Her Majesty's Empire (British Empire war films)
Long live the Queen, Long live the British empire!
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- DirectorBasil DeardenEliot ElisofonStarsCharlton HestonLaurence OlivierRichard JohnsonIn the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier).
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglenIn 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsWilliam HoldenSusannah YorkCapucinePolitical and personal intrigues surround a group of characters in Malaya, after the close of the Second World War.
- DirectorLaslo BenedekStarsRock HudsonArlene DahlUrsula ThiessSet during British India 1857, Captain Clayboune (Rock Hudson) is faced with restoring his reputation after being harshly disciplined for disobeying orders.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsRonald LewisOliver ReedDuncan LamontThe British army fights off rampaging locals in 1850s India.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsRichard HarrisonWandisa GuidaUgo SassoThis action-packed adventure/jungle film starts out when three British soldiers stationed in Malaysia are sent to Fort Madras to help the commandant fight off an elusive bandit who is terrorizing the countryside.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsMarlon BrandoEvaristo MárquezRenato SalvatoriIn 1844, a British mercenary helps the revolting slaves of an Antilles island colony gain independence from Portugal, but later returns to hunt down a local rebel leader and former protégé.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsSidney JamesKenneth WilliamsCharles HawtreySir Sidney Ruff-Diamond looks after the British outpost near the Khyber Pass. Protected by the kilted Third Foot and Mouth regiment, you would think they were safe but the Khazi of Kalabar has other ideas.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandPatric KnowlesA major countermands orders and attacks to avenge a previous massacre of men, women, and children.
- DirectorJosé Luis MerinoStarsPeter Lee LawrenceSergio CianiAntonio MayansSoldiers on a mission from a fort on the Northwest Frontier of British-Raj India argue over tactics as they seek to deal with reports of a native uprising.
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsHeath LedgerWes BentleyKate HudsonA young British officer resigns his commission just before his regiment is sent to battle and soon receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they view as his cowardice.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsTrevor HowardVanessa RedgraveJohn GielgudIn 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsVictor MatureMichael WildingAnita EkbergAn Afghan outlaw finally saves a British officer at the cost of his own life.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- CreatorDouglas HeyesStarsPhilip CareyWarren StevensPatrick WhyteThe show tells the story of two lieutenants, Michael Rhodes and William Storm, assigned to the 77th Bengal Lancers in India during the late 19th century. Colonel Standish is the commanding officer of the regiment.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasRichard HarrisUlla JacobssonNorwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsRichard AttenboroughJack HawkinsFlora RobsonAnachronistic strict Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Sir Richard Attenborough), on a remote colonial African army caught in a local coup d'etat, must use his experience to defend those in his care.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsBeau BridgesRobert PowellSimon WardWhen British Lieutenant Faversham resigns his commission rather than fight in the 1882 Sudan war, his army pals present him with the four white feathers of cowardice.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRussell CrowePaul BettanyBilly BoydDuring the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
- DirectorCharles BartonLouis J. GasnierStarsCary GrantGertrude MichaelClaude RainsDuring WW1, the destinies of British officers Michael Andrews and John Stevenson seem intertwined on the battle front as much as on a more personal level.
- DirectorPeter UstinovStarsRobert RyanPeter UstinovMelvyn DouglasWhen a kind-hearted sailor is made to join an English vessel at war in 1797, he finds himself caught between devotion to his crewmates and obedience to their hated, cruel master-at-arms.
- StarsAndrew CrawfordTim GoodmanKenneth IvesThree trappers protect a British colonel's daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsPaul RobesonLeslie BanksNina Mae McKinneyA British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930s rules his area strictly but justly. He struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal native chief.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsSabuRaymond MasseyRoger LiveseyDuring the British Raj, Captain Carruthers works under cover to track smuggled shipments of arms on the restless Northwest Frontier of India. He fears a full-scale rebellion is brewing. To forestall this, the British governor signs a treaty with the friendly, peace-loving ruler of Tokot, a key kingdom in the region, which is described as four days' march northward from Peshawar. Meanwhile, the king's son, Prince Azim, befriends Carruthers and a British drummer boy, Bill Holder, who teaches him how to play the instrument.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDerek FowldsDuring the Mahdist insurrection in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, veteran colonial Private Baker teams up with freshly arrived gentleman Murchison, trying to evacuate from southern Barash the Emir's daughter Asua and her English governess, Miss Woodville. It's a perilous journey on the Nile and its banks. They must face crocodiles, Arab slavers, and a backward Negro tribe they prey on, where King Gondoko's missionary-raised brother Kimrasi saves and joins them. Once in capital Khartum, they find the revolt has reached it and the men join the fight.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsVictor McLaglenBoris KarloffWallace FordA dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during World War I, are menaced by unseen Arab enemies.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsHal StalmasterLuana PattenJeff YorkJohnny Tremain is drawn into the Revolutionary War, and becomes a patriot fighting to free the colonies from England. Along the way he learns about life and about himself.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsPatrick BerginIain GlenRichard E. GrantThe legendary true-story of Capt. Richard Francis Burton and Lt. John Hanning Speke's tumultuous expedition to find the source of the Nile river.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddWilliam HartnellAkim TamiroffIn 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, British warship H.M.S. Amethyst sails up the Yangtse river but on the return trip, finds its way blocked by a barrage of fire from the Communist Chinese shore batteries.
- DirectorDavid MillinStarsBrian O'ShaughnessyWill HutchinsAdrian SteedThe nerve-jangling true tale of a battalion of volunteer soldiers facing the might of King Lobengula's army in Rhodesia in 1893.
- Short film produced by the Warwick Trading Company in 1899 in the United Kingdom.
- StarsMartin ShawFrances BarberNeil PearsonThe story of the British 19th-century businessman who became the wealthiest man in the Western world and founded the nation Rhodesia.
- Stars'Frank' Edward FillisTexas Jack Jr.Peter LobengulaShort war film dramatizing the final engagement of the Shangani Patrol and the death of Major Allan Wilson and his men in Rhodesia in 1893.
- DirectorAntony ThomasStarsKenneth GriffithJennifer JeremyActor Kenneth Griffith thoroughly re-examines the way Cecil Rhodes is seen in British and African history. Was he an adventurous entrepreneur, a colonial devil, or somewhere in between?
- DirectorAntonio LeonviolaMarc-Antonio BragadinCarlo LizzaniStarsRaf ValloneFranco FabriziAndrea ChecchiThe Italian Navy attack the British fleet in 1941 when they are anchored in the bay of Suda in Crete.
- DirectorRobert D. WebbStarsPatricia OwensDenise DarcelCesar RomeroSeven women from different backgrounds, nationality, age, class, and marital status find themselves in New Guinea, February 1942 - when the Japanese army takes over unexpectedly, and sends them into a war camp in the jungle.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsTony CosgroveOlivier Espitalier-NoelDon FairserviceThe 1746 Battle of Culloden, the last land battle fought in the British Isles and the battle that ensured that Scotland was controlled by England.
- DirectorBob CarruthersThis program tells the story of the final thunderous battle of the Napoleonic era featuring stunning excerpts from major feature films, specially filmed authentic reconstruction and re-enactment footage, plus dramatized 'eye-witness' accounts of the battle, it provides a unique record of one of the turning points in world history.
- DirectorLamont JohnsonStarsEric SchweigWes StudiBuffy Sainte-MarieThe story of two Iroquis brothers caught in the midst of the Revolutionary War.
- DirectorAndrew GrieveStarsIoan GruffuddRobert LindsayDavid WarnerHornblower and his comrades come under the command of a revered but obviously mentally unstable captain and eventually must mutiny.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsChips RaffertyJane BarrettJack LambertIn 1854, Australian gold rush miners struggle for their rights against an oppressive government.
- DirectorDaryl DukeStarsBryan BrownJoan ChenJohn StantonHistorical fiction set against the backdrop of Hong Kong in its early years of British rule.
- DirectorPierre FalardeauStarsLuc PicardSylvie DrapeauFrédéric GillesFrench Canadians face execution after a revolt against British bureaucrats in Quebec.
- DirectorSeymour FriedmanStarsRichard EganDawn AddamsPatric KnowlesBritish officers battle bandits and guerrillas in India.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsRhys WilliamsRon RandellValentine PerkinsIn 1803, the only thing standing between Napoleon and his plan of world domination is England and the British Navy. The admiralty, learning that Napoleon has assembled an invasion fleet decides to send out one of its vessels to destroy it the French flagship under cover of fog. Forced out of retirement, ruthless, tyrannical and temperamental Captain William Blake is put in command. He wields his command with sadistic fury until an epidemic of scurvy attacks the crew and, when he refuses to go ashore for needed provision, mutiny and insubordination results...and, then, the French flagship arrives.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsAnthony QuinnRosanna SchiaffinoRita HayworthA former counter-revolutionary pirate befriends a mentally ill young woman and this in turn leads to tragedy after she falls in love with a French naval officer.
- DirectorSergio BergonzelliRoy RowlandStarsGérard BarrayAntonella LualdiTerence MorganA famous scientist vanishes after falling into a trap set by swindlers using treasure as a lure.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsVictor McLaglenMyrna LoyDavid TorrenceCaptain Donald King of the British Army goes to India just as World War I breaks out, convincing his comrades that he is a coward. In reality, he is on a secret mission to rescue British soldiers held prisoner there.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsYvonne De CarloRock HudsonMaxwell ReedGilliat,a fisherman/smuggler is in jail, and is offered a pardon if he undertakes a mission to sail to France to rescue Droucette, an English agent whose cover has been blown, and who has now been jailed. Gilliat accepts the challenge.
- DirectorJin XieStarsGuoan BaoLiankun LinSihung LungQing official Lin Zexu burns the opium of British traders in a bid to end the opium trade. Incensed by his actions, the British traders appeal to their government, leading to the First Opium War and the eventual cessation of Hong Kong.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyStarsElisabeth RisdonFred GrovesA.V. BrambleA 1915 British silent historical film about Florence Nightingale, and her innovations in nursing care during the Crimean War.
- DirectorBill AndersonStarsWill AdamsdaleNick BartlettChristopher BenjaminGuy Crouchback, heir to a declining English Roman Catholic family, returns to England from Italy at the start of World War II, and joins the Royal Corps of Halberdiers along with various eccentrics, though his attempts to get back with his wife Virginia, from whom he is separated, fail. After being implicated in a colleague's death, he is sent to train a commando brigade on a Scottish island, and ends up on Crete, taking part in its evacuation, and escaping to Egypt with fellow officers Ludovic and Ivor Claire. He is returned to England courtesy of Mrs. Stitch, to possibly prevent him from naming Claire as a deserter. Guy marries Virginia a second time, by which time she has a child by ex-lover Trimmer. While Guy is in Yugoslavia having a confusing time with the partisans, Virginia is killed, along with Guy's uncle Peregrine, by a doodlebug bomb. Guy returns to England after getting involved in charitable agencies, and eventually remarries.
- DirectorBrian KirkStarsDavid HaigDaniel RadcliffeKim CattrallAuthor Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
- DirectorDuilio ColettiStarsEleonora Rossi DragoPierre CressoyGirolamo ManiscoA team of Italian divers plan to attach high explosives to the hulls of Royal Navy ships at anchor in Gibraltar harbour.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsDirk BogardeGeorge ChakirisSusan StrasbergDuring Cyprus' war of independence against Britain, Juno Kozani (Susan Strasberg), an American archeology student visiting Cyprus, is caught between the two warring sides.
- 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.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerTerry MooreMichael RennieA half-caste British officer in 19th-century India battles the prejudices of both his Army colleagues and the local populace while trying to help put down a rebellion led by a greedy local ruler.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyMilton RosmerStarsCyril McLaglenBenita HumeAlf GoddardA British officer is falsely accused of murder by a rival officer, and is dishonorably discharged from the army. He rejoins as an enlisted man and is posted as a cavalryman to the siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean War. He discovers that there is a Russian spy masquerading as a British soldier.
- DirectorDaryl DukeStarsJaclyn SmithClaire BloomTimothy DaltonThe fact-based story of the pioneer of nursing, known as "the Lady with the Lamp".
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsMaria AlbaWalter ByronClaire WindsorWhile the commander of the British Army in Arabia, Major J. W. Courtney, is out in the desert chasing marauding tribesmen, his wife carries on an affair with Captain Randall. Courtney returns to the outpost ahead of time and the wife takes refuge in the quarters of Lieutenant W.B. Lawrence. Lawrence, maintaining the silence (and stiff upper lip) that his code of honor dictates is drummed out of the service. He joins the forces of El Rahman and becomes a sheik of the desert. Warfare, instigated by Randall, breaks out between the troops and the tribesmen and ends when the mortally wounded Randall confesses to his dastardly deeds, the least of which included making love to his commander's wife.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneGeorge SandersIn 1759, in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley, local settlers and Indian fighters try to persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsAlec GuinnessDirk BogardeMaurice DenhamOn the H.M.S. Defiant, during the French Revolutionary War, fair Captain Crawford is locked in a battle of wills against his cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsEnnosuke IchikawaSeizaburô KawazuSetsuko HaraTwo British brothers who are making money for their homeland are meeting buyers for opium in China. There is a police force to counter the dealers, but is not only ineffectual, but also corrupt and dealing in narcotics itself. Confronting the situation the government assigns an incognito bureaucrat to the issue. He confronts and arrests the police, but the bulk of the drugs is with the Britons.
- StarsSean BeanDaragh O'MalleyJohn TamsA series of stories starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars as he fights both Napoleon's forces and the strong prejudice of British aristocracy.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGary CooperFranchot ToneRichard CromwellThree British soldiers on the Northwest Frontier of India struggle against the enemy - and themselves.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsKeith CarradineHarvey KeitelAlbert FinneyFrance, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d'Hubert is forced into a duel with hot-headed irrational Lieutenant Feraud. The disagreement ultimately results in scores of duels spanning several years.
- DirectorJesse HandsherOlivier RolandStarsFrank SamsonMark SchneiderOn the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, thousands of enthusiasts reenact the epic clash. But there can only be one Napoleon.
- DirectorOleg RyaskovStarsDmitriy MillerAleksandr BukharovKseniya KnyazevaAt the beginning of the 18th century, king of France exiles two duelists from the state: one to Russia and another to Sweden, which are at war.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsJohn Phillip LawMel GibsonSam NeillA group of Australian commandos launch a secret mission against Japanese forces in World War II.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsBoguslaw LindaDaniel OlbrychskiGrazyna SzapolowskaIn the early 1810s, Poles, part of Russia's client state of Lithuania, think independence will come if they join forces with Napoleon when he invades Russia. This unity of purpose, in one district, is undermined by two families, feuding since the head of one shot the head of the other twenty years before. There are hopes of a reconciliation through a marriage of Pan Tadeusz, a Soplica, whose father, the murderer, is in hiding somewhere, and Zosia, a teen-aged girl, a Horeszko who lives in the household of Pan's uncle. Other cross-currents - of love, family, politics, village traditions, land reform, and what it means to be Polish - give the film texture. It's an exile's story.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsKay FrancisIan HunterDonald WoodsA look at the life of Florence Nightingale.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsMarlon BrandoJean SimmonsMerle OberonThe rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsCary GrantFrank SinatraSophia LorenDuring the Napoleonic Wars, a British captain is sent to Spain to help prevent the French from stealing a powerful cannon.
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsPeter McEneryClaudia CardinaleEli WallachBased on satirical short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about a vain, egotistical Etienne Gerard, a French brigadier serving during the Napoleonic Wars. He thinks he's the best soldier and lover that ever lived and intends to prove it.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsLyudmila SavelevaVyacheslav TikhonovSergey BondarchukThe Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.
- DirectorGrigoriy KozintsevStarsKonstantin SkorobogatovVladimir ChestnokovOlga LebzakOn the life of Russian doctor Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov who used field surgery in the 1853 Crimean War.
- DirectorMarvin J. ChomskyJohn GoldsmithStarsCatherine Zeta-JonesPaul McGannIan RichardsonTrapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinStarsAleksei DikijEvgeniy SamoylovVladimir VladislavskiyAdmiral Pavel Nakhimov, one of the most acclaimed admirals in Russian history, fights the Turkish fleet during the Crimean War of 1853.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames GarnerEtchika ChoureauJack WardenThe lives, loves, and battles of fictional characters in the Army's First Ranger Battalion during WWII.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsTom BellRita TushinghamDavid ThewlisSurviving soldier is accused of cowardice and desertion. His former comrades-in-arms decide to judge him bypassing the law.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsYul BrynnerTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsTo protest against British oppression and tyranny a tribal leader becomes a bandit.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAva GardnerStewart GrangerBill TraversAnglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from India.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsTyrone PowerLoretta YoungAnnabellaFerdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.
- DirectorLéonide MoguyStarsGeorge SandersVirginia BruceLenore AubertReporter Michael Gordon uncovers intrigue in Damascus, where the Allies and Nazis struggle for control of Arab sympathies.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleAnton WalbrookC. Aubrey SmithPicking up where Victoria the Great (1937) left off, this sequel to the 1937 film has Anna Neagle return to the role of Queen Victoria in another colorful account of the revered British monarch's reign. This film offers a stellar chronicle of Victoria's relationship with Prince Albert (Anton Walbrook) as well as the political and military upheavals that characterized her time as Queen.
- DirectorLamont JohnsonStarsBrian KeithHelmut GriemIan HendryDuring WW2, German POWs in Britain plot to escape from their prison camp in Scotland.
- DirectorAndré de la VarreStarsPaul P. Devlin
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsGregory PeckRoger MooreDavid NivenDuring World War II, British Intelligence brings a crew of ex-soldiers out of retirement, using their age as cover, to take to the seas and pull off an unlikely undercover mission in neutral Goa.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsGeorge ArlissDoris LloydDavid TorrencePrime Minister of Great Britain Benjamin Disraeli outwits the subterfuge of the Russians and chicanery at home in order to secure the purchase of the Suez Canal.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsKirk DouglasMilly VitalePaul StewartIn 1949, former concentration camp inmate and Berlin native Hans Muller, immigrates to Israel where, due to psychological problems, he can't adjust to peacetime life.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsPaul NewmanEva Marie SaintRalph RichardsonThe State of Israel is created in 1948, resulting in war with its Arab neighbors.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsDana AndrewsMärta TorénStephen McNallyIn 1947, with only months remaining until the partition of British-administered Palestine, an American freighter captain smuggles European Jewish refugees ashore under the nose of the British authorities.
- DirectorAmos GitaiStarsSamantha MortonThomas JaneLuke HollandIs the story of Samantha and Dov Ernst, American Zionists who emigrated to Palestine. Kalkofsky, a German Jew and bookseller, left behind his family in Europe. He accommodates Silvia, a young revolutionary against British rule.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsSophia LorenPeter FinchJack HawkinsA beautiful woman who survived a concentration camp goes to Israel in 1948 to track down her Nazi husband who had betrayed her.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsEdward MulhareHaya HarareetMichael ShilloIn 1948, four Israeli soldiers recount the events that led them to take up arms while preparing for a final mission in the hours leading up to a truce.
- DirectorAmos GitaiStarsAndrei KashkerHelena YaralovaMoni MoshonovIn May 1948, shortly before the creation of the State of Israel, hundreds of immigrants from across Europe arrive in Palestine--only to risk arrest by British troops.
- 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.