America: Films to Define A Nation
by markcmason | created - 07 Jun 2022 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicAn informal group of films to tell the story of America’s cultural history arranged roughly in chronological order by time period of subject matter
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1. The New World (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Votes: 89,919 | Gross: $12.71M
2. The Crucible (1996)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, History
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield, Joan Allen
Votes: 40,197 | Gross: $7.34M
3. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig
Votes: 187,778 | Gross: $75.51M
4. 1776 (1972)
G | 141 min | Drama, Family, History
A musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence.
Director: Peter H. Hunt | Stars: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Donald Madden
Votes: 10,306 | Gross: $6.10M
5. The Patriot (2000)
R | 165 min | Action, Drama, History
Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs
Votes: 293,609 | Gross: $113.33M
6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
Approved | 34 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
In a small town, a brewing romantic rivalry with a local tough and a school-teacher culminates in a terrifying ride in the night.
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney | Stars: Bing Crosby, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires
Votes: 5,825
7. Our Hospitality (1923)
Passed | 65 min | Comedy, Romance, Thriller
A man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
Directors: John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Keaton, Joe Roberts
Votes: 12,497 | Gross: $1.17M
8. Nightjohn (1996 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama
Facing a life of servitude in the Antebellum South, a young slave named Sarny meets Nightjohn. He teaches her to read and write, and together they set to free other slaves - until one planned escape is discovered.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Beau Bridges, Carl Lumbly, Bill Cobbs, Kathleen York
Votes: 438
9. The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
Passed | 107 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer makes a pact with Satan for economic success, then enlists famed orator Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon
Votes: 5,613
10. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Missouri, during the 1840s, young Huck Finn fearful of his drunkard father and yearning for adventure, leaves his foster family and joins with runaway slave Jim in a voyage down the Mississippi River toward slavery free states.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Elijah Wood, Courtney B. Vance, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Robards
Votes: 9,248 | Gross: $24.10M
11. Dragonwyck (1946)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Vincent Price, Glenn Langan
Votes: 5,402
12. The Last Command (1955)
Passed | 110 min | History, War, Western
Moderate Jim Bowie leads rebellious Texicans--and Davy Crockett--in a last-ditch stand against his old friend, Santa Anna.
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson, Arthur Hunnicutt
Votes: 940
13. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 741,572 | Gross: $56.67M
14. The General (1926)
Passed | 78 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley
Votes: 98,195 | Gross: $1.03M
15. Glory (1989)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 144,518 | Gross: $26.83M
16. The Beguiled (2017)
R | 93 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Colin Farrell
Votes: 61,786 | Gross: $10.58M
17. Lincoln (2012)
PG-13 | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
As the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 272,733 | Gross: $182.21M
18. The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
April 14, 1865. As four year of Civil War draw to a close, our country again faces unforgettable tragedy: the assassination of the President. Starring Lance Henriksen as the Great ... See full summary »
Director: John Gray | Stars: Rob Morrow, Lance Henriksen, Donna Murphy, Jean Louisa Kelly
Votes: 385
19. Beloved (1998)
R | 172 min | Drama, History, Horror
A slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Yada Beener, Emil Pinnock
Votes: 9,585 | Gross: $22.85M
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
R | 160 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Robert Ford, who has idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the resurgent gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 192,877 | Gross: $3.90M
21. 3 Bad Men (1926)
Unrated | 122 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
Director: John Ford | Stars: George O'Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi
Votes: 1,501
22. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,794
23. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
TV-G | 11 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, A.C. Abadie, George Barnes, Justus D. Barnes
Votes: 21,000
24. The Baron of Arizona (1950)
Approved | 97 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Master swindler James Reavis painstakingly spends years forging documents and land grants that will make his wife and him undisputed owners of the entire territory of Arizona.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Vincent Price, Ellen Drew, Vladimir Sokoloff, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 2,541
25. In Old Chicago (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Action, Drama, Musical
The O'Leary brothers--honest Jack and roguish Dion--become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Alice Brady
Votes: 2,630
26. Appalachian Spring (1958 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 32 min | Music
A filmed version of Aaron Copland's most famous ballet, with its original star, who also choreographed.
Director: Peter Glushanok | Stars: Miriam Cole, Martha Graham, Stuart Hodes, Helen McGehee
Votes: 228
27. Vendetta (1999 TV Movie)
R | 117 min | Drama, History
Based on a true tale of power, corruption and murder, Christopher Walken stars in the story of the largest lynching in American history...
Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: Christopher Walken, Luke Askew, Clancy Brown, Alessandro Colla
Votes: 1,309
28. The Naughty Nineties (1945)
Approved | 76 min | Comedy
When their captain is swindled out of his riverboat by a trio of gamblers, stage show star Abbott and his bumbling sidekick Costello must put things right.
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Curtis, Rita Johnson
Votes: 2,163
29. The Gold Rush (1925)
Passed | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman
Votes: 118,694 | Gross: $5.45M
30. In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
Approved | 102 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
In turn-of-the century America, Andrew and Veronica are co-workers in a music shop who dislike one another during business hours but unwittingly carry on an anonymous romance through the mail.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington
Votes: 4,309 | Gross: $6.30M
31. All I Desire (1953)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Romance
In 1910, a wayward mother re-visits the family she deserted.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, Lyle Bettger, Marcia Henderson
Votes: 2,446
32. Making an American Citizen (1912)
Unrated | 16 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
A recent immigrant learns several hard lessons about how husbands in America are expected to behave.
Director: Alice Guy | Stars: Lee Beggs, Blanche Cornwall
Votes: 438
33. The Dover Boys at Pimento University or the Rivals of Roquefort Hall (1942)
Approved | 9 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
Three fun-loving, morally upright brothers from Pimento University save their fiancée from their fiendish archenemy, Dan Backslide, in this spoof of the Rover Boys.
Director: Chuck Jones | Stars: Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet, John McLeish, Tedd Pierce
Votes: 1,829
34. The Music Man (1962)
G | 151 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
Director: Morton DaCosta | Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 19,177 | Gross: $14.95M
35. The Immigrant (1917)
Unrated | 30 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
Charlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Albert Austin
Votes: 9,207
36. 1918 (1985)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
The moving story of a small Texas town in 1918. Until an influenza epidemic hit and several broken young men returned from the war in Europe.
Director: Ken Harrison | Stars: William Converse-Roberts, Hallie Foote, Matthew Broderick, Rochelle Oliver
Votes: 443
37. Born Reckless (1930)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, War
Hoping to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen, William Harrigan, Marguerite Churchill
Votes: 562
38. Rosewood (1997)
R | 140 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African-American community.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill
Votes: 8,906 | Gross: $13.10M
39. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
R | 206 min | Crime, Drama, History
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons
Votes: 239,923
40. The Great Gatsby (2000 TV Movie)
90 min | Drama, Romance
Stock broker Nick Carraway consents to play Cupid for his rich married cousin Daisy Buchanan and her former love, nouveau riche Jay Gatsby.
Director: Robert Markowitz | Stars: Mira Sorvino, Toby Stephens, Paul Rudd, Martin Donovan
Votes: 1,973
41. The Cat's Meow (2001)
PG-13 | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Semi-true story of the Hollywood murder that occurred at a star-studded gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Cary Elwes, Edward Herrmann, Eddie Izzard
Votes: 8,965 | Gross: $3.21M
42. The Freshman (1925)
Not Rated | 77 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
A nerdy college student will do anything to become popular on campus.
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict, James H. Anderson
Votes: 6,069 | Gross: $0.00M
43. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
R | 94 min | Drama, Music
Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927.
Director: George C. Wolfe | Stars: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo
Votes: 57,958
44. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Approved | 135 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson
Votes: 8,615
45. Passing (I) (2021)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
"Passing" follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.
Director: Rebecca Hall | Stars: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp
Votes: 16,533
46. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama, History
Al Capone's Valentine's Day surprise for the rival Bugs Moran gang in 1929 Chicago.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale
Votes: 4,769
47. Feet First (1930)
Passed | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
An ambitious shoe salesman who unknowingly meets his boss's daughter and tells her he is a leather tycoon has to try to hide his true circumstances.
Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Harold Lloyd | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Barbara Kent, Robert McWade, Lillian Leighton
Votes: 1,192 | Gross: $1.59M
48. Black and Tan (1929)
Not Rated | 19 min | Short, Drama, Music
Duke Ellington in a jazz musical short with a tragic plotline.
Director: Dudley Murphy | Stars: Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Fredi Washington, Hall Johnson Choir
Votes: 595
49. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
R | 229 min | Crime, Drama
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams
Votes: 377,935 | Gross: $5.32M
50. The Untouchables (1987)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 330,949 | Gross: $76.27M
51. The Public Enemy (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell
Votes: 23,028 | Gross: $1.01M
52. Scarface (1932)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson | Stars: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins
Votes: 30,327
53. Road to Perdition (2002)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mob enforcer's son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman
Votes: 284,629 | Gross: $104.45M
54. An American Tragedy (1931)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A poor factory worker employed by a wealthy uncle falls in love with a beautiful heiress, but his happiness and promising future are jeopardized by a previous affair with a coworker he impregnated.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Irving Pichel
Votes: 949
55. The Music Box (1932)
Approved | 29 min | Short, Comedy, Family
Like the legendary Sisyphus, deliverymen Laurel and Hardy struggle to push a large crated piano up a seemingly insurmountable flight of stairs.
Director: James Parrott | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Dinah, Billy Gilbert
Votes: 8,026
56. The Tarnished Angels (1957)
Passed | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Story of the fraught friendship between an eccentric journalist and a team of daredevil flying acrobats.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson
Votes: 4,098
57. Lawless (2012)
R | 116 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jason Clarke
Votes: 253,541 | Gross: $37.40M
58. Paper Moon (1973)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
Votes: 52,480 | Gross: $30.93M
59. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 333,017
60. The Other (1972)
PG | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A series of gruesome accidents plague a small American farming community in the summer of 1935, encircling two identical twin brothers and their family.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky, Martin Udvarnoky
Votes: 6,984 | Gross: $0.48M
61. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
PG | 82 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
In 1935 New Jersey, a movie character walks off the screen and into the real world.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Irving Metzman
Votes: 55,307 | Gross: $10.63M
62. Of Mice and Men (1992)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Western
A nomadic farm worker looks after his dimwitted, gentle-giant friend during the Great Depression.
Director: Gary Sinise | Stars: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Ray Walston, Casey Siemaszko
Votes: 47,315 | Gross: $5.10M
63. Shadrach (1998)
PG-13 | 88 min | Drama
In 1935, ninety-nine-year-old former slave Shadrach asks to be buried on the soil where he was born to slavery, and that land is owned by the large Dabney family, consisting of Vernon, ... See full summary »
Director: Susanna Styron | Stars: Martin Sheen, John Franklin Sawyer, Scott Terra, Ginnie Randall
Votes: 1,335 | Gross: $0.02M
64. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Passed | 129 min | Drama
An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 100,003 | Gross: $0.06M
65. Me and Orson Welles (2008)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1937, a teenager is cast in the Mercury Theatre production of "Julius Caesar", directed by a young Orson Welles.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay, Zoe Kazan
Votes: 11,823 | Gross: $1.19M
66. The Rocketeer (1991)
PG | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton
Votes: 61,790 | Gross: $46.70M
67. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,428 | Gross: $9.60M
68. Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Passed | 102 min | Musical
Johnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new partner for Clare Bennett but Brett, who thinks he is one of the people they lent money to, gives him the name of his partner.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Frank Morgan
Votes: 2,789
69. Marshall (2017)
PG-13 | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.
Director: Reginald Hudlin | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown
Votes: 26,827 | Gross: $10.05M
70. Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
Passed | 86 min | Comedy
After Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle
Votes: 1,953
71. Meet John Doe (1941)
Passed | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan
Votes: 14,909
72. From Here to Eternity (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Romance, War
At a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed
Votes: 50,840 | Gross: $30.50M
73. Racing with the Moon (1984)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
Director: Richard Benjamin | Stars: Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage, John Karlen
Votes: 5,249 | Gross: $6.05M
74. A Winner Never Quits (1986 TV Movie)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Family
Fact-based story of a young boy who lost his right arm in a childhood accident, but went on to fulfill his dreams of playing major-league baseball. Pete Gray had to overcome the early ... See full summary »
Director: Mel Damski | Stars: Keith Carradine, Mare Winningham, G.W. Bailey, Charles Hallahan
Votes: 221
75. Ithaca (2015)
PG | 96 min | Drama, War
With his older brother off to war, fourteen-year-old telegram messenger Homer Macauley comes of age in the summer of 1942.
Director: Meg Ryan | Stars: Alex Neustaedter, Meg Ryan, Sam Shepard, Hamish Linklater
Votes: 3,113
76. Memphis Belle (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, War
In 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney
Votes: 30,550 | Gross: $27.44M
77. The Big Red One (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama, War
A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 21,403
78. The Gang's All Here (1943)
Passed | 103 min | Musical, Romance
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman
Votes: 2,059
79. I Am an American (1944)
Approved | 16 min | Short, History
A hypothetical married Polish couple arrives in New York in the early 1840's and walks to Ohio where they settle and prosper and raise children. The man loses an arm in the Civil war, and ... See full summary »
Director: Crane Wilbur | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gary Gray, Gordon Hart, Dick Haymes
Votes: 126
80. A League of Their Own (1992)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna
Votes: 121,129 | Gross: $107.53M
81. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
R | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
Director: John Krokidas | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Ben Foster
Votes: 41,261 | Gross: $1.03M
82. Swing Shift (1984)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, War
A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward
Votes: 5,409 | Gross: $6.65M
83. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Romance, War
After an all-night send-off party for the troops, a small-town girl with an awkward boyfriend wakes up to find herself married and pregnant, but with no memory of her husband's identity.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, William Demarest
Votes: 7,946
84. My Dog Skip (2000)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi with the help of his beloved dog, Skip.
Director: Jay Russell | Stars: Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson
Votes: 21,354 | Gross: $34.10M
85. Coming Out Under Fire (1994)
72 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A historical account of military policy regarding homosexuals during World War II. The documentary includes interviews with several gay WWII veterans.
Director: Arthur Dong | Stars: Salome Jens, Phillis Abry, David Barrett, Sarah Davis
Votes: 183
86. Let There Be Light (1980)
Not Rated | 58 min | Documentary, War
A group of mentally traumatized veteran patients is followed as they go through psychiatric treatment.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Walter Huston, Benjamin Simon
Votes: 2,026
87. The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Passed | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
An ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 9,668 | Gross: $2.70M
88. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 499,368
89. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,642
90. The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997)
R | 92 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 1946 Denver, an aspiring writer who enjoys irresponsible adventures with his friend writes a letter about his life before and after the suicide attempt by his sad, commitment-seeking girlfriend.
Director: Stephen Kay | Stars: Thomas Jane, Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, John Doe
Votes: 2,446 | Gross: $0.05M
91. 42 (2013)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie
Votes: 102,762 | Gross: $95.00M
92. The Aviator (2004)
PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
Votes: 384,215 | Gross: $102.61M
93. Lansky (1999 TV Movie)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama
Richard Dreyfuss stars in this compelling, fact-based movie about notorious mobster Meyer Lansky, chronicling his beginnings as a Jewish immigrant to his successful career in gambling, bootlegging and racketeering--and eventually murder.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Yosef Carmon, Mosko Alkalai, Fima Noveck
Votes: 2,025
94. Bugsy (1991)
R | 136 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 31,007 | Gross: $49.11M
95. All the King's Men (1949)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek
Votes: 16,597
96. Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A study in culture bridging, including ... a new US-born husband, trying to work within the traditional ways, a new China-born wife, eager to join the "dream" of America, two family-minded ... See full summary »
Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Cora Miao, Russell Wong, Victor Wong, Sau-Kei Lee
Votes: 835 | Gross: $0.23M
97. Ace in the Hole (1951)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall
Votes: 39,132 | Gross: $3.97M
98. The Steel Helmet (1951)
Approved | 85 min | Action, Drama, War
A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards
Votes: 4,737
99. Kinsey (2004)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.
Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard
Votes: 50,968 | Gross: $10.21M
100. Day of the Fight (1951)
Approved | 16 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
After a short study of boxing's history, narrated by newscaster Douglas Edwards, we follow a day in the life of a middleweight Irish boxer named Walter Cartier.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Douglas Edwards, Nat Fleischer, Walter Cartier, Vincent Cartier
Votes: 5,140
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