The British Film Institute has launched a new raft of online initiatives - one of which will allow films to be downloaded online.
Twenty-one titles have been made available for the initial launch, including short and feature-length features.
Among the first downloads are South - a restoration print of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated journey to cross Antarctica - and Alex Cox's Death And The Compass.
Shorts by Ridley Scott, Stephen Frears and John Schlesinger are also available.
The downloads cost between £5 and £12.50 and with 230,000 films and 675,000 TV shows in the archive, there is a huge potential for expansion.
Film Minister Shaun Woodward, said: Vintage and rarely-seen films are no longer the preserve of the arthouse cinemagoer.
"The BFI's archives have been revolutionised so that, for the first time, anyone with a broadband connection can download films from the collection.
"This is a fantastic resource for the public who will now, more easily, get to see films from a bygone era."
BFI Director Amanda Nevill added: "Film and television are a solical record, a historical resource, a chance to travel through time and to share the dreams and aspirations of artists, directors and writers."
BFI Online is about sharing that passion and delivering more of our film and television heritage via the web."For details of the BFI's other new initiatives or to see the films on offer visit www.bfi.org.uk/filmdownloads.html
