Almost Lost Images and Audio

Seized by the US Army Signal Corps, here are a number of silent scenes from the German side of World War I, to include what appears to be some actual combat footage, as well as German leadership and German soldiers and airmen. Posted for historical education, discussion and critique.

From US Army Signal Corps silent films, taken with the permission of the British War Office, here are scenes from the Battle of the Somme, during the First World War.

From the public domain files of the National Archives, here are scenes showing the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, a little-known episode in American military history....how the US attempted to intervene in the Communist Revolution in Russia as peacekeepers....ultimately unsuccessfully.

Released in 1916 by the Universal Film Mfg. Co., this one-and-a-half hour silent version of the famous Jules Verne novel was a remarkable piece of filmmaking, especially of what we would today call "special effects." For the first time, scenes were actually shot under the water. Now in the public domain, it still holds up remarkably well.

From the public domain files of the National Archives, here is the first reel of filmed, but silent, displays of armaments developed by the United States during the years between the First and Second World Wars. Impressive display of artillery, bombs, machine guns, and early tanks.

From the public domain files of the National Archives, this silent film depicts the construction of combat aircraft in the First World War, from start to finish.

A silent comedy movie with the famous Ben Turpin and his crazy eyes, also starring Madeline Hurlock, Louise Carver and Marvin Loback. A US Navy officer rescues a pretty harem girl, comes to her rescue again when she takes refuge in a place that turns out to be rather unsafe, and hilarity ensues.