Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "riding-the-rails"

1. Into the Wild (2007)

R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.

Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden

Votes: 658,416 | Gross: $18.35M

2. I'm Not There (2007)

R | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.

Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw

Votes: 61,197 | Gross: $4.02M

3. Seabiscuit (2003)

PG-13 | 140 min | Drama, History, Sport

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Cooper

Votes: 76,806 | Gross: $120.28M

4. The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

PG | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

In the 1930s, a tomboy runs away from her guardian to join her single father who is 2,000 miles away, where he has found work.

Director: Jeremy Kagan | Stars: Meredith Salenger, John Cusack, Jed, Ray Wise

Votes: 6,890 | Gross: $2.14M

5. Sin Nombre (2009)

R | 96 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama

A young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado

Votes: 34,058 | Gross: $2.53M

6. Emperor of the North (1973)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

In 1933, during the Depression, Shack the brutal conductor of the number 19 train has a personal vendetta against the best train hopping hobo tramp in the Northwest, A No. 1.

Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine, Charles Tyner

Votes: 7,075 | Gross: $0.09M

7. Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Passed | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Hollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.

Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest

Votes: 28,530

8. Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

Approved | 114 min | Drama, Romance

A man arrives in New Orleans searching for his former girlfriend, an artist who now works in a bordello.

Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Anne Baxter

Votes: 2,944

9. 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: 14,908

10. The Ultimate Life (2013)

PG | 105 min | Drama, Romance

A billionaire with questionable priorities re-examines his life after discovering his grandfather's journal.

Director: Michael Landon Jr. | Stars: Logan Bartholomew, Peter Fonda, Ali Hillis, Lee Meriwether

Votes: 1,656 | Gross: $1.33M

11. Bound for Glory (1976)

PG | 147 min | Biography, Drama, Music

The early life of Woody Guthrie as a vagabond folk singer.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland

Votes: 5,592

12. 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

13. They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A champion boxer on the lamb, believed to have committed murder while drunk, takes refuge and finds redemption at a farm for delinquent youths.

Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: John Garfield, Claude Rains, The Dead End Kids, Ann Sheridan

Votes: 2,590

14. Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)

Approved | 145 min | Adventure, Drama, War

An immature young man from Middle America grows to manhood after a cross-country journey and his military service in World War I.

Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, Corinne Calvet, Fred Clark

Votes: 715

15. Steal Me (2005)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama

A 15 year-old kleptomaniac with a mother fixation finds his way into the small town family of his dreams.

Director: Melissa Painter | Stars: Danny Alexander, Hunter Parrish, Cara Seymour, John Terry

Votes: 299

16. Beggars of Life (1928)

Not Rated | 84 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama

After killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal ... See full summary »

Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Wallace Beery, Richard Arlen, Louise Brooks, Bob Perry

Votes: 1,320

17. Dust Be My Destiny (1939)

Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, resulting... See full summary »

Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh

Votes: 961

18. Grips, Grunts and Groans (1937)

Not Rated | 19 min | Short, Comedy, Sport

Although circumstances force an over-matched Curly into a wrestling ring against a superior opponent, a spectator's perfume proves to be his secret weapon.

Director: Jack White | Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bob Callahan

Votes: 720

19. The Lost Squadron (1932)

Passed | 79 min | Drama, History, War

In hard times just after World War I, three ex-fighter pilots manage to land jobs as Hollywood stunt fliers working for dictatorial director Von Furst.

Director: George Archainbaud | Stars: Richard Dix, Mary Astor, Robert Armstrong, Dorothy Jordan

Votes: 820

20. The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)

Passed | 88 min | Drama, Romance

Prizefighter Jimmy Dolan accidentally kills a man at a party and escapes. He hides out at a health farm for invalid children and begins to lose his cynicism under the influence of the ... See full summary »

Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee

Votes: 725

21. The Footloose Heiress (1937)

Approved | 59 min | Comedy, Romance

For the fifth time, this time on her eighteenth birthday, headstrong and defiant heiress Kay Allyn is determined to get married, this time to layabout Jack Pierson. While her father, J.C. ... See full summary »

Director: William Clemens | Stars: Craig Reynolds, Ann Sheridan, Anne Nagel, William Hopper

Votes: 265

22. 79th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2005 TV Special)

Family, Music

The 79th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 24th, 2005 in New York City, and shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker.

Director: Gary Halvorson | Stars: Christina Applegate, The Beach Boys, Adrien Brody, Sabrina Bryan

Votes: 28

23. ¡Que vivan los crotos! (1995)

75 min | Biography, Drama, History

The film tells the story of an imigrant to Argentina who works for the railway company of this land. Being a witness to the history of the land of silver in this century the film is also a ... See full summary »

Director: Ana Poliak | Stars: Oscar Mendy, Jose Americo Ghezzi, Pedro Moisas, Filiberto Satti

Votes: 59

24. ALF (1986–1990)
Episode: Night Train (1987)

TV-G | 20 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

ALF reminisces his "adventures" on Melmac. Willie reveals that when he was 17, he hopped on trains and crossed the whole country. ALF gets excited about the idea and talks Willie into taking him to the rail yard.

Director: Burt Brinckerhoff | Stars: Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, Benji Gregory

Votes: 299

25. The Fugitive (1963–1967)
Episode: Fatso (1963)

TV-PG | 51 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama

Kimble breaks jail with a friendly, simple-minded young man, and finds out the man may have been falsely blamed for a crime he did not commit years ago.

Director: Ida Lupino | Stars: David Janssen, Jack Weston, Burt Brinckerhoff, Glenda Farrell

Votes: 235

26. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977–1979)
Episode: Will the Real Santa Claus...? (1977)

60 min | Crime, Family, Mystery

A burglar dressed as Santa. A drifter in a stable next door, gets accused for burgling. Nancy don't believe that this gentle man is guilty, so she starts looking for clues. A mysterious car around. Who and what is going on?

Director: Michael Pataki | Stars: Pamela Sue Martin, William Schallert, Dan O'Herlihy, Rick Springfield

Votes: 65

27. The Virginian (1962–1971)
Episode: Duel at Shiloh (1963)

TV-PG | 75 min | Western

At a friend's grave, Steve recalls how the man helped him survive his arrival at Medicine Bow and train him as a cowboy and proficient with guns. Sadly, the man's unwillingness to adapt with the times pushed Steve to his life at Shiloh.

Director: Jerry Hopper | Stars: Lee J. Cobb, Doug McClure, Gary Clarke, James Drury

Votes: 128

28. American Experience (1987– )
Episode: Riding the Rails (1998)

TV-PG | Documentary, Biography, History

The story of young teens who hopped freight trains in search of work and adventure during the Great Depression.

Directors: Lexy Lovell, Michael Uys | Star: Richard Thomas

Votes: 37

29. Crime Stories (1998– )
Episode: The Railcar Killer (2007)

46 min | Documentary, Crime

One of the most intensive manhunts in the history of Texas took place over the summer of 1999 when brutal serial killer Angel Resendez Ramirez was on the loose. Riding the rails eastward ... See full summary »

Director: Steve Allen | Stars: Bill Courage, Ken Macha, Ángel Maturino Reséndiz

Votes: 6

30. Toon in with Me (2021– )
Episode: Strangeness on a Train (2022)

TV-PG | Animation, Comedy

Sue P. hosts the show (guided by viewer feedback) while Boxcar teaches Bill how to travel by freight car, with a lineup of train-themed cartoons: Half-Fare Hare (1956), Porky's Railroad (1937), I'm Just Wild About Jerry (1965), Onion Pacific (1940), All a Bir-r-r-d (1950).

Director: Mike Schmiedeler | Stars: Bill Leff, Kevin Fleming, Leila Gorstein

31. Futurama (1999– )
Episode: Forty Percent Leadbelly (2013)

TV-14 | 22 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Bender finally fulfills his dream of becoming a folk singer by creating a copy of a famous guitar, but then something goes terribly wrong.

Director: Stephen Sandoval | Stars: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille

Votes: 1,913

32. Family Guy (1999– )
Episode: Cool Hand Peter (2011)

TV-14 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy

Peter and the guys take a stand against their wives and flee to the Deep South on a road trip, only to earn a one-way ticket to jail.

Directors: Brian Iles, James Purdum, Peter Shin | Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis

Votes: 1,594

33. Archer (2009–2023)
Episode: Midnight Ron (2013)

TV-MA | 21 min | Animation, Action, Comedy

The beginning of beautiful hatred between Archer and his new stepfather plays out as the two are chased by gangsters.

Directors: Bryan Fordney, Adam Reed | Stars: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell

Votes: 1,565

34. Catching Killers (2021– )
Episode: End of the Line: The Railroad Killer (2023)

TV-MA | Documentary, Crime, Mystery

Authorities hunt for the killer of nine people, The Railroad killer, who hopped on and off trains, managing to evade capture for a number of years.

Director: Sonia Pavlovic | Stars: Kimberley Barkhausen, Joseph Betts, Drew Carter, Randy Kennedy

Votes: 207

35. The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)
Episode: The Locomotion Interruption (2014)

TV-14 | 21 min | Comedy, Romance

Sheldon's trip comes to an end when he is robbed, Penny interviews for a job at Bernadette's company, and Howard is weirded out by his mother's relationship with Stuart.

Director: Mark Cendrowski | Stars: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg

Votes: 3,859