List of films based on actual events
Based on True Story & Inspired
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- 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.
- DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas BrierleyOriginally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
- DirectorÉtienne ArnaudStarsDorothy GibsonAlec B. FrancisJulia StuartThe story of the Titanic disaster based on the account of a survivor.
- DirectorOscar ApfelStarsAurora MardiganianIrving CummingsAnna Q. NilssonThe story about the Armenian Genocide based on the account of survivor Aurora Mardiganian.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsNeil HamiltonCarol DempsterErville AldersonThe story of a family caught up in the American Revolutionary War.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
- 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.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsGeorge O'BrienFlorence GilbertJanet GaynorFollows Tom O'Day, who is loved by two women: Anna Burger and Gloria Hamilton. He has no idea of Anna's love for him, and he becomes engaged to Gloria.
- DirectorFrank UrsonStarsPhyllis HaverVictor VarconiVirginia BradfordA wild jazz-loving and boozing wife Roxie Hart, kills her boyfriend in cold blood after he leaves her.
- DirectorRichard BoleslawskiCharles BrabinStarsJohn BarrymoreEthel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreA prince plots to kill the mad monk Rasputin for the good of the czar, the czarina and Russia.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsArthur GreenawayMayne LyntonErrol FlynnA former member of the crew of the HMS Bounty recounts the story of the mutiny aboard ship.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsWalter HustonUna MerkelWilliam L. ThorneAn episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsClaudette ColbertWarren WilliamHenry WilcoxonThe man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.
- DirectorJohn G. AdolfiStarsGeorge ArlissDoris KenyonDudley DiggesWith the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, General George Washington took Colonel Hamilton with him into the newly formed government. While the main disagreements in the early days was over paying the soldiers who had fought in the War, Hamilton also dedicated his energies towards a national bank so that the United States would be able to trade with other countries. He fought eight long years for his Assumption Bill while considering the new Residence Bill. While he is engaged in running a clean treasury, his arch rival, Senator Roberts, takes every opportunity to slander and cast Alexander as a dishonorable man.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsCharles LaughtonClark GableFranchot ToneFirst mate Fletcher Christian leads a revolt against his sadistic commander, Captain Bligh, in this classic seafaring adventure, based on the real-life 1789 mutiny.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
- 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.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsSylvia SidneyHenry FondaBarton MacLaneThe public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsCharles LaughtonRobert DonatFranklin DyallKing Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeJulien DuvivierStarsNorma ShearerTyrone PowerJohn BarrymoreThe tragic life of Marie Antoinette, who became queen of France in her late teens.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinDmitriy VasilevStarsNikolay CherkasovNikolai OkhlopkovAndrei AbrikosovThe story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheLoretta YoungHenry FondaThe story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdna May OliverThe story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaAlice BradyMarjorie WeaverA fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonRuth GordonOtto KrugerTrue story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82 year old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty year career of scientific achievement.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsMickey RooneyFay BainterGeorge BancroftInventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up with disastrous results. As a consequence, the townsfolk all think Tom is crazy, and creates a strained relationship between Tom and his father. Toms only solace is his understanding mother who believes he's headed to do great things.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
- 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.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnAlexis SmithJack CarsonAs bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert, Jim Corbett, uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the top of the boxing world.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperTeresa WrightBabe RuthThe story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyJoan LeslieWalter HustonThe life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsJennifer JonesCharles BickfordWilliam Eythe14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, living in a small town in the south of 1850s France, claims to have seen a divine vision, prompting extreme skepticism, concern from her family, and religious and political turmoil.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsGrant TaylorPeter FinchChips RaffertyTells the story of three men--Bluey, a tough two fisted drover (Taylor), Milo, a laconic dingo trapper (Rafferty), and Pete, an intellectual English "new chum" (Finch). Together they serve in North Africa, fighting against the forces of Rommel in what has now become one of Australia's greatest wartime legends--The Rats of Tobruk.
- DirectorMax NosseckStarsLawrence TierneyEdmund LoweAnne JeffreysJohn Dillinger begins his life of crime as a petty thief, meets his future gang in prison and eventually masterminds a series of daring robberies.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsRobert AldaJoan LeslieAlexis SmithGeorge Gershwin is a driven composer whose need to succeed destroys his relationship with singer Julie Adams and socialite Christine Gilbert.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsLarry ParksEvelyn KeyesWilliam DemarestThis movie shows the idealized career of the singer Al Jolson, a little Jewish boy who goes against the will of his father in order to be in showbiz. He becomes a star, falls in love with a non-Jewish dancer, and marries her. In the end he chooses success on the stage.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsCary GrantAlexis SmithMonty WoolleyA fictionalized biopic of composer Cole Porter from his days at Yale in the 1910s through the height of his success to the 1940s.
- DirectorDudley NicholsStarsRosalind RussellAlexander KnoxDean JaggerAn Australian nurse discovers an effective new treatment for infantile paralysis, but experiences great difficulty in convincing doctors of the validity of her claims.
- DirectorRichard WhorfVincente MinnelliGeorge SidneyStarsRobert WalkerVan HeflinLucille BremerBiography of songwriter and Broadway pioneer, Jerome Kern (Robert Walker). Unable to find immediate success in the U.S., Kern sought recognition abroad. He journeyed to England where his dreams of success became real and where he met his future wife Eva Leale (Dorothy Patrick).
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDana AndrewsJane WyattLee J. CobbThe true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsWilliam BendixClaire TrevorCharles BickfordWilliam Bendix suits up in Yankee flannels as the renowned pitcher-turned-outfielder Babe Ruth in a sports biopic that mixes facts with fiction.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames StewartRichard ConteLee J. CobbChicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartJohn DallFarley GrangerTwo men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.
- 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.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsMickey RooneyTom DrakeJune AllysonMusical biography chronicling the songwriting partnership of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsLarry ParksBarbara HaleWilliam DemarestIn this sequel to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer's career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has left him and the appeal of the spotlight isn't what it used to be. This time Jolson trades in the stage for life in the fast lane: women, horses, travel. It takes the death of Moma Yoelson and World War II to bring Jolson back to earth - and to the stage. Once again teamed with manager Steve Martin, Jolson travels the world entertaining troops everywhere from Alaska to Africa. When he finally collapses from exhaustion it takes young, pretty nurse Ellen Clark to show him there's more to life than "just rushing around".
- DirectorJack LeeIan DalrympleStarsLeo GennDavid TomlinsonAnthony SteelTrue story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsKirk DouglasLauren BacallDoris DayA young trumpet player is torn between an honest singer and a manipulative heiress.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsJames MasonDanielle DarrieuxMichael RennieDuring WWII the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsDavid NivenGlynis JohnsGeorge CoulourisDuring WW2, British Major Valentine Moreland is tasked with rescuing a prized pedigree cow from the German-occupied Channel Island of Armorel.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames MasonCedric HardwickeJessica TandyThe story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsDoris DayDanny ThomasFrank LovejoyThe success and decline of songwriter Gus Kahn is portrayed, with his wife, Grace Kahn, sticking by him the whole time.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMontgomery CliftElizabeth TaylorShelley WintersA poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsTrevor HowardRichard AttenboroughSonny TuftsIn 1940, the Captain of an old Royal Navy destroyer struggles with his crew, as well as the Nazis.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJosé FerrerZsa Zsa GaborSuzanne FlonFictional account of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsTony CurtisJanet LeighTorin ThatcherFrom his beginnings as a "wildman" carnival act to the internationally famous feat of escaping from a locked trunk in an ice-jammed river, the great Harry Houdini emerged as the world's most captivating magician and escape artist.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsClifton WebbBarbara StanwyckRobert WagnerAn unhappily married couple struggle to deal with their problems while on board the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsJohn MillsEric PortmanChristopher RhodesAllied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz".
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAudie MurphyMarshall ThompsonCharles DrakeThe true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsJohn GregsonAnthony QuaylePeter FinchIn the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliGeorge CukorStarsKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnJames DonaldThe life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsPaul NewmanPier AngeliEverett SloaneBoxer Rocky Graziano's biopic, based on his autobiography, from childhood to his World Middleweight Championship title win at age 28 in 1947.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsHenry FondaVera MilesAnthony QuayleIn 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsJames CagneyDorothy MaloneJane GreerThe life and career of vaudevillian and silent-screen horror star Lon Chaney, including his contentious relationship with his neurotic wife and his premature death.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsEdward BinnsCarolyn CraigVirginia GreggA tavern owner in mid-century Portland, Oregon finds the safety of himself and his family threatened when he becomes involved in a war between labor unions and a violent local crime syndicate.
- 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.
- DirectorNunnally JohnsonStarsJoanne WoodwardDavid WayneLee J. CobbA doctor treats a woman suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSusan HaywardSimon OaklandVirginia VincentA prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsM.E. Clifton JamesJohn MillsCecil ParkerDuring World War II, a British actor impersonates Field Marshal Montgomery in order to confuse German intelligence.
- 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.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsKenneth MoreRonald AllenRobert AyresOn her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.
- DirectorArt NapoleonStarsDorothy MaloneErrol FlynnEfrem Zimbalist Jr.The daughter of iconic actor John Barrymore becomes reunited with her father after a ten year estrangement and engages in his self-destructive lifestyle.
- DirectorMelville ShavelsonStarsDanny KayeBarbara Bel GeddesLouis ArmstrongDanny Kaye cuts loose with his trademark musical clowning. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong plays his horn and croons in that famed gargling-granite voice. Big Band icons Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony and Shelly Manne join the fun.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsOrson WellesDean StockwellDiane VarsiTwo wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyFredric MarchGene KellyBased on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsBrian KeithJohn BealJames DruryMajor John Wesley Powell leads an expedition through the Grand Canyon to chart the Colorado River.
- 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.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsCharlton HestonSophia LorenRaf ValloneThe fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsTony CurtisKarl MaldenEdmond O'BrienFerdinand Waldo Demara Jr. is a versatile man who gets his kicks out of impersonating a marine, a monk, a navy surgeon and a prison warden, eventually getting in trouble with the law for it.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorB. Ramakrishnaiah PanthuluStarsShivaji GanesanGemini GanesanSavitriBiography of Kappalottiya Tamizhan, "The Tamil Helmsman", an Indian freedom fighter and founder of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterKarl MaldenThelma RitterA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.
- DirectorGeorge SeatonStarsWilliam HoldenLilli PalmerHugh GriffithBlacklisted in modern day WW2, a Swedish oil trader opts to assist British Allies, by means of infiltrating and surveying Nazi Germany.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsRosalind RussellNatalie WoodKarl MaldenBased on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneCarol ReedGeorge SeatonStarsMarlon BrandoTrevor HowardRichard HarrisIn 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsDirk BogardeMaria PerschyAlfred LynchBritish N.C.O. Sergeant Major Charles Coward (Sir Dirk Bogarde) escapes from the Stalag VIII-B P.O.W. camp, and is mistakenly awarded with the Iron Cross by the Germans.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczRouben MamoulianStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonRex HarrisonQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSteve McQueenJames GarnerRichard AttenboroughAllied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsRobert TaylorLilli PalmerCurd JürgensIn 1945 the fate of Vienna's famous Lipizzaner stallions hangs into balance. American general Patton could save them but first he asks to see them perform.
- DirectorLeslie H. MartinsonStarsCliff RobertsonRobert CulpTy HardinPresident John F. Kennedy kept a unique inauguration gift on his desk: a plastic-encased coconut. The tale of that coconut is the heroic story of PT 109.
- DirectorJames LandisStarsArch Hall Jr.Helen HoveyRichard AldenThree people driving into Los Angeles for a Dodgers game have car trouble and pull off into an old wrecking yard where they are held at bay by a bloodthirsty psycho and his crazy girlfriend.