America: Films to Define A Nation
An 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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- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsDaniel Day-LewisWinona RyderPaul ScofieldA Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
- DirectorPeter H. HuntStarsWilliam DanielsHoward Da SilvaKen HowardA musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsMel GibsonHeath LedgerJoely RichardsonPeaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiJack KinneyStarsBing CrosbyBilly BletcherPinto ColvigIn a small town, a brewing romantic rivalry with a local tough and a school-teacher culminates in a terrifying ride in the night.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe KeatonA 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.
- DirectorCharles BurnettStarsBeau BridgesCarl LumblyBill CobbsFacing 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.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward ArnoldWalter HustonJane DarwellA 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.
- DirectorStephen SommersStarsElijah WoodCourtney B. VanceRobbie ColtraneIn 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.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyWalter HustonVincent PriceA 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.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsSterling HaydenAnna Maria AlberghettiRichard CarlsonModerate Jim Bowie leads rebellious Texicans--and Davy Crockett--in a last-ditch stand against his old friend, Santa Ana.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter 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.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert 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.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsNicole KidmanKirsten DunstElle FanningThe unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs 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.
- DirectorJohn GrayStarsRob MorrowLance HenriksenDonna MurphyApril 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 Emancipator and Rob Morrow as assassin John Wilkes Booth, this riveting recreation of The Day Lincoln Was Shot (from Jim Bishop's landmark book) is a thrilling and detailed chronicle of the plot, murder and manhunt that changed America forever. To avenge what he called the Confederacy's "noble cause," Booth conspires with his motley followers, rages and boasts, and aspires to a place in history as a Great Man. The weary Lincoln, longing for a just peace, meets with his Cabinet, steals precious time with his family and dreams - literally - of the death of a President. Minute by minute, killer and victim edge closer to the burst of gunfire at Ford's Theatre that stopped Lincoln's heart - and shattered the country's soul.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsOprah WinfreyDanny GloverYada BeenerA slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman.
- DirectorAndrew DominikStarsBrad PittCasey AffleckSam ShepardRobert 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.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienOlive BordenLou TellegenThree outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA 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.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonA.C. AbadieGeorge BarnesA group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsVincent PriceEllen DrewVladimir SokoloffMaster 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.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAlice FayeDon AmecheThe O'Leary brothers--honest Jack and roguish Dion--become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.
- DirectorPeter GlushanokStarsMiriam ColeMartha GrahamStuart HodesA filmed version of Aaron Copland's most famous ballet, with its original star, who also choreographed.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsChristopher WalkenLuke AskewClancy BrownBased on a true tale of power, corruption and murder, Christopher Walken stars in the story of the largest lynching in American history...
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloAlan CurtisWhen 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.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA 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.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJudy GarlandVan JohnsonS.Z. SakallIn 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.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsBarbara StanwyckRichard CarlsonLyle BettgerIn 1910, a wayward mother re-visits the family she deserted.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsLee BeggsBlanche CornwallA recent immigrant learns several hard lessons about how husbands in America are expected to behave.
- 19429mApproved7.1 (1.8K)ShortDirectorChuck JonesStarsMel BlancBea BenaderetJohn McLeishThree fun-loving, morally upright brothers from Pimento University save their fiancée from their fiendish archenemy, Dan Backslide, in this spoof of the Rover Boys.
- DirectorMorton DaCostaStarsRobert PrestonShirley JonesBuddy HackettTraveling 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.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellCharlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.
- DirectorKen HarrisonStarsWilliam Converse-RobertsHallie FooteMatthew BroderickThe 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.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsEdmund LoweCatherine Dale OwenWilliam HarriganHoping to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsJon VoightVing RhamesDon CheadleA dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African-American community.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioRobert De NiroLily GladstoneWhen 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.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsMira SorvinoToby StephensPaul RuddStock broker Nick Carraway consents to play Cupid for his rich married cousin Daisy Buchanan and her former love, nouveau riche Jay Gatsby.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsKirsten DunstCary ElwesEdward HerrmannSemi-true story of the Hollywood murder that occurred at a star-studded gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonBrooks BenedictA nerdy college student will do anything to become popular on campus.
- DirectorGeorge C. WolfeStarsViola DavisChadwick BosemanGlynn TurmanTensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927.
- 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.
- DirectorRebecca HallStarsTessa ThompsonRuth NeggaAndré Holland"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.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJason RobardsGeorge SegalRalph MeekerAl Capone's Valentine's Day surprise for the rival Bugs Moran gang in 1929 Chicago.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanHarold LloydStarsHarold LloydBarbara KentRobert McWadeAn 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.
- DirectorDudley MurphyStarsDuke EllingtonDuke Ellington OrchestraFredi WashingtonDuke Ellington in a jazz musical short with a tragic plotline.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsRobert De NiroJames WoodsElizabeth McGovernA 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.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames CagneyJean HarlowEdward WoodsAn Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
- DirectorHoward HawksRichard RossonStarsPaul MuniAnn DvorakKaren MorleyAn ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsTom HanksTyler HoechlinPaul NewmanA 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.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsPhillips HolmesSylvia SidneyFrances DeeA 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.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyDinahLike the legendary Sisyphus, deliverymen Laurel and Hardy struggle to push a large crated piano up a seemingly insurmountable flight of stairs.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsRock HudsonRobert StackDorothy MaloneStory of the fraught friendship between an eccentric journalist and a team of daredevil flying acrobats.
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsTom HardyShia LaBeoufGuy PearceSet 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.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealTatum O'NealMadeline KahnDuring 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.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus 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.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsUta HagenDiana MuldaurChris UdvarnokyA series of gruesome accidents plague a small American farming community in the summer of 1935, encircling two identical twin brothers and their family.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMia FarrowJeff DanielsDanny AielloIn 1935 New Jersey, a movie character walks off the screen and into the real world.
- DirectorGary SiniseStarsJohn MalkovichGary SiniseRay WalstonA nomadic farm worker looks after his dimwitted, gentle-giant friend during the Great Depression.
- DirectorSusanna StyronStarsMartin SheenJohn Franklin SawyerScott TerraIn 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, Trixie, and their seven children, and to bury a black man on that land is a violation of strict Virginia law.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn 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.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsZac EfronClaire DanesChristian McKayIn 1937, a teenager is cast in the Mercury Theatre production of "Julius Caesar", directed by a young Orson Welles.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsBilly CampbellJennifer ConnellyAlan ArkinA young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA 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.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsFred AstaireEleanor PowellGeorge MurphyJohnny 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.
- DirectorReginald HudlinStarsChadwick BosemanJosh GadKate HudsonThe 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.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsSonja HenieJohn PayneGlenn MillerAfter 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.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA 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.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt 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.
- DirectorRichard BenjaminStarsSean PennElizabeth McGovernNicolas CageIn 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
- DirectorMel DamskiStarsKeith CarradineMare WinninghamG.W. BaileyFact-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 taunts of his childhood playmates. With the support of his Pennsylvania coal mining father and his brother, who dreams of being a boxer, he learns to battle for what he wants. Finally in 1943, he is hired to play for a minor league team - the Memphis Chicks in the Class A Southern Association. Initially considered a freak and a box office attraction, he survives the taunts of his teammates and bats .333 his rookie year, steals 63 bases and led the league' outfielders in fielding percentage. Ultimately he won the league's MVP award. In 1945, the St. Louis Browns brought him into the major leagues. A parallel story is also told about the ball player's friendship with a young boy who had also lost his arm and dreamed of one day playing baseball. In fact the idea for the movie came from co-producer James Keach whose brother had gone to school with the younger boy and became aware of the events involving the ball player and boy.
- DirectorMeg RyanStarsAlex NeustaedterMeg RyanSam ShepardWith his older brother off to war, fourteen-year-old telegram messenger Homer Macauley comes of age in the summer of 1942.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsMatthew ModineEric StoltzTate DonovanIn 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.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsLee MarvinMark HamillRobert CarradineA 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.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsAlice FayeCarmen MirandaPhil BakerA soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
- DirectorCrane WilburStarsHumphrey BogartGary GrayGordon HartA 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 with every new war, also loses members of the ever-expanding family. The family is seen as typical of other families from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds who give their sons to the armed services out of patriotism.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsTom HanksGeena DavisLori PettyTwo sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.
- DirectorJohn KrokidasStarsDaniel RadcliffeDane DeHaanMichael C. HallA murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsGoldie HawnKurt RussellChristine LahtiA woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsEddie BrackenBetty HuttonDiana LynnAfter 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.
- DirectorJay RussellStarsFrankie MunizKevin BaconDiane LaneA shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi with the help of his beloved dog, Skip.
- DirectorArthur DongStarsSalome JensPhillis AbryDavid BarrettA historical account of military policy regarding homosexuals during World War II. The documentary includes interviews with several gay WWII veterans.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsWalter HustonBenjamin SimonA group of mentally traumatized veteran patients is followed as they go through psychiatric treatment.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeWilliam BendixAn ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn 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.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienHit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
- DirectorStephen KayStarsThomas JaneKeanu ReevesAdrien BrodyIn 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.
- 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.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsRichard DreyfussYosef CarmonMosko AlkalaiRichard 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.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsWarren BeattyAnnette BeningHarvey KeitelThe story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsBroderick CrawfordJohn IrelandJoanne DruThe rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsCora MiaoRussell WongVictor WongA 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 fathers, lots of gender-related social bifurcations.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsKirk DouglasJan SterlingRobert ArthurA 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.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsGene EvansRobert HuttonSteve BrodieA ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsLiam NeesonLaura LinneyChris O'DonnellA 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.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsDouglas EdwardsNat FleischerWalter CartierAfter 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.