Discover Movies

Rare Walt Disney Space series from 1959, speculating about the use of satellites, including controlling the weather of the Earth!

A home movie made by Robbins and Meg Barstow that documents their family's free trip to the newly opened Disneyland. The one-week trip was a prize that they won in a contest sponsored by Scotch tape.

The film tells of the beginnings of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. At the end of the 1950s, the Tanzanian National Park Administration wanted to fence in the protected area around the Ngorongoro Crater. Bernhard and Michael Grzimek were invited by the national park administration in 1957 to get a precise picture of the animal migrations and to provide the national park administration with the values ​​they needed for their project. Using a new counting method with two airplanes, the Grzimeks found out that the migration of the herds was different than assumed.

Intimate glimpses of popular British stars off duty, alongside several American stars.

Made over a three year period by George Michael and John B. Kennard and shot entirely in Africa, the film is a documentary of the native villagers and bearers of Bechuanaland, Rhodesia and Mozambique.

A record of the 1954 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, which relieved the scientific stations at Macquarie and Heard Islands and established a new station at Mawson on MacRobertson Land in Australian Antarctic Territory. The film describes the expedition's departure from Melbourne in December 1953 and follows its 12,000 mile journey through high seas and pack ice, providing an insight into daily life at the stations and the challenges presented by often-difficult conditions. Blue Ice contains stunning footage of towering icebergs and masses of penguins as well as aerial reconnaissance and surveillance.

The fabled adventures of John Lewis Burckhardt, who dared to penetrate the forbidden interior of ancient Arabia to find the lost palace of Zenobia and the Biblical cities of Baalbek, Gerasa, and Petra.

One entry in a series of films produced to make science accessible to the masses—especially children—this film describes the sun in scientific but entertaining terms.

Clarifies the meaning and purposes of corrective penalization as applied by the city traffic court. Describes the importance of accurate and complete information relating to both the traffic offense and the offender. Classifies traffic violators into three groups and points out examples of corrective penalties which may be imposed and stresses the value of a traffic court school for certain types of traffic violators.

François Reichenbach follows a group of young men from the day they enlist in the US Marine Corps, all the way through basic training.

"Djazaïrouna", produced by the cinema service of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA), is a montage film intended to inform the international community at the UN in 1959 on the objectives pursued by the Algerian resistance during the war of 'Algeria. Independence in Algeria (1954-1962). In 1959, Djamel-Eddine Chanderli and Mohammed Lakdar-Hamina produced Djazaïrouna (Our Algeria) from images taken by René Vautier and Doctor Pierre Chaulet. This film, completed a little later and will result in the film “The Voice of the People”. This documentary on the history of Algeria through a montage of current events, traces the political and military actions of the A.L.N, the demonstrations of December 1960, and the attack on a fortified French base on the border between Algeria and Tunisia.

This colorful archival record of Québec City's Winter Carnival shows that many popular events of today—pageants, parades, boat races, folk dancing, fireworks, and torchlight skiing—were also favorites many years ago.

Join renowned explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau as he investigates aquatic habitats worldwide, showcasing whales, sharks, and diverse marine life. The film highlights the brutal realities of nature while capturing the wonder of underwater exploration, as the team ventures into previously unseen ocean depths.

Oscar winning documentary short from 1958

Andrzej Wajda's first movie looks at the pottery in the town of Iłża, Poland. Much of it shows the actual process of creating all the objects out of clay.

A collection of amateur films made by photographer Roderic Vickers and friends.

Fred Davis introduces us to Canadian Air Force operations in Zweibrucken, West Germany. Follow Green Section as they perform drills and explain what it takes to be a fighter pilot.

Stanley Kubrick’s short documentary about Father Fred Stadtmueller, a Catholic priest serving a vast 4,000-square-mile parish in rural New Mexico. To reach his scattered congregation, he pilots his own Piper Cub aircraft, the Spirit of St. Joseph. Over two days, Kubrick follows the “flying padre” as he conducts Mass, mediates between quarreling children, attends a funeral, and airlifts a sick child to medical care—capturing both the challenges and quiet heroism of his daily mission.

This compelling film represents a rare record of an original genius. In Jung on Film, the pioneering psychologist tells us about his collaboration with Sigmund Freud, about the insights he gained from listening to his patients' dreams, and about the fascinating turns his own life has taken. Dr. Richard I. Evans, a Presidential Medal of Freedom nominee, interviews Jung, giving us a unique understanding of Jung's many complex theories, while depicting Jung as a sensitive and highly personable human being.

How--and how not--to get thrown for a loop is demonstrated as Fred Davis visits the gymnasium of the Kano Judo Club in Hull, Québec and interviews Bernard Gauthier, judo instructor, and gets the history of judo as a sport.

Marty, a "good boy," experiments with marijuana and experiences "profound mental and emotional disturbances." As in all anti-drug films of this vintage, marijuana leads straight to "H," and Marty's decline continues until he is busted, rehabbed and reformed. Drug Addiction's stilted view of the urban drug culture and unrealistic portrayals of stoned slackers make it entertaining viewing today. It belongs to that little-known "second wave" of anti-drug films, the postwar scare stories about middle-class kids overcome by junkiedom. What this wave of films reveals is that drugs were an issue for white adolescents long before the psychedelic Sixties, and that the official response to the threat expressed a general, not specifically targeted paranoia.

Rendez-Vous a Melbourne is the official filmed record of the 1956 Olympic Games in Australia. At the time of its release, there was much controversy in the documentary-filmmaking world over the fact that the Aussies signed over exclusive distribution rights to a French firm, resulting in a boycott from other movie companies. None of this matters when the film is seen today: though not in the same league as Leni Reifenstahl's Olympiad, this 110-minute extravaganza is consistently entertaining. Fifteen cameras were utilized to lens every aspect of the event; it was then up to editors Jean Dudrumet and Monique Lacombe to burrow through miles and miles of film to cull the highlights seen herein. Portions of Rendez-Vous a Melbourne have since resurfaced in practically every Olympics documentary -- not to mention the many TV specials attending the now-biannual event.

Martha Logan demonstrates techniques for properly carving meat.

Designed to introduce the then-new widescreen process Cinerama, audiences experience the roller coaster at Rockaways' Playland, the temple dance from Aida, Niagara Falls, a Viennese choir, the canals of Venice, a military tattoo in Edinburgh, a bullfight, and more. The film concludes with a view from the nose of a low-flying B-25 while America the Beautiful plays.

A portrait of Newfoundland that records a way of life that has all but disappeared.

Madrid, Spain, 1949. The Circo Americano arrives in the city. While the big top is pitched in a vacant lot, the troupe parades through the grand avenues: the band, a witty impersonator, the Balodys, acrobats, jugglers, acrobatic skaters, clowns and… Buffallo Bill.

The evolution of Picasso's painting up to his “pink phase.”

About meteorologists working on Lomničký štít. The film shows contrast between a man and mountains.

A staged documentary that started the Polish Black Series. The film takes the form of a warning against indifference to the rogue behavior of hooligan groups and their pernicious effect on young people flowing into the cities.

A documentary account of a research expedition to the Persian Gulf, following a BP-sponsored underwater survey near Bahrain in search of oil. Featuring Jacques Cousteau and the research vessel Calypso, the film captures early scientific diving and marine exploration at the intersection of industrial ambition and oceanographic discovery.

A Sports Parade (though not officially titled as such) visit to Switzerland. Covered are a rowing competition in Lucerne, tennis matches and horse jumping set against the mighty Alpine scenery, Zug costumes, gymnastics "poetry in motion" and a flag parade.

Documentary on France's industrial chemistry.

Advertising film illustrating Frigidaire’s plans for convenient, high-tech appliances for the “housewife of the future.” Animated sequences explain the woman’s role as helpmate and how man’s inventions have made her housework easier. Looking ahead 25 years, Living Unlimited predicts even more innovations, including the computerized meal planner, the flying car, disposable bed sheets, the ultrasonic dishwasher, the videophone, and the automatic spanking machine. Included is live-action footage of the “Kitchen of Tomorrow.”

A display of factories in Macedonia that process tobacco, as well as the sorting process and packaging of the final product - a range of different types of cigarettes from Macedonian production.

Alain Resnais & Robert Hessen use the famous Picasso mural "Guernica" in combination with newspaper headlines in an anti-war cry against the Spanish Civil War. Narration by Jacques Pruvost highlights the Guernica atrocity of April 1937, followed by a poem by Paul Eluard read by María Casares to a discordant score by Guy Bernard.

Winter Paradise is a 1953 English language documentary directed by John Jay, starring Art Gilmore. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

During the short Arctic summer on Baffin Island, the native Inuit enjoys four months of continuous daylight. But it is no time for relaxation, for provision must be made for the long, cold winter night ahead. In this film Idlouk, an Inuit hunter, tells of his life in this northern land. We watch as he stalks the seal so vital to his existence, and as he and other hunters set out in kayaks to harpoon the white whale and the narwhal. At camp we meet his wife, children and aged parents, each of whom has work to do in the unceasing struggle for survival in this harsh land.

This short documentary records the celebration and ritual surrounding a snowshoe competition in Sherbrooke in the late 1950s. The film marked the beginning of a new approach to reality in documentary and prefigures the trademark style of the NFB's newly formed French Unit. Today, "Les raquetteurs" is considered a precursor to the birth of direct cinema.

In preparation for the celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain, this short film was released to assure British citizens of their nation's place in the world and of their own places within that nation. Illustrative scenes of farming, science, political, and social life are juxtaposed to present a familiar and reassuring image of Britain.

A short look at the world of artist Arthur Lismer.

The artists Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix and Otto Nagel used different forms of expression, but had the same goal: fight against war, against exploitation and for the liberation of oppressed people.

The development of the oil resources of Canada's prairies brought industrial prosperity. It also helped meet an insatiable demand for oil--for air transport, domestic use, and the automotive industry.

In this film, a police officer tells children about the dangers of accepting rides or presents from strangers, and relates the unfortunate stories of several children who did and were never seen again.

A documentary on the island off the French Riviera where 'bathing in the buff' isn't just practiced, it's highly encouraged!

A BAFTA Special award nominated animated documentary that's based on the animated look at the annual report of ICI as shown in "Balance 1950" from 1951.

Story of the American Prairie as it was when vast herds of bison and elk grazed.

Short news featurette produced by Pathe-RKO after the Russians launched the first orbiting satellite, Sputnik. It is a patriotic 'call to arms' from the threat posed by this and the need for Americans to spend more on education in general and a college education in particular. A visit to the University of Buffalo highlights its science programs and the need for more graduates from all technical disciplines if America is to rise to the challenge. It bemoans the fact the PhDs earn less than a mechanic and the need to re-order priorities.

Directed by renouned animator Ward Kimball, ' Mars and Beyond' is a lighthearted exploration of the history and future of Space Travel as understood back in 1957! Theories from scientists and philosophers are discussed. Focusing on Mars. Ideas from science-fiction authors H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs are brought to life with colorful animation. Pulp science fiction comics of the time are parodied. Life on other planets is considered, profiling each of the planets in the solar system from the perspective of what would happen to man on them. A masterpiece of animation and sci-fi that was way ahead of it's time. Ward Kimball was perhaps the most inventive of all Disney animators and probably the only one who admitted to experimenting with psychedelic drugs in the 60's. Also the only animator who Walt Disney ever called a "genius."

A documentary short film depicting the work of the motion picture director. An anonymous director is shown preparing the various aspects of a film for production, meeting with the writer and producer, approving wardrobe and set design, rehearsing scenes with the actors and camera crew, shooting the scenes, watching dailies, working with the editor and composer, and attending the first preview. Then a number of real directors are shown in archive footage (as well as a predominance of staged 'archive' footage) working with actors and crew.

Le chant du Styrène is a 1958 French documentary film directed by Alain Resnais. The film was an order by French industrial group Pechiney to highlight the merits of plastics.

Godard returned to Paris briefly before getting a job as a construction worker on a dam project in Switzerland. With the money from the job, he made a short film about the building of the dam called Opération béton (Operation Concrete).

With Pete Smith providing dry off-screen commentary, we watch some serious fishing: a marlin caught near Catalina, a hammerhead shark caught then wrestled in a small rowboat near Baja, the largest (721 pounds) great white shark caught to date in California waters, Chinook Indians catching salmon at Celilo Falls in Oregon - each with his designated place on the river where his ancestors stood, and, last, a crew on a boat off Mexico hoisting and hurling tuna using unbarbed hooks (baited only with a feather) as fast as they can as long as the school is there - backbreaking work - but a $25,000 catch.

A 1952 American documentary film written by Herman Hoffman, about the threat posed by communism to the American way of life.