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Library of Congress: National Screening Room
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Old Movies Hollywood Classics
Not to knock today’s Hollywood blockbusters, but classic movies just hit different—you know, films from your childhood, early cinematic masterpieces, and notable foreign films. But what’s the best way to watch those classics? Here, I’ll list the apps and sites you need to know about.
Turner Classic Movies, better known as TCM, is a US TV channel with spin-off networks in the UK, Latin America, Germany, Asia, and Northern Europe.
The content is sourced from the Turner Entertainment film library. It holds the distribution rights to pre-1950 Warner Bros. films and pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies, as well as a North American license for movies from RKO Pictures—one of the “Big Five” film studios from the golden age of Hollywood.
If you live in the US and have a cable TV plan, you can sign in to Watch TCM and enjoy what’s currently airing or select a specific film.
Download: Watch TCM for iOS | Android (Free)
Pluto TV is most commonly associated with providing free, ad-supported live TV for cord-cutters. However, did you know the service doubles as an excellent free app for watching classic movies? It boasts several channels packed full of old movies.
Some of the classic movie channels worth checking out on Pluto include Classic Movies, Classic Movie Westerns, Cult Films, and 70s Cinema.
Download: Pluto TV for iOS | Android | Windows (Free)
Shout! TV is the home of cult movies, classic films, and even some TV shows, animation, and live music concerts. The platform offers over 8,000 hours of film and television, all for free. You can also pay $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year to watch titles ad-free, as well as access to premium exclusive content.
The app has licensing agreements in place with several large networks and studios, including Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures, as well as iconic entertainment producers like the Jim Henson Company.
Download: Shout! TV for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
The Criterion Channel is a US network that specializes in licensing “important classic and contemporary films,” according to its mission statement. Collectively, the movies to which they hold the rights are called The Criterion Collection.
Today, the collection consists of more than 1,500 films. You can watch them all on the app and site, including a continually rotating mix of classic, international, art-house, and indie films from well-known studios and independent filmmakers. You will also find stacks of supplementary content, such as interviews and archival footage. The service will also feature special collections, sometimes curated by filmmakers.
The service is not free, but its superbly curated collection is well worth its $10.99 per month or $99.99 per year subscription cost.
Download: The Criterion Channel for iOS | Android (Subscription required, free trial available)
The Library of Congress’ National Screening Room is a collection of historically or culturally significant movies that are available to watch for free. The collection includes both copyrighted and public domain content.
Some of the videos in the collection include 1903’s The Forbidden City, Pekin, Ghosts from 1915, and The Lost Battalion from World War I.
In total, more than 1,200 films released before 1999 are available on the site. Fair warning, though: some of the videos reflect beliefs and attitudes from a different era. Against a modern backdrop, some viewers might find parts of the content offensive. However, if anything, that only underscores the importance of the collection’s place in history.
Download: LOC Collections for iOS | Android | Windows (Free)
Netflix’s catalog might be dwindling in some respects, but the streaming service still carries an impressive collection of old movies and classic films. While it’s not a free service, it’s a source of classic movies you may already have access to.
The best way to see what classic movies are available in your region is to use Netflix’s plentiful secret genre codes. Just add them to the end of the Netflix URL like this:
https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/[code]
Here’s the complete list of classic movie genre codes that you can explore:
- Classic Action and Adventure: 46576
- Classic Comedies: 31694
- Classic Dramas: 29809
- Classic Musical Comedy: 32392
- Classic Romantic Movies: 31273
- Classic Sci-Fi and Fantasy: 47147
- Classic Thrillers: 46588
- Classic War Movies: 48744
- Classic TV Shows: 46553
- Classic Westerns: 47465
- Film Noir: 7687
- Epics: 52858
- Silent Movies: 53310
The streaming platform offers various payment plans starting at $6.99/month, so if you haven’t already subscribed, review which Netflix subscription is best for you.
Download: Netflix for iOS | Android | Windows (Subscription required)
Old Movies Hollywood Classics is a free streaming app for Android. It has hundreds of free films from the “classic Hollywood cinema era,” loosely described as 1910-1969.
That means you can watch many of the old-time actors that your grandparents used to rave about, including the best works from legends such as Charlie Chaplin, Marlon Brando, John Wayne, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Although the app is free to use, it’s ridden by ads. Fortunately, you can pay a yearly subscription or a one-time fee to get rid of them.
Download: Old Movies Hollywood Classics for Android (Free, subscription available)
Cineverse now hosts The Film Detective channel, which features cult and horror classics, silent films, film noir titles, and more.
You can watch movies such as the original Night of the Living Dead from 1968, Invaders from Mars from 1953, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid from 1921.
Cineverse is a free, ad-supported platform that also offers premium ad-free subscriptions for $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a year.
Download: Cineverse for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Also owned by Cineverse but maintaining its own platform is Fandor, a film streaming service for movie geeks. It offers thousands of hours of films, with the underlying aim of “the advancement and preservation of film art and culture.” The platform also claims to be “home for cinephiles!”
The service has a large selection of classic content from years gone by, as well as contemporary indie movies. It’s available on a browser, as an app, or as an add-on channel to an Amazon Prime account.
Consistent with Cineverse, Fandor has a free, ad-supported option and a premium option for those who want to avoid ads. Its premium subscription costs $4.99 monthly or $49.99 annually.
Download: Fandor for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Kanopy allows anyone in the US to watch free classic movies as long as they hold a library card from a participating establishment. Many colleges and universities also have agreements in place.
You will find a mix of critically acclaimed classic content, newer releases from independent filmmakers, and foreign films. The Kanopy app is available on Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Fire TV, and some smart TVs.
Download: Kanopy for iOS | Android (Free)
No single service offers every classic film ever made, nor is every service available on any platform. So, in order to gain access to a wide range of classic movies, we recommend trying a few of the apps and sites listed above. And if you’re looking to broaden your film horizons beyond just the classics, check out our more general list of the best free movie streaming sites.
