Films representing humanitarian work - for better or for worse
Lots of films depict people, usually white people, going into a poor community or abroad to help a poor community (such as missionaries). Some represent outdated ideas about charity, some do a good job of showing difficulties, some are just awful.
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- DirectorJohn FordStarsRonald ColmanHelen HayesRichard BennettA medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsMyrna LoyTyrone PowerGeorge BrentIn India, a married British aristocrat is reunited with an old flame, but she truly has her sights set on a handsome surgeon.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsIrene DunneRex HarrisonLinda DarnellIn 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartKatharine HepburnRobert MorleyIn WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsYul BrynnerDeborah KerrRita MorenoA widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsIngrid BergmanRobert DonatCurd JürgensA tenacious British woman becomes a missionary and runs an inn for travelling merchants in China during the Japanese invasion and the tumultuous years leading up to the Second World War.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsAudrey HepburnPeter FinchEdith EvansAfter leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
- DirectorJorge SanjinésStarsMarcelino YanahuayaBenedicta MendozaVicente Verneros SalinasThe reaction of an indigenous community against a group of foreigners who under the guise of development assistance are forcibly sterilizing the peasant women.
- DirectorJim AbrahamsDavid ZuckerJerry ZuckerStarsRobert HaysJulie HagertyLeslie NielsenAfter the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsRobert De NiroJeremy IronsRay McAnallyEighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsTom HanksJohn CandyRita Wilson1962, after Yale graduation, womanizing Lawrence flees a gambling debt that his rich dad won't pay. He takes his roomie's place as Peace Corps Volunteer in Thai Golden Triangle with 2 other PCVs. Will he survive 2 years?
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDanny GloverWhoopi GoldbergOprah WinfreyA tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsJodie FosterChow Yun-FatBai LingThe story of the romance between the King of Siam and widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, during the 1860s.
- DirectorFernando MeirellesStarsRalph FiennesRachel WeiszDanny HustonA widower's transcontinental quest to find answers about his wife's death leads him to explosive secrets.
- DirectorLarysa KondrackiStarsRachel WeiszMonica BellucciVanessa RedgraveA drama based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex trafficking scandal.