Ten Great Pro-Liberty Films You Can Watch For Free Right Now
Ten Great Pro-Liberty Films You Can Watch For Free Right Now
Keep up your freedom-loving spirits with this selection of ten films, chosen to inspire and entertain you. This list includes everything — comedy, romance, drama, action, and more. Enjoy!
Note: These films were selected, in part, for common availability online. However, the links provided will take you to searches within the given streaming sites, not to exact links, which can be unstable. Select the search links and you fill find the films.
Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow
1963 | Family (Disney), Action
Finding his parish flock taxed into poverty, a country vicar secretly takes on the king’s taxmen by night in the guise of a hideous scarecrow. Starring: Patrick McGoohan, George Cole, Tony Britton.
Full film found on: YouTube | InternetArchive | Rumble [High Quality]
“Patrick McGoohan, made famous by his role in the television series The Prisoner, another antiauthoritarian tale, plays his leading role to the hilt. He particularly seems to enjoy himself in the scarecrow’s demonic guise, laughing defiantly in the face of the government’s revenue agents. Then again, who wouldn’t?”
-MissLiberty.com
“Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow is full of McGoohan’s slyness and crackling dialogue, full of plotting and trickery.”
–Animated Reviews
Harrison Bergeron
1995 | Drama
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Films
Nominated: Four Gemini Awards
In a future America, all exceptional human intelligence and achievement is stamped out in order to eliminate the destructive consequences of envy. Starring: Sean Astin, Miranda De Pencier, Christopher Plummer.
Full film found on: Vimeo | YouTube | InternetArchive | Rumble
“For a cinematic attack on enforced equality, you could hardly do better than this wonderful film…This is a moving and stimulating experience, and one of the most dead-on libertarian films ever made.”
–MissLiberty.com
“Harrison Bergeron is a real gem.”
–Sci-Fi Movie Page
Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism
1981 | Documentary
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Documentaries
A documentary chronicle of the rise and fall of socialism: from its utopian beginnings, through its bloody and totalitarian peak of power, to its sudden collapse.
Full film found on: YouTube | InternetArchive | Rumble
“Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism is a remarkably comprehensive and entertaining telling of the history of socialism, full of little-known details and compelling character sketches of historical key players. This is no dry exposition, but a story of human drama touching every corner of the globe, and intelligently structured to give a clear step-by-step sense of the order of events from the rise of socialism as a utopian ideal to the sudden fall of socialism as a disastrous and bloody experiment, and of the causal linkages.”
-MissLiberty.com
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 | Drama, Comedy
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Films
Academy Award Nominee: Best Picture
American Film Institute Top 100 Films
An ordinary American appointed to the Senate is nearly destroyed by a corrupt political machine, but triumphs in the end. Based on a true story. Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains.
Full film found on: InternetArchive | Rumble
“A stirring and even inspiring testament to liberty and freedom, to simplicity and honesty and to the innate dignity of just the average man.”
–New York Times
On the Waterfront
1954 | Drama, Action
Academy Award: Best Picture
American Film Institute Top 100 Films
A heroic few stand alone against the corrupt bosses of a powerful union. Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint.
Full film found on: InternetArchive | Rumble [High Quality]
“Eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture) were heaped on this film and for good reasons, including: tight direction, inspired acting, Leonard Bernstein’s energetic music, and a brilliant script. On the Waterfront is a first-rate classic film that anyone concerned about government-supported unions and monopolies should see.”
-MissLiberty.com
“Stark and gripping.”
–Hollywood Reporter
1776
1972 | Musical-Dance, History
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Films
Winner: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
The Founding Fathers declare American independence from Britain. Starring: PWilliam Daniels, Howard da Silva, Ken Howard.
Full film found on: InternetArchive | Rumble
“This musical story of the Declaration of Independence dramatizes some of the important essentials behind the decision to declare independence. It’s a light and entertaining film, often amusing, full of witty Franklin quotes and clever musical numbers, but also educational and even inspiring. 1776 is a good reminder of the intellectual battles and personal sacrifices that went into founding this country.’”
-MissLiberty.com
Storm in a Teacup
1937 | Comedy
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Films
An old woman’s refusal to pay for a dog license sets in motion a chain of events that humbles her local government. Starring: Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Cecil Parker.
Full film found on: YouTube | InternetArchive | Rumble
“At the center of this story is a poor old woman and her mongrel dog. The old woman refused to pay for a dog license, and so has been fined five pounds. However, she can’t pay the fine. So the town mayor, a law-and-order man in the midst of a campaign for higher office, orders that the dog be seized and executed…It all ends in a hilarious climactic trial. What an enjoyable film! The script, based on a stage play, is tremendously witty, the acting talent (including a young Vivien Leigh) is some of the finest of its time, and the direction makes the most of both. For fans of British humor in particular, this is a real gem.”
–MissLiberty.com
“Storm in a Teacup is a splendid comic brew.”
–New York Times
Suddenly Last Summer
1959 | Drama
Academy Award Nominated: Best Actress
Winner: Golden Globe: Best Actress
Winner: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
A brilliant young doctor must restore the memory of his patient if he is to save her from being lobotomized in a corrupt state mental hospital. Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift.
Full film found on: InternetArchive | Rumble
“Tennessee Williams, who wrote the play on which this film was based, lost his introverted sister to the then-experimental procedure of lobotomy, so freely was it prescribed to ‘the insane’ at the time. This story questions both the definition of insanity and the character and motivation of those who might be legally empowered to act on such definition. From the outset, a malevolent atmosphere pervades the film. It makes the viewer really feel the danger that threatens the young woman at the center of this tale, as a powerful enemy moves her ever closer to lobotomy in an effort to stop her from exposing a shocking, secret truth.”
-MissLiberty.com
Victim
1961 | Drama
Winner: Top 25 Libertarian Films
When a young gay man in 1960s Britain commits suicide rather than face an inquiry regarding (then illegal) homosexual activity, a closeted bisexual barrister avenges his death and fights the law responsible for it.
Full film found on: YouTube | InternetArchive
“Revolutionary and aware of its own importance, Victim successfully treads the precarious tightrope, being both a gripping drama and a taboo-smashing landmark.”
–Eye for Film
“Shot in high-contrast black-and-white, edged with the darkness of a sitting-room at night but trapped in a fierce spotlight, Bogarde is mesmerising. Crisply suited, dry-voiced and on the edge of tears, he painfully stifles the emotion threatening to destroy him. With the camera locked in close-up, he lifts his chin ever so slightly in defiance, his eyes widening into a glare of triumph that costs him everything.”
–The Independent
Whiskey Galore
1949 | Comedy
Winner: BAFTA Best British Film
Winner: National Board of Review: Best Foreign Film
When the people of a small British island recover whiskey from a sinking ship, an uptight government official attempts to ruin their fun. Starring: Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, James Robertson Justice.
Full film found on: InternetArchive | Rumble
“Classic British Ealing Studios comedy with an anti-authoritarian edge.”
-MissLiberty.com
“A tight little comedy of pure gold.”
–Time
“Whiskey Galore is a classic tale of gentle anti-authoritarianism.”
–Empire Online
MORE: Ten More Great Pro-Liberty Films Available on Amazon Streaming
