Comedy from the world's archives

145–192 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 Fatal Hour 1940 · Feature · Subtitles From IMDb : When Captain Street's best friend Dan O'Grady is murdered, Street enlists the help of Chinese detective James Lee Wong. Mr. Wong uncovers a… Internet Archive The Electric House 1922 · Short · 19 min The Electric House starts with Buster's graduation ceremony as the first of his comic misfortunes, including a mix-up of diplomas so Buster receives a diploma… Internet Archive Boy! What a Girl! 1947 · Feature · 1 h 10 min · Subtitles Two musical producers are trying to scrape enough money together to finance their show. When one of their backers doesn't show. They convince transvistie Tim… Internet Archive One Rainy Afternoon 1936 · Feature · 1 h 18 min Actor Philippe Martin (Francis Lederer) and his married date Yvonne (Liev De Maigret) plan to neck in a darkened cinema, but he gets the wrong seat and… Internet Archive Love Laughs at Andy Hardy 1946 · Feature · 1 h 33 min · Subtitles This film starts with Andy Hardy returning home after serving in the army. And it's not too long before he's caught up in the usual Hardy capers. Stars Mickey… Internet Archive Affairs of Cappy Ricks 1938 · Feature · 55 min · Subtitles Cappy Ricks and his family are stranded on a south sea island, and there his daughters learn that their choice of future husbands is faulty. Based on a story… Internet Archive That Gang of Mine 1940 · Feature · 59 min · Subtitles Title: That Gang of Mine Summary: A street kid has dreams of becoming a jockey. He gets his chance when he and his gang discover a poor old man who has a… Internet Archive Lost Honeymoon 1947 · Feature · 1 h 8 min When an Englishwoman dies, leaving behind two children, her devoted friend (Ann Richards) decides to take the children to find the woman's husband (Franchot… Internet Archive One Week 1920 · Short · 22 min Buster and Sybil exit a chapel as newlyweds. Among the gifts is a portable house you easily put together in one week Internet Archive Father's Little Dividend 1941 · Feature Starring Spencer Tracy, Elizibeth Taylor, Billie Burke, this entertaining movie tells the tale of a grumpy, soon-to-be grandfather who does not look forward… Internet Archive Manhattan Love Song 1934 · Feature · 1 h 10 min A couple rich sisters Geraldine and Carol Stewart (Dixie Lee and Helen Flint) have just found out that their financial planner has stolen all their money.… Internet Archive Private Buckaroo 1942 · Feature · 1 h 7 min WWII era Musical starring Dick Foran, the Andrew Sisters, Harry James, and Joe E Lewis. Dick Foran play a western style crooner who's anxious to join the… Internet Archive Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla 1952 · Feature · 1 h 14 min Entertainers Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo parachute into the jungles of the Pacific island of Cola-Cola, where they meet primitive tribesmen, the chief's… Internet Archive A Night in the Show 1915 · Short · 18 min Charlie plays two roles as two spectators at a music-hall show. It has a few good laughs and also provides an interesting look at old-fashioned theater… Internet Archive Speak Easily 1932 · Feature · 1 h 20 min Taken from IMDB: Naive, bookish Professor Post (of Potts College) inherits a huge amount of money and decides that now he can afford to go out and enjoy life.… Internet Archive Unforgotten Crime 1942 · Feature · 54 min AKA The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine Mike Jason (Dennis O'Keefe), idea man for the Bullard Advertising Agency, and Cleo Arden (Gloria Dickson), director of the… Internet Archive Malice in the Palace 1949 · Short · 15 min Title: Malice in the Palace Summary: Set in a desert land where the stooges run a restaurant, the boys set out to recover the stolen Rootin Tootin diamond… Internet Archive Back Room Boy 1942 · Feature · 1 h 18 min · Subtitles Arthur Pilbeam wants to find a job away from women after being jilted by his fiancé. He finds a job at a remote lighthouse that's being used as meteorological… Internet Archive Jack and the Beanstalk 1952 · Feature · 1 h 21 min · Subtitles Abbott and Costello's version of Jack and Beanstalk Internet Archive Two Weeks to Live 1943 · Feature · 1 h 13 min · Subtitles Internet Archive The Flying Deuces 1939 · Feature · 43 min Title: The Flying Deuces Summary: Ollie has fallen in love with the innkeeper's daughter in Paris. The only problem - she's very much in love with her… Internet Archive Sanjuro 1962 · Feature Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to… Internet Archive The Nut 1921 · Feature · 1 h 14 min From IMDb : Eccentric inventor Charlie Jackson tries to interest wealthy investors in his girlfriend's plan to help children from poor neighborhoods. Stars:… Internet Archive Fit for a King 1937 · Feature · 1 h 4 min · Subtitles Joe E. Brown play Virgil Ambrose Jeremiah Christopher 'Scoop' Jones a budding newspaper man who gets into trouble with assassins and royalty. Internet Archive Lady Windermere's Fan 1925 · Feature · 1 h 26 min Mrs Erlynne (Irene Rich), the mother of Lady Windermere (May McAvoy) - her daughter does not know about her - wants to be introduced in society, so that she… Internet Archive Mooch Goes to Hollywood 1971 · Feature · 51 min Mooch, a stray dog, rides the train to Hollywood to become a star. It would be best if she could find an owner/manager so she tries to ingratiate herself with… Internet Archive Q Planes 1939 · Feature · 1 h 18 min A secret British aviation project is being disrupted by a foreign power, until an effete but supremely confident military-intelligence agent, Charles Hammond… Internet Archive So This is Washingtom 1943 · Feature · 1 h 3 min After Abner accidentally discovers a synthetic rubber he and Lum travel to Washington with the hopes that this new discovery will help the war effort. Internet Archive The Little Shop of Horrors 1960 · Feature · 1 h 13 min · Subtitles Seymour Krelboin is a hapless sap working in a skid row flower shop. He loves coworker Audrey Fulquard, but is close to losing his job. Luckily, he discovers… Internet Archive Back-Room Boy 1942 · Feature · 1 h 19 min After being jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam (Arthur Askey) wants a job where he will encounter no women. He is sent to a lighthouse on a remote Scottish… Internet Archive Alice's Wonderland Short · 8 min Alice's Wonderland (1923), from the series Laugh-O-Grams. View movies and cartoons on youtube @ PDFREETV View trailers on youtube @ The Trailer Archive Internet Archive Meet John Doe 1941 · Feature · 2 h 2 min · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Glorifying the American Girl 1929 · Feature · 1 h 34 min From the Wikipedia entry for "Glorifying the American Girl": "Glorifying the American Girl is a 1929 musical comedy film produced by Florenz Ziegfeld that… Internet Archive Big News 1929 · Feature · 1 h 6 min A early talkie from Pathé, this crime drama starred relative newcomers Robert Armstrong and a very young Carole Lombard, the title credits still spelling her… Internet Archive The General 1927 · Feature · 1 h 45 min Taken from IMDB : When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines. Internet Archive Charlie Chaplin's "The Adventurer" 1917 · Short Charlie Chaplin's 62nd Film Released Oct. 22 1917 The Adventurer is a short comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. It is the last out of the… Internet Archive Street Angel (馬路天使) 1937 · Feature · 1 h 30 min · Subtitles Shanghai, 1935. The beautiful young girl Xiao Hong is a singer at a teahouse. She falls in love with her neighbor, a handsome young musician called Xiao Chen.… Internet Archive The Nasty Rabbit 1964 1964 · Feature · 1 h 29 min · Subtitles Russian spies secretly infect rabbits with a deadly bacteria, then let them loose in the U.S. Stars: Michael Terr, Arch Hall Jr. and Liz Renay Internet Archive When's Your Birthday? 1937 · Feature · 1 h 16 min Dustin Willoughby (Joe E. Brown) a prizefighter and a strong believer in horoscopes/astrology wins only when his astrological signs are just right, a talent… Internet Archive Topper - Henrietta Sells The House 1953 · Feature · Subtitles Rare original network print of a Topper episode. Contains original sponsor opening and closing credits and original commercials. Internet Archive Juke Joint 1946 · Feature · 59 min Hitch-hiking conmen Bad News Johnson (Spencer Williams) and July Jones arrive in a Midwestern small town with a capital of 25 cents. Taking a room with Mama… Internet Archive Colonel Effingham's Raid 1946 · Feature · Subtitles Taken from IMDB : The story takes place in 1940. On the eve of America's entry in World War II, a colonel retired to his small Southern town, and discovers… Internet Archive The Perils of Pauline 1947 · Feature · 1 h 36 min Funloving Pearl White (Betty Hutton), working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic… Internet Archive The Private Life of Don Juan 1934 · Feature · 1 h 27 min In his last film role, Douglas Fairbanks as an ageing legendary lady-killer Don Juan. It is set in Seville, Spain in centuries past, where once a young Don… Internet Archive Tarzan and the Green Goddess 1938 · Feature · Subtitles You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page . Internet Archive Bulldog Drummond's Bride 1939 · Feature · Subtitles From IMDb : Henri Armides and his assistant, Garvey, blow up and rob a London bank in broad daylight and get away with 10,000 pounds. They hide the money in a… Internet Archive The Animal Kingdom 1932 · Feature · 1 h 24 min This was the first film shown at the RKO Roxy Theater. An awkward love triangle is created when a publisher (Howard) encounters a moral speed bump and engages… Internet Archive One Week 1920 · Short · 19 min Taken from IMDB : Buster and Sybil exit a chapel as newlyweds. Among the gifts is a portable house you easily put together in one week