The 20th Century on the Screen
The big events of the twentieth century and a few movies that just serve as time capsules.
Mostly feature films with a few TV movies to fill in the blanks.
Mostly feature films with a few TV movies to fill in the blanks.
List activity
510 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
111 titles
- DirectorNicholas RayGuy GreenAndrew MartonStarsCharlton HestonAva GardnerDavid NivenDuring the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.1900
- DirectorWilliam WiardStarsSteve McQueenLinda EvansRichard FarnsworthAn ex-army scout is hired by ranchers to kill cattle rustlers but he gets into trouble with the corrupt local officials when he's suspected of killing a boy.November 1903
- DirectorE.W. SwackhamerStarsMichael MoriartyDavid HuffmanTom BowerAfter many years of trying, Orville and Wilbur Wright succeed in making their heavier-than-air aircraft fly, south of Kitty Hawk, on December 17, 1903. They later try to sell their invention to the US government.1903
- DirectorMark RydellStarsSteve McQueenSharon FarrellRuth WhiteIn turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.1904
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsClark GableJeanette MacDonaldSpencer TracyA Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.4-18-1906
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJames CagneyElizabeth McGovernHoward E. Rollins Jr.A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.1906
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSimon WardRobert ShawPeter CellierComplex family relationships, as well as a combat experience, form the personality of the future world-known politician.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsBen KingsleyJohn GielgudRohini HattangadiThe life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.Gandhi spans quite a few years
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordKatharine RossIn 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
- 1909
- DirectorMel StuartStarsDavid DukesTovah FeldshuhLauren FriedmanThe story of the fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Mfg. Co. building in New York City in 1911 that resulted in the deaths of 146 employees, mostly young women. The ensuing investigation revealed the company's almost total disregard for its workers' safety in pursuit of increased production and profits; it resulted, among other things, in the passage of new worker-safety laws and the formation of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union.3-25-1911
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJohn MillsDerek BondDiana ChurchillThe story of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 expedition and his quest to be the first to reach the South Pole.Early 1912
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsKenneth MoreRonald AllenRobert AyresOn her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.4-15-1912
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealBurt ReynoldsTatum O'NealBuck and lawyer Leo accidentally get into movie production in the early days (1910).
- StarsKenneth BranaghEve BestMark TandyThe true story of Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition to the South Pole, and his epic struggle to lead his twenty-eight man crew to safety after his ship was crushed in the pack ice.1914
- DirectorAllan EastmanStarsCliff RobertsonHope LangeHeather ThomasThe life of Henry Ford, and how he changed America while keeping his family together.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsAlexander KnoxCharles CoburnGeraldine FitzgeraldA chronicle of the political career of US President Woodrow Wilson.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsMichael JaystonJanet SuzmanRoderic NobleTsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.1915 - July 1918
- DirectorJack SholderStarsColin EgglesfieldMark DexterJenna HarrisonFor twelve days in July, 1916, a shark patrolled the waterways of northern New Jersey. This docudrama is based on Richard Fernicola's account of those days.July 1 - 12, 1916
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsGreta GarboRamon NovarroLionel BarrymoreA semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.1917
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsPeter PhelpsNick WatersJohn LarkingIn 1917 when the British forces are bogged down in front of the Turkish and German lines in Palestine they rely on the Australian light horse regiment to break the deadlock.1917
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJohn Phillip LawDon StroudBarry PrimusThe story of Manfred von Richthofen, the German air ace during World War I and his struggle with the enemy aces and some jealous German officers.Fall of 1917 - April 1918
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.October 8, 1918 (When he killed 36 German soldiers and captured 132)
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsJohn CusackClifton JamesJace AlexanderA dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.1919
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.1920
- DirectorPhilip LeacockStarsEva Marie SaintRobin EllisRaymond BurrAfter an archeological expedition discovers the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen, many of the scientists, engineers and workmen begin mysteriously dying off.1922
- StarsAmy IrvingOlivia de HavillandJan NiklasStory of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the only "surviving" child of the last Czar and Czarina of Russia.1923 ("Anna" surfaces.)
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.1924
- DirectorDean WrightStarsAndy GarciaOscar IsaacCatalina Sandino MorenoA chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929); a war by the people of Mexico against the atheistic Mexican government.1926 - 1929
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJames StewartMurray HamiltonPatricia SmithCharles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.1927
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSean ConneryPeter FinchClaudia CardinaleTorn by personal guilt, Italian General Umberto Nobile reminisces about his failed 1928 Arctic expedition aboard the airship Italia.May 1928
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJason RobardsGeorge SegalRalph MeekerAl Capone's Valentine's Day surprise for the rival Bugs Moran gang in 1929 Chicago.February 1929
- DirectorBuzz KulikStarsCliff De YoungAnthony HopkinsDenise AlexanderOn March 1, 1932, the infant Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the son and namesake of the famed pilot, is kidnapped. After he is later found dead, a German immigrant named Bruno Hauptmann is tried for kidnapping and murder.1932
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsKevin CostnerSean ConneryRobert De NiroDuring Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.1933
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsWarren OatesBen JohnsonMichelle PhillipsJohn Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.1934
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsDavid CarradineRonny CoxMelinda DillonThe early life of Woody Guthrie as a vagabond folk singer.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsGeorge C. ScottAnne BancroftWilliam AthertonA chronicle of the Hindenburg disaster in which a zeppelin burst into flames.1937
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperIngrid BergmanAkim TamiroffDuring the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.1937 (Spanish Civil War)
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsChristian BaleNi NiXinyi ZhangAn American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.December 1937
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsVic MorrowCliff De YoungMichael ConstantineOn October 30, 1938, Orson Welles's radio play "The War of the Worlds" accidentally provokes mass panic.October 1938
- DirectorValentine DaviesStarsSteve AllenDonna ReedBerta GerstenThe young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a Chicago music professor. He is advised by bandleader Kid Ory to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.1938
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.Summer of 1940
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.December 7, 1941
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsBrian DonlevyRobert PrestonMacdonald CareyDecember, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.December 7 - 23, 1941
- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonHenry FondaJames CoburnA dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.June 4 - 7, 1942
- DirectorBent ChristensenStarsEbbe RodeHelle VirknerJane SeymourA Jewish family tries to escape from Denmark in October 1943 during the German occupation.1943
- DirectorJohn CromwellEdward F. ClineTay GarnettStarsClaudette ColbertJennifer JonesJoseph CottenWith her husband away to fight in World War II, a housewife must care for their two daughters alone.1944
- DirectorKen AnnakinAndrew MartonGerd OswaldStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanRichard BurtonThe events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.June 4, 1944
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsHenry FondaRobert ShawRobert RyanA dramatization of Nazi Germany's final Western Front counterattack of World War II.
- DirectorRodney GibbonsStarsLinda HamiltonMatthew HarbourRomano OrzariIn a cabin on a World War II front, a German mom with a young son mediates a truce between three German and three American soldiers so they can all celebrate Christmas Eve 1944 together.December 1944
- DirectorEnnio De ConciniStarsAlec GuinnessSimon WardAdolfo CeliA dramatization based on eyewitness accounts of Hitler's final days in an underground bunker, his military henchmen, and his stormy relationship with Eva Braun.1945
- DirectorRobert IscoveStarsStacy KeachRichard ThomasDon HarveyTrue story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, its crew's struggle to survive the sharks and exposure, and the captain's scape-goat court-martial.1945
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaRoger SpottiswoodeStarsLynne AdamsWesley AddyAllen AltmanThe grisly events leading to the first attack with a nuclear weapon.1945
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsGary SiniseDiana ScarwidRichard DysartThough considered unqualified, Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd president following the April 1945 death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsChadwick BosemanT.R. KnightHarrison FordIn 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.1947
- DirectorDeepa MehtaStarsAamir KhanNandita DasRahul KhannaIt's 1947 and the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl witnesses tragedy as her ayah (nanny) is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.1947
- DirectorMelville ShavelsonStarsKirk DouglasJohn WayneFrank SinatraIn 1947, following the U.N. decision to split British Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, a former U.S. Army officer is recruited by the Jews to reorganize the Haganah.1948
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsRock HudsonDana WynterWendy HillerIn British Colonial Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising, Peter and Kimani, who grew up together, find themselves on the opposite sides.1952 (Mau Mau Rebellion)
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsGregory PeckHarry GuardinoRip TornDuring the Korean War peace talks, U.S. troops fight to retake a hill from the Communist Chinese forces.April 1953
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsGlenn FordAnne FrancisLouis CalhernA new English teacher at a violent, unruly inner-city school is determined to do his job, despite resistance from both students and faculty.1955
- DirectorJulie DashStarsAngela BassettPeter Francis JamesTonea StewartA seamstress recalls events leading to her act of peaceful defiance that prompted the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.12-1-1955 (Wouldn't give up her seat)
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia OrmondBenicio Del ToroOscar IsaacIn 1956, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and a band of Castro-led Cuban exiles mobilize an army to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.1956
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRalph FiennesJohn TurturroRob MorrowA young lawyer, Richard Goodwin, investigates a potentially fixed game show. Charles Van Doren, a big time show winner, is under Goodwin's investigation.1957
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJoanne WoodwardSheree NorthTony RandallIn California, four couples who have bought houses near one another face problems, alcoholism, racism, promiscuity, and discrimination against lack of education, until a tragic event forces them to reassess their lives.1957
- DirectorSteve RashStarsGary BuseyDon StroudCharles Martin SmithThe story of the life and career of the early rock and roll singer, from his meteoric rise to stardom, to his marriage and untimely death.1957 - 1959
- DirectorBarry MahonStarsErrol FlynnBeverly AadlandJohn McKayErrol Flynn , playing himself as a war correspondent, helps Fidel Castro overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista . The film was shot, with Castro's cooperation, while he was still fighting Batista.1959
- StarsGreg KinnearBarry PepperKatie HolmesThe triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsDavid McLeanCharles BronsonRalph TaegerDuring the Cold War in the 1960s the U.S.A.F. and NASA tested the experimental rocket-powered aircraft X-15 that set altitude and speed records and reached the edge of outer space.1961
- DirectorBilly CrystalStarsBarry PepperThomas JaneAnthony Michael HallRoger Maris and Mickey Mantle race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.1961
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRichard DreyfussRon HowardPaul Le MatA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.1962
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsKevin CostnerBruce GreenwoodShawn DriscollIn October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.1962
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsNancy AllenBobby Di CiccoMarc McClureIn 1964, six teenagers from New Jersey run off to see The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in the hope of meeting their idols. However, they don't have tickets. Along the way, they learn new things about friendship and growing up.2-9-1964
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsGene HackmanWillem DafoeFrances McDormandTwo F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.1964
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWill SmithJamie FoxxJon VoightA biography of sports legend Muhammad Ali, focusing on his triumphs and controversies between 1964 and 1974.1964 -
- DirectorRandall WallaceStarsMel GibsonMadeleine StoweGreg KinnearThe story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.1965
- DirectorArthur DreifussStarsRichard ToddJames MacArthurSusan OliverA college professor resigns in protest to the dismissal of student underground newspaper workers and later joins their "hippie movement" and becomes their "Messiah."1967
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsAnthony HopkinsDiane LaddIain ReaThe story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years rebuilding a 1920 Indian motorcycle, which helped him set the land speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.1967
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsDemián BichirRodrigo SantoroBenicio Del ToroIn 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara leads a small partisan army to fight an ill-fated revolutionary guerrilla war in Bolivia, South America.1967
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsSigourney WeaverBryan BrownJulie HarrisThe story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.Mid - Late Sixties
- April 1968
- DirectorEmilio EstevezStarsAnthony HopkinsDemi MooreSharon StoneThe destinies of 22 people of different races, sexes, beliefs and social classes are intertwined on the night that politician Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated.6-5-1968
- StarsTom HanksNick SearcyLane SmithDramatized portrayal of the Apollo manned space program.July 20, 1969 (Moon Landing)
- DirectorMichael WadleighStarsJoan BaezRichie HavensRoger DaltreyOscar-winning musical chronicle that brilliantly captures the three-day rock concert and celebration of peace and love that became a capstone for the Sixties.1969
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.1969
- StarsGeorge DiCenzoSteve RailsbackNancy WolfeThe investigation and trial of the horrific Tate-LaBianca mass murders orchestrated by the psychotic pseudo-hippie cult leader, Charles Manson.1969
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksBill PaxtonKevin BaconNASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.1970
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsJames NesbittTim Pigott-SmithNicholas FarrellA dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.January 1972
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsEric BanaDaniel CraigMarie-Josée CrozeAfter the Black September capture and massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, five men are chosen to eliminate the people responsible for that fateful day.1972
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.1974
- DirectorRod AmateauStarsLisa OzGlenn MorshowerGary Lee CavagnaroThe adventures of a group of teenagers at a drive-in theatre in Texas one weekend night.1976
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsPeter FinchCharles BronsonYaphet KottoTrue story of a daring Israeli commando assault on the Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free hostages of a terrorist hijacking.1976
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsJames McAvoyForest WhitakerGillian AndersonBased on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.1970's
- DirectorBen AffleckStarsBen AffleckBryan CranstonJohn GoodmanActing under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.1980
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJames WoodsJim BelushiMichael MurphyA burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.1980
- DirectorGavin O'ConnorStarsKurt RussellPatricia ClarksonNathan WestThe true story of Herb Brooks, the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad.1980
- DirectorCyrus NowrastehStarsRichard DreyfussRichard CrennaYannick BissonThe 30th of March, 1981, the delusional John Hinckley Jr. tries to kill president Ronald Reagan. His life hangs on a thin thread at the hospital, while the Soviet Union is ready to invade a Poland on the brink of a revolution. Based on actual events during the final stages of the cold war.1981 (Don't let the kids base their homework off this)
- DirectorTerry GeorgeStarsHelen MirrenFionnula FlanaganAidan GillenThe 1981 hunger strike in an Irish prison, in which I.R.A. prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against their treatment as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. It focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle.1981
- DirectorJames GoldstoneStarsDavid RobbCaroline BlissMargaret TyzackDramatization of the romance and July 1981 wedding of Great Britaon's Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.1981
- DirectorAri FolmanStarsAri FolmanRon Ben-YishaiRonny DayagAn Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.1982