http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042182/ Really enjoyable movie set just after WWII about a woman ensign (nicknamed the admiral) who falls in with a gang of… Internet Archive Lil' Abner 1940 · Feature · 1 h 11 min · Subtitles Film based on the comic strip by Al Capp. Dogpatch comes to life with Buster Keaton, Edgar Kennedy and more. Internet Archive Zis Boom Bah 1941 · Feature · 1 h 1 min · Subtitles A rich former vaudeville mother tries to turn her rich carefree son into a responsible adult. Internet Archive The General (complete & clearer) (1926) 1926 · Feature · 1 h 18 min A great Buster Keaton silent movie. In 1862, after spies steal his locomotive, "The General", he wages a one-man battle to recover it. The copies previously… Internet Archive Chasing Trouble 1940 · Feature · 59 min · Subtitles Taken from IMDB : A delivery boy for a flower shop, who thinks of himself as an amateur detective, finds out that his boss is mixed up with a foreign… Internet Archive Ask Dad 1929 · Short · 22 min · Subtitles Comedic short starring Edward Everett Horton. You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Six-Gun Rhythm 1939 · Feature · 57 min · Subtitles When football player Tex Fletcher arrives home he finds his father missing. Jim Davis has killed the father and learning of Tex's identity, sends his men to… Internet Archive One Body Too Many 1944 · Feature · 1 h 15 min · Subtitles Taken from the IMDB : Insurance salesman Albert Tuttle arrives at the Cyrus J. Rutherford estate to sell the millionaire some life insurance. Rutherford is… Internet Archive The Front Page 1931 · Feature · 1 h 39 min http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021890/ There's nothing like an original !!! Hildy Johnson (Pat O'Brien), newspaper reporter, is engaged to Peggy Grant and… Internet Archive Half Shot at Sunrse 1930 · Feature · 1 h 18 min · Subtitles Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey are privates in WWI France who chase girls, trade bad jokes and win battles. Internet Archive That Uncertain Feeling 1941 · Feature · 1 h 24 min Against her better judgement, happily married Jill Baker (Merle Oberon) is persuaded to see a popular psychoanalyst about her psychosomatic hiccups Internet Archive The Sin of Harold Diddlebock 1947 · Feature · 1 h 29 min This final film by silent screen star Harold Lloyd comes nine years after his previous feature. In this film, that reprises a character portrayed by Lloyd in… Internet Archive Mud and Sand 1922 · Short · 40 min 'Mud and Sand' is a satire on the Rudolph Valentino Classic Blood and Sand .. Stan Laurel plays the Bullfighter (Rubharb Vaseline) who wants to make it to the… Internet Archive Rhythm and Blues Revue 1955 · Feature · 1 h 11 min Musical variety show filmed at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York City featuring a cast of popular African-American performers: Willie Bryant, Freddie… Internet Archive Disorder in the Court 1936 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Charlie Chaplin's "The Immigrant" 1917 · Short Charlie Chaplin's 61st Film Released June 17 1917. The Immigrant (also called Broke) starring the Charlie Chaplin Tramp character as an immigrant coming to… Internet Archive Lady Says No 1952 · Feature · 1 h 22 min · Subtitles Features David Niven. You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Fit for a King 1937 · Feature · 1 h 4 min · Subtitles Newspaper go-fer Joe E. Brown gets mixed up with assassins and a princess. With Helen Mack. Internet Archive Hook Line and Sinker 1930 · Feature · 1 h 15 min · Subtitles Taken from IMDB :Two fast-talking insurance salesmen meet Mary, who is running away from her wealthy mother, and they agree to help her run a hotel that she… Internet Archive One Body Too Many 1944 · Feature · 1 h 15 min · Subtitles An insurance salesman is hired to guard the body of a man so his potential heirs don't try to bury it and invalidate the man's will. You can find out more… Internet Archive Hi De Ho 1947 · Feature · 1 h 3 min · Subtitles Cab Calloway plays himself in a plot about jealousy, night clubs, and gangsters. Internet Archive Ghosts on the Loose 1943 · Feature · 1 h 5 min Glimpy's surprisingly beautiful sister (Ava Gardner) is getting married to Jack (Rick Vallin), a young engineer, and moving to a 'bargain' suburban house… Internet Archive Wake Me Up When the War Is Over 1969 · Feature · 1 h 14 min http://imdb.com/title/tt0065194/ During the latter days of WW2 an American Lieutenant (Ken Berry), accidentally falls out of an airplane that he was on and… Internet Archive Earthworm Tractors 1936 · Short · 1 min · Subtitles Joe E. Brown as Andrew H. Botts, wreaks havok on a small town after coning his way into a salesman position for the Earthworm Tractor company. Internet Archive Private Snuffy Smith 1942 · Feature · 1 h 5 min · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Police Patrol 1933 · Feature · Subtitles Also known as "Riot Squad". You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Buster Keaton's "Cops" (1922) 1922 · Feature This gem is presented by Silent Hall of Fame. Please visit https://silent-hall-of-fame.org/ to support our non-profit mission and the legacy of silent movie… Internet Archive Brideless Groom 1947 · Short · 16 min · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Spooks Run Wild 1941 · Feature · 1 h 4 min · Subtitles Bela Lugosi You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Charlie Chaplin's "A Fair Exchange" 1914 · Short Charlie Chaplins 34th Film Released Dec. 05 1914. This Film was released as Getting Acquainted. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004011/ Charlie Chaplin In The… Internet Archive Life with Father 1947 · Feature · 1 h 58 min This film's excellent cast brings interest to a story of otherwise routine family events. Almost all of the performers are nicely matched with their… Internet Archive Phantom of Chinatown 1940 · Feature · 1 h 2 min · Subtitles From IMDb : Detective James Lee Wong is on the scene as archeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient… Internet Archive My Favorite Burnette iPod Version 1947 · Feature · 1 h 26 min · Subtitles Bob Hope comedy with Dorothy Lamour. | You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Speak Easily 1932 · Feature · 1 h 20 min · Subtitles Naive, bookish Professor Post (Buster Keaton) inherits a huge amount of money and decides that now he can afford to go out and enjoy life Internet Archive Lost in the Wash 2006 · Feature · 59 min · Subtitles CAUTION: I recommend downloading, not streaming. When I tried to stream, the dialogue went out-of-sync. It might work well with faster broadband. Lost in the… Internet Archive Santa's Surprise 1947 · Cartoon · 8 min Five children from around the world follow Santa home on Christmas Eve, and decide to give him some extra help around the workshop. Internet Archive Thunder in the City 1937 · Feature · 1 h 27 min In this satire of British-American relations, Edward G. Robinson stars as Dan Armstrong, a hard-sell American salesman whose company sends him to England to… Internet Archive Charlie Chaplin's "Mabels Strange Predicament" 1914 · Short Charlie Chaplins 3rd Film Released Feb. 09 1914 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004284/ Charlie Chaplin In The Internet Archive… Internet Archive Colgate Comedy Hour - Abbott and Costello and Company 1951 · Feature · 41 min · Subtitles This is the 7 January 1951 Episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour hosted by Abbott and Costello. IMDB page here . Internet Archive Steamboat Bill, Jr. 1928 · Feature · 1 h 9 min Steamboat Bill, Jr. is the story of a naive, college-educated dandy who must prove himself to his working-class father, a hot-headed riverboat captain, while… Internet Archive Where There's a Will 1936 · Feature · 1 h 17 min Will Hay plays Benjamin Stubbins a penniless seedy solicitor cum jack of all trades who happens to have rich relations in the country, and a cluttered office… Internet Archive The Milky Way 1936 · Feature · 1 h 27 min · Subtitles After the champion middle-weight boxer is knocked out in a scuffle with milkman Harold Lloyd, Harold gets the chance to fight the champ in the ring. Adolphe…