Relevant U.S. History Films
This is a list of movies broken down by time period which are relevant to U.S. history. Not all of these films have plots which directly focus on a real event, but they can all at least be connected thematically to our course. Some of these films are rated R, so if that is something which you or your parents are not comfortable with, do not select one of those films.
I would recommend that you select films set in (or perhaps made during) a time period which you found interesting. Some titles have multiple versions by the same name which provide an excellent opportunity for analysis of historiography and the periods in which they were made
Do not select movies you have seen before. Expand your mind! Experience new things! Grow as a human!
Early America
- Roots (1977)
- Colonial House
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
- The Crucible (1957)
- The Crucible (1996)
The Revolution through the Early Republic
- John Adams (2008)
- 1776 (1972)
- Revolution (1985)
- Jefferson in Paris (1995)
- The Devil’s Disciple (1959)
- The Crossing (2000)
- Johnny Tremain (1957)
The Antebellum Period
- Amistad (1997)
- The Alamo (1936)
- The Alamo (1960)
- The Alamo (2004)
- One Man’s Hero (1999)
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1987)
Civil War/Reconstruction
- The Birth of a Nation (1915)
- Gone With the Wind (1939)
- Roots (1977)
- Glory (1989)
- The Civil War [Documentary] (1990)
- Gettysburg (1993)
- Cold Mountain (2003)
- Gods and Generals (2003)
- The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
The West and Native Americans
- The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
- Tombstone (1993)
- Chisum (1970)
- True Grit (1969)
- Rooster Cogburn (1975)
- 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
- 3:10 to Yuma (2006)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
- Fort Apache (1948)
- Dances with Wolves (1990)
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2008)
- High Noon (1952)
- A Fistful of Dollars (1967)
- For a Few Dollars More (1967)
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967)
- Frontier House (2002)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Custer of the West (1967)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Gilded Age and Progressives
- Gangs of New York (2002)
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- The Age of Innocence (1993)
- My Antonia (1995)
- Citizen Cane (1941)
- The Fountainhead (1949)
- Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
- Ragtime (1981)
- Hester Street (1975)
- Matewan (1987)
American Imperialism and WWI
- The African Queen (1951)
- The Rough Riders (1997)
- Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
- A Farewell to Arms (1932)
- A Farewell to Arms (1957)
- Citizen Cane (1941)
- The Lost Battalion (1919)
- The Lost Battalion (2001)
The Roaring 20s
- The Godfather II (1974)
- The Sun Also Rises (1957)
- The Sun Also Rises (1984)
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
- Elmer Gantry (1960)
- Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- The Jazz Singer (1952)
- The Jazz Singer (1980)
- The Aviator (2004)
- The Great Gatsby (1926)
- The Great Gatsby (1949)
- The Great Gatsby (1974)
The Great Depression
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- Native Son (1951)
- Native Son (1986)
- The Day of the Locust (1975)
- The Color Purple (1985)
- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975)
- Paper Moon (1973)
- Seabiscuit (2003)
- The Aviator (2004)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
- Of Mice and Men (1939)
- Of Mice and Men (1992)
- All the King’s Men (1949)
WWII
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
- Slaughterhouse 5 (1972)
- Catch-22 (1970)
- The Big Red One (1980)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Patton (1970)
- Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
- Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
- Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- The Great Escape (1963)
- Come See the Paradise (1990)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
- Why We Fight [Frank Capra’s propaganda films] (1942-1945)
- The Longest Day (1962)
- Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
- Bataan (1943)
- Back to Bataan (1945)
- Band of Brothers (2001)
- Battle of the Bulge (1965)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- A Bridge to Far (1977)
- The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
- To End All Wars (2001)
- Flying Tigers (1942)
- MacArthur (1977)
- Midway (1976)
- Run Silent, Run Deep (1956)
- Saints and Soldiers (2003)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- The Thin Red Line (1998)
- The Tuskegee Airmen (1995)
- Windtalkers (2002)
The 50s And The Cold War
- Animal Farm (1954)
- M*A*S*H* (1970)
- MacArthur (1977)
- Taegukgi Hwinallimyo (2004)
- Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
- Guilty By Suspicion (1991)
- The Right Stuff (1983)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- West Side Story (1961)
- The Godfather (1972)
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- The Crucible (1957)
- The Crucible (1996)
- Death of a Salesman (1951)
- Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
- The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
- Fail-Safe (1964)
- On the Beach (1959)
- Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Civil Rights Movement
- Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
- Malcolm X (1992)
- Remember the Titans (2000)
- Black Like Me (1964)
- Gideon’s Trumpet (1980)
- Milk (2008)
- The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
- The Long Walk Home (1990)
- A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
- Twelve Angry Men (1957)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- In the Heat of the Night (1967)
- Mississippi Burning (1988)
- The Express (2008)
- Glory Road (2006)
The Counterculture
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Vietnam
- Casualties of War (1989)
- Hamburger Hill (1987)
- The Hanoi Hilton (1987)
- Dien Bien Phu (1992)
- We Were Soldiers (1992)
- 1968 Tunnel Rates (2008)
- Rescue Dawn (2007)
- Journey from the Fall (2007)
- The Green Berets (1968)
- Platoon (1986)
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
- The Deer Hunter (1978)
- Heaven & Earth (1993)
- Born on the 4th of July (1989)
- Full Metal Jacket (1987)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- A Rumor of War (1980)
- Tunnel Rats (2008)
The Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries
- Why We Fight [Documentary] (2005)
- Black Hawk Down (2001)
- Nixon (1995)
- Jarhead (2005)
- JFK (1991)
- All the President’s Men (1976)
- The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
- Frost/Nixon (2008)
- Recount (2008)
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- Bobby (2006)
- Thunderheart (1992)
- Missing (1982)
- WarGames (1983)
- Salvador (1986)
- Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
- Crimson Tide (1995)
- The Hunt for Red October (1989)